When The Djinn is good, it’s really good… but when it’s bad, it certainly ain’t better. It’s pretty tedious even for an 82 minute movie… maybe at an edited down 40 minute episode of some anthology show or with more story and better direction this could have been a real gem.

This little economical horror movie is about a dad and his son who move into a new apartment. The kid promptly finds one of them there Books of Shadow in the closet and promptly summons a demon while Dad is at work. And, wouldn’t you know it, a demon appears… and the kid has the audacity to be freaked out. Pro-Tip kid: don’t summon a demon unless, you know, you want to summon a demon.

So much of this film is a dull slog, making its short run time drag on too long. It’s basically just endless sequences of the kid hearing something spooky and either investigating or hiding. And, to be fair, that means the kid is on screen a lot and the actor handles it well. He’s good… but the directing and editing aren’t up to the task of making a kid wandering around a small apartment frightening, tense, or interesting.

But when the movie hits with specific (relatively short) suspenseful, scary moments, they are very, very good. Good enough to save the movie? I wish… and I debated a higher score but decided that was being too charitable. Maybe if I could find me a Book of Shadows and summon a Djinn, he could grant the wish of a better movie.

I wish I could recommend this film… I probably could if you have a lot of patience to invest to get to the good parts. Because this is – sporadically – damn good horror movie making. I just wish it was equally consistent.

Score: 70