Dabbe: The Possession (Turkey, 2013)
While we’ve been stuck in the US with Paranormal Activity, Turkish director Hasan Karacadag has been assaulting his homeland with his Dabbe franchise. This isn’t the first in the series, and it may not even be the best, but it’s the most widely available, and it’s pretty damned good. A psychiatrist studying a local exorcist for her thesis decides to bring him to her hometown to meet her disturbed childhood friend. Obviously, things do not go as planned. While the story grabs you, it does feel a bit long at over two hours. Fortunately, this is the only drawback.
Nightshot (France, 2018)
A French urbex explorer brings her camera operator to an abandoned mental institution to film a live episode for their internet show. What sounds like a basic plot ends up being far from it. As the one behind the camera, Hugo König directed this masterpiece in one single take using impeccable staging and movement to amp up the scares. It’s actually one of the most frightening haunted house movies you’ll ever see, so make sure to watch it alone with the lights off.
