Check out the lineup of films and TV shows below:
122
Directed by Yasir al-Yasir, Egypt, 2019
WATCH IT ON: Netflix
Bit.ly/Watch122
Melodrama and suspense, with a villain who is both cartoonish & satisfying and two telegenic romantic leads. A deaf woman & her lover need money to marry. So he turns back to his old business, drugs - just one last deal, to get the money to start the new life. It does not end well. 122 is the Egyptian 911 - and also, kind of, the Egyptian sign language for “I love you”: one finger up, two fingers down, two fingers up.
KL24: Zombies
Directed by James Lee, Shamaine Othman, Gavin Yap, Malaysia, 2017
WATCH IT ON: Amazon Prime or Youtube
Bit.ly/KL24Zombies
At long last … Muslim zombies! KL24: Zombies is sassy about gender and about zombies. The Last Girl is a hijabi woman, and there's even zombie sex! Most of the movie is in English, but there is some Malay dialog with no subtitles, so you’ll miss some of the jokes and diatribes, but it’s still a blast.
Folklore
TV Series: 1 season
WATCH IT ON: HBO Max
Bit.ly/WatchFolklore
Folklore is an HBO Asia anthology series with five episodes, each one a short (1-hour) horror story based on a folk legend, from five different Asian countries. Joko Anwar (Indonesia) - who directed Ritual (2012), screened in Halaloween 2019 - directed the first segment, "A Mother's Love." TW: creepy kids, mother-son trauma, lots of poop.
Kandisha
Directed by Jérôme Cohen-Olivar, Morocco, 2008
WATCH IT ON: Youtube
Bit.ly/Kandisha
Moody and gorgeous, this movie is set in Morocco, and split between Casablanca (stark white, brightly lit interiors) and the village (dark and full of twisting passageways). A female jinn threatens the rational worldview of a big-city lawyer, played by Amira Casar. Hiam Abbass (Ramy’s mom from the Hulu show) appears, and David Carradine has a cameo.
Siccin 5
Alper Mestçi, Turkey, 2018
WATCH IT ON: Youtube
Bit.ly/Siccin5
If it’s Turkish jinn possession you want, YouTube has you covered. You can find most of director Alper Mestçi’s Siccin franchise with English subtitles on YouTube, as well as his Three Letters series.
Dracula in Istanbul
Mehmet Mustar, Turkey, 1953
WATCH IT ON: Archive.org
Bit.ly/DraculaIst
This classic Dracula movie - which follows the Bram Stoker novel closely, but moves the action to Istanbul. One of the first movies to give the vampire fangs. Great, atmospheric scenes shot in early 50s Istanbul.
Under The Shadow
Babak Anvari; Iran, 2016
WATCH IT ON: Netflix
Bit.ly/watchUTS
Set in Tehran during the Iran-Iraq war, a meditation on the fallout of the Iranian Revolution from a feminine perspective. A woman and her daughter hunker down in their Tehran apartment during the Iraqi bombardment. Did the missile that struck their building bring a jinn into their lives? This favorite from Halaloween 2019 is now streaming on Netflix!
Munafik
Syamsul Yusof, Malaysia, 2016
WATCH IT ON: Youtube
Bit.ly/Munafik16
A classic jinn possession movie, Munafik explores demonic possession and gender politics. The Malaysian exteriors and interiors are gorgeous, and the reader’s comments show you how passionate people are about their jinn possession flicks. If the sexism leaves a bad taste in your mouth… start over again with KL24: Zombies!
