DACHRA - streaming on Shudder and Kanopy
There’s quite a bit to like about this Tunisian horror film. There’s also quite a lot to be frustrated about.
On the positive side, the direction is crisp and cool with lots of wonderfully composed shots that help to instill a sense of unease and dread. The acting is solid, too. But damn if this isn’t one derivative endeavor.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: a group of college kids decide to go investigate a strange patient at a creepy insane asylum and film the interview for their journalism senior project. Naturally, they uncover a mystery and end up in the woods “enjoying” the hospitality of a strange community. Witchcraft and demons may be involved. Furthermore, our protagonist is an orphan who has been experiencing menacing nightmares.
Culling familiar elements from The Blair Witch Project (and dozens of other like-minded films that followed in its wake), the “Lady In Black” mythos, and of course the whole creepy backwoods locals schtick really hurts the story, especially since it embraces so many worn-out tropes without really giving them a new shine.
I am cutting the film a little bit of slack due to “exotic bias,” as the Tunisian locales were stunning and weird and the language (a mixture of Arabic and French) is mellifluous to the ears.
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