New Turkish Horror Series: "Kabuslar Evi" (The House of Nightmares)

Çağan Irmak could easily be called “the next best thing” for popular Turkish cinema. He was first known for his hit TV drama series “Asmalı Konak” in 2002. The series was so popular that news about it’s upcoming episodes would find place on the front pages of major newspapers. Irmak created another hit TV series in 2004, “Çemberimde Gül Oya”, and his feature debut “Mustafa Hakkında Her Şey” (All About Mustafa) hit the big screens the same year. It was a failure at the box-office and the critics weren’t that favorable towards Irmak’s thriller either, but he managed to come out fine.

It was only last year that he won the hearts of millions with his tear-drawing family drama “Babam ve Oğlum” (My Father and My Son). The film opened to modest numbers but became such a phenomenon that it stayed at the top of the box office list for weeks, in the end becoming the third biggest grossing film ever in Turkey behind “Kurtlar Vadisi: Irak” (Valley of Wolves: Iraq) and “G.O.R.A.”. Irmak received the nod from the Film Critics Association of Turkey this time and the film won many of the top awards including Best Film and Best Director.

His next project, “Kabuslar Evi” (House of Nightmares), is in a different genre than the emotional roller-coasters he is known for. A horror series that tells a complete story in each episode, it is said to be similar to “Twilight Zone” and “Masters of Horror”. Thirteen episodes were planned for the series, each of them approximately an hour long. The completed 10 episodes are yet to find a television deal but, in an interesting marketing decision, the first 4 episodes have just been released on separate DVDs this week. Briefly, they are:

1- Takip (The Chase): A psychological thriller that follows a man who decides to come face to face with his greatest fear- a werewolf that he believes has been chasing him for the past 30 years.

2- Son Dans (The Last Dance): An old lady bound to a wheelchair moves with her son and daughter-in-law to their new house and comes upon an awaiting guest who she also has been expecting for a long time.

3- Hayal-i Cihan (Cihan’s Dream): The story of a man who moves to a new house in the country to leave all troubles of the urban life behind, only to find that his search for solace won’t be that easy since his new home has its own troubles to bring.

4- Tanıdık Yabancı (The Familiar Stranger): A young woman returns to her small hometown and starts living with her mother. She finds a job in a real estate office and during a sales visit to a house, she comes across a reminder of her troubled past.

Among the cast appearing in different episodes are well known names such as Fikret Kuşkan, Hümeyra, Çetin Tekindor, Şerif Sezer and Yetkin Dikinciler, who have all worked with Irmak in “Babam ve Oğlum”.

Irmak also announced his upcoming feature film project which is another horror flick with the working title “Ulak” (The Messenger). The story will take place in early centuries and follow mercenaries in a commercial caravan who get possessed by an evil force one by one.

Though it’s certainly blooming once again as a genre, Turkish horror hasn’t been able to prove itself yet as it mostly stands in the shadow of the inspiration directors get from their Asian counterparts. Recently released Turkish horrors such as “D@bbe”, “Gen” and “Araf” (The Purgatory) received some harsh notes from critics and Irmak’s new area of interest could prove to be risky as well. The DVD releases haven’t made much noise yet, so we’ll see how the reaction forms. In any case, he will probably come out without any scratches.

Official Site (embedded flash trailer under 'Fragman')