First Arab 3D horror movie “Day 13” rakes in record ticket sales

Yet Hollywood's 3D offerings are a natural reference point in these discussions; for better or worse, they're the blueprint for a growing genre. The "Day 13" producers themselves would be hard-pressed to avoid comparisons when making an animated horror film, considering the genre has not yet found its footing in Arab and Egyptian cinema.

Hollywood, of course, doesn't have a monopoly on either 3D or horror movies. In fact, some of the most memorable horror films in history have come to us from different corners of the world.

But Egyptian filmmakers have historically looked up to American filmmakers. And while Hollywood may have exhausted most of its formulaic horror plotlines, they still know how to pack a punch with unexpected twists and impressively creepy CGI.

A haunted palace sets the scene

It's only natural to be influenced by what's already out there. Ideas evolve and mutate, taking on exciting new shapes and forms every day.

When the Egyptian horror film franchise  "The Blue Elephant" was released a few years ago, clearly taking a page out of the Hollywood playbook, it quickly became a high-grossing box office hit, inspiring a new generation of Egyptian horror producers.

But despite a solid mystery at its core, "Day 13" doesn't add anything particularly new to the horror movie conventions we know and love.

It starts with an eerie young girl in a white dress – another Hollywood archetype – who's surrounded by a swarm of ravens, flapping their wings as they descend towards the viewer – an unsettling welcome that is amplified in 3D.

"Some people believe in ghosts," the onscreen text reads, "but others don't." This already feels redundant for a horror movie about ghosts, but thankfully, it's only the beginning.

Next, a set of surveillance cameras depicts chairs moving and doors opening and closing on their own – or, presumably, at the behest of invisible supernatural beings.

Then, more text: "The events of this film were based on popular tales with some modification."

Finally, with the opening scenes out of the way, we begin to sink our teeth into some plot.

Overhead shots show a train travelling through extremely narrow tracks between mountains – a terrifying sight for acrophobic viewers, no doubt – surrounded by palaces on remote, snowy hills.

Emerging from this European setting, the protagonist and heir of the palace (Ahmed Dawood), arrives at the scorching hustle and bustle of Cairo. A witty taxi driver (Mohammad Tharwat) transports him to the family's old grounds.

There, an abandoned mansion immediately brings to mind Cairo's notorious Baron Empain Palace, widely believed to be haunted. It's also reminiscent of the palace at the heart of another Egyptian horror film, "Humans and Jinn," where the jinn (Adel Imam) takes his human lover (Yusra) to visit his family.

A murder mystery makes things interesting

It becomes quickly apparent that the palace is, in fact, haunted. The protagonist's lawyer (Magdy Kamel) even says so himself when he learns that his client plans to sell the place; after all, it's his only inheritance and his ticket out of financial ruin.

But, for the sale to take place, our protagonist would have to disprove the rumour that the residence is home to more than just humans. This leaves him no other choice than to live there himself.

At least that's the ploy under which the filmmakers place all the characters at the mercy of the palace and its (presumed) ghosts.

The lawyer asks his wife (Dina al-Shirbini) to accompany the protagonist to his family's property. There, the palace guard's wife (Nisreen Amin) decides to have a bath in one of the bathrooms, despite fearing it might be haunted.

As the story unfolds, more secondary characters flock to the palace.

The noose begins to tighten on everyone's necks, while a series of scares typical of the horror genre ensue. At least one of these scares seems to have been forced into the plot for the sole purpose of mimicking Hollywood: the lawyer's wife levitates to the ceiling while screaming in utter horror, before falling back onto a bed.

The only way to explain this unnecessary and glaringly obvious replica of "The Exorcist" is that some Arab filmmakers still think their productions would be incomplete without an overt nod to Hollywood's tried-and-true tactics.

Despite its shortcomings, "Day 13" offers a relatively intriguing mystery: the palace's curse can be traced back to the murder of the protagonist's mother (Jumana Murad), two decades earlier.

The plot thickens with the arrival of psychic Qaisun (Sherif Munir), who lends the film an Agatha Christie feel. Who killed the pretty lady, who unintentionally made all the men in her life fall in love with her? And how, exactly, was she murdered?

Thus begins a guessing game, guided by Christie's famed phrase: "The murderer is usually the least suspected person."

Flashback scenes are par for the course, marked by muted colours save for a splash of bright red. These visual effects are easily the highlight of the 3D experience.

Numerous guest stars, including Phaedra, Arwa Gouda, Mahmoud Abdulmoghni, Ahmad Zaher, and Nihal Anbar fill out the rest of the cast, bringing along complicated subplots and red herrings to throw us for a loop, just when we think we've figured it all out.

A refreshing twist, with women as victims of men

Another interesting aspect of "Day 13" is its depiction of women. Especially given the extremely misogynistic take of Ahmad Murad's "The Blue Elephant" and "The Blue Elephant 2" films a few years earlier, whose female characters were all portrayed as villains of the defeated male protagonist.

Whether conscious or subconscious, this hostility towards women is typical of screenwriter Murad's work, as evident in his other movies, like "Diamond Sand." Similar misogyny was perpetuated by other filmmakers in subsequent horror offerings, such as "Before Forty" and "Tiller", where women were depicted as wicked creatures that served only as sources of evil.

This may not come entirely as a shock, as horror films have been known to exploit subconscious fears, unspoken emotions and contentious convictions that cannot be expressed publicly.

However, "Day 13" successfully distances itself from that misogyny. Instead, the film shows women as victims of a patriarchal society.

We see how the protagonist's father (Mahmoud Abdulghani) was unfaithful to his wife and treated her in a way that was born out of his own prejudices. Meanwhile, Qaisun the psychic, has no mercy on the other women in the palace, even going as far as presenting the life of another woman as a sacrifice to break the curse.

Still, women's voices ring loud and clear throughout the movie. The curse that befalls the palace may be regarded as justice – a kind of retribution against men and their patriarchal system, particularly as it relates to the economy.

The women in "Day 13" are oppressed, driven to madness, and turned into scapegoats by the people closest to them. It's an injustice reminiscent of the long-gone witch-hunt trials.

But, satisfyingly, they never yield to their oppression. Instead, they find a (terrifying) way to resist the brutal apathy that stifles their existence.

Did the film set out to portray a general social and economic downfall, beneath all the scares and whodunnits? Perhaps the answer to this question lies in the sequel – if there ever is one. The last scene of the movie certainly sets us up for more.