Film

Baskin

Name: Baskin
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Released: 2015
Cast: Mehmet Cerrahoglu, Görkem Kasal, Ergun Kuyucu, Muharrem Bayrak, Fatih Dokgöz

Baskin is a Turkish descent-into-darkness horror film that abandons narrative logic in favour of pure atmospheric dread. Five cops stumble into a nightmare that unfolds like a fever dream—surreal, visceral, relentlessly cruel. It's for viewers who want to feel deeply unsettled rather than startled, who can sit with ambiguity and grotesquerie.

TMDb rating

3.0

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The Wailing2016

Korean horror masterpiece about faith, doubt, and evil that resists easy answers. Like Baskin, it builds a suffocating sense that logic and safety are illusions. Hypnotic and devastating.

But Nearly three hours long, and the final act trades clarity for metaphysical unease. Some find it frustratingly oblique.

Hereditary2018

A family horror film that treats dread as a slow poison. Both films understand that anticipation and atmosphere matter more than jump scares. Ari Aster shares Baskin's willingness to let scenes breathe into wrongness.

But Requires patience with long takes and quiet terror. The ending divides viewers sharply on whether it earns its finale.

Come True2020

Sleep study horror that prioritizes mood and body horror over plot. A direct spiritual heir to Baskin's aesthetic: clinical, hallucinatory, increasingly nauseating. Synth-heavy soundtrack amplifies the unease.

But Deliberately obscure narrative. Some scenes are genuinely hard to watch without becoming gratuitous. Sparse dialogue means you're reading visual language.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Baskin

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Angst1983

Both films use visual derangement and absence of narrative coherence to trap you in pure nightmare logic rather than story.

Austrian experimental horror following a released mental patient through a day of casual escalating violence. Filmed like a fever dream with disorienting camera work and no score—just ambient sound. Pure subjective horror without judgment or psychology. Baskin uses similar disorientation and visual language to create wrongness.

But Grainy VHS aesthetics and brutal subject matter combine into something almost unwatchable. No plot, no characters to root for, no relief. Often feels like documentation of a breakdown rather than entertainment.

Suspiria1977

Dario Argento's Italian masterpiece: a woman enters a dance academy that's actually a witch's coven. Fever-dream logic, garish colours, impossible architecture. Baskin owes it a spiritual debt—both films prioritize sensation over sense.

But Dated dubbing and occasionally awkward acting. The plot is deliberately thin. If you need a coherent mystery solved, this won't satisfy.

A Dark Song2016

A woman hires an occultist for a séance in her isolated home. Quiet, meditative horror focused on two people and their psychological unravelling. Shares Baskin's interest in faith, desperation, and the cost of obsession.

But Extremely slow and dialogue-heavy. Long scenes of stillness punctuated by sudden intensity. Requires active engagement; it won't entertain passively.

The Lighthouse2019

Two men isolated in a lighthouse descend into madness and paranoia. Formally inventive black-and-white cinematography and sound design create claustrophobia and wrongness. Both films trap you in a protagonist's deteriorating reality.

But Deliberately stylised dialogue and thick accents make it challenging to follow. The surrealism prioritises mood over plot. Some find it pretentious or unnecessarily obscure.

Under the Skin2014

Scarlett Johansson drives through Scotland picking up hitchhikers. Minimal plot, maximal dread. Avant-garde sci-fi horror that trusts you to feel unease without explanation. Baskin shares that commitment to pure atmosphere over narrative.

But Glacially paced and genuinely boring if you need action or dialogue. Large sections are essentially silent. The ending offers no catharsis or clarity.

Martyrs2008

French extremity horror about two girls seeking revenge on those who traumatised them, only to discover something worse. Baskin shares its refusal to flinch from suffering, its philosophical horror, its ambivalent ending. Genuinely haunting.

But Deeply graphic violence and torture. Not shock-value exploitation, but the intensity may be genuinely unwatchable for some. Heavy and bleak throughout.

The Skin I Live In2011

Spanish psychological thriller about a surgeon's obsession. While more plot-driven than Baskin, it shares the atmosphere of dread, the exploration of violation and loss of self, and the willingness to go to dark places. Stylish and disturbing.

But The twist, while effective, is more conventional thriller than existential horror. Some viewers find it manipulative rather than genuinely unsettling.

The Holy Mountain1973

Both films suggest that descending into darkness (or ascending toward revelation) requires abandoning rational narrative. The journey matters more than the destination or explanation.

Jodorowsky's surrealist masterpiece: a man ascends a mountain encountering increasingly absurd and grotesque symbolism. Beautifully made, genuinely bizarre, spiritually ambitious. Like Baskin, it treats horror and mysticism as inseparable, building meaning through impossible imagery rather than plot.

But Surrealism for its own sake; difficult to parse what any of it means. Deliberately provocative—animal cruelty, graphic imagery, sexual content. Could easily feel like pretentious nonsense if you're not receptive to its wavelength.

Come and See1985

Both films reject the idea that horror should provide catharsis or moral clarity. Both trust extreme imagery to communicate what story cannot. Both leave you fundamentally shaken.

Soviet war film following a boy's initiation into a partisan unit. Baskin is fantasy horror; this is document-like realism—but both are about innocence destroyed by witnessing atrocity. Devastatingly mounted, humanly unbearable. A masterpiece.

But Three hours of escalating brutality. Not entertaining—punishing. The massacre sequences are among cinema's most difficult to endure. This is not a film you 'enjoy'; it's one that changes you if you can finish it.