DACHRA: CURSE OF THE WITCH
Directed by: Abdelhamid Bouchnak
Starring: Yassmine Dimassi, Bilel Slatnia, Aziz Jebali
An investigation into witchcraft leads a trio of journalism students to a mysterious town marked by sinister rituals. Inspired by true events…
Touted as Tunisia's first horror film, DACHRA delivers a mix of atmosphere, dread and, clocking in at just under two hours, flawed pacing.
The film starts in a very powerful way, with a young child being laid out on a sacrificial rock and decapitated (thankfully off-screen). Then we're off to Tunis, where three journalism students Yasmine, Walid and Bilal are preparing to undertake a new project. Walid tells of a story he'd heard about a woman in a mental asylum, who'd been rescued 20 years earlier, with tales of witchcraft. The others are intrigued and agree to follow up on it with interviews at the asylum. This in itself turns out to be a harrowing experience but it eventually leads them towards the mountain village of Dachra.
As mentioned, there is an issue with pacing. It takes over 40 min of screentime before the trio are on the road towards the titular village and they spend most of that time bickering and yelling at each other. They don't do much to endear themselves to the audience, that is for sure. There is one particularly good moment set in the library, where Yasmine has a spooky encounter, which worked really well, and the trip to the asylum was quite tense.
The village they end up in is very peculiar. This is certainly not the image most of us have of Tunisia; Dachra is a dreary, muddy village set in the forest, with most of the buildings turned to ruins over the years. The womenfolk don't talk to outsiders; in fact only one man, Saber, gives them the time of day and sets them up in what used to be a hotel.
There are some nicely pulled off camera shots and edits to make things visually interesting. They are needed, too, as the colour palette for the film, is very washed out. Only a young girl's red coat stands out, much like in Schindler's List, or more significantly, the yellow raincoat in Don't Look Back. Unfortunately, this mixed with the darkness of many scenes means that any visceral moments are lost in the shadows.
The enigmatic nature of the film and its oppressive atmosphere eventually start to boil over and deliver some answers for the viewer. Yasmine finds a journal written by a woman 20 years ago - possibly the woman in the asylum - and the horrific nature of where they are and what is going on around them starts to sink home, leading to a terrifying climax I was very much on board with! There is a late-on twist, also, which might have you scratching your head a little!
THE VERDICT
Director Bouchnak certainly understands how to evoke dread and unease - even before arriving at the village he delivers a decent scare/jump scare combo. It’s a shame the main characters are so unlikeable - even Yasmine bickers, argues and yells with the best of them - it makes it all the more harder to care when the horror elements start to ramp up. However, the film delves deep into the earthiness of its witchcraft ideas and delivers some very disturbing and unsettling imagery.
7 out of 10