Two thousand years ago, there was a place in Gomeda valley where local women, who became pregnant in non marital relationships, were thrown to die with their unwanted children. According to the legend a curse, fed through the umbilical cord consisting of Devil's words, was born.
Following strange dreams, a group of youngsters drives through Turkish back roads in search of Gomeda valley. After a close encounter with something resembling to a ghost, their car crashes and they carry on by foot.
I have a daily routine where I try to watch a horror movie just before going to bed. This is not primary because horror movies are best seen when it's dark outside, but it is a bit tough to find some spare time throughout the day. When I was a kid feeding on Freddy and Jason, those kind of movies would almost always generate nightmares, but in these days there is no such thing. That's a shame, because I really like complex dreams with a creepy overtone. "Gomeda" is something pretty much what I would describe as a perfect nightmare.
For the past couple of weeks I watched movies ranging from bad to mediocre, so I was really up for watching something interesting tonight. A small airmail package from Turkey saved the day - the people behind "Gomeda" sent us a DVD screener to which they had just burned English subtitles. From the first couple of scenes of the movie, I knew I was going to enjoy it - pretty original idea for the introduction, some great photography, creepy looking set and all wrapped up with a terrific music background.
After the car crash, things start rolling pretty fast with a bunch of different onscreen happenings that will surely make you think a bit and try to follow the story. The youngsters do the old "Evil Dead" routine when they read from an unknown book and by doing this destroy the borders between reality and nightmares.
 
Until modern J-Horror movies, I really wasn't into movies that had non-linear storylines, but now I find them much more interesting than the "normal" ones. Although confusing in some parts, "Gomeda" is not boring for a moment and the series of events backed by some pretty interesting visual escapades will occupy your attention until the end credits.
I like visual perversions in horror movies. Sick details, strange happenings, a bit twisted scenes - these are the things I really dig. The second Hellraiser was to me the best of the series, because the whole "hell" experience provided a perfect atmosphere for a horror movie. It was like living a nightmare and "Gomeda" reminded me of that feeling. How can you not like the scenes with a man crucified on a cross with a telephone near his chests simulating a phone booth? A young mother hand-sewing with cotton and condoms while feeding her doll baby with nails? These are just some of the cool examples.
Some people reading the previous paragraph could criticize me saying that sick or depraved scenes are not what makes a good horror movie. I absolutely agree, but all those scenes are there for a purpose, as the writer/director Tan Tolga Demirci admirably creates a nightmare that is from the "content" perspective 100% absurd, but at the same time from a technical standpoint very realistic. Just think about it, the majority of different happenings in your dreams (or nightmares if you prefer) are usually influenced with some little detail that happened the same day or the day before. If you have imagination, you will enjoy putting the pieces of the puzzle together.
The actors should have been a bit better in some of the scenes, but as the movie is levitating in the world of nightmares, you can go by this and "blame" it on the perception of how someone would react in the situation that's maybe real or not. The end of the movie, the only thing that could ruin my whole experience with "Gomeda", went just fine and in the line of my understanding of the movie. Maybe it was not one of a kind ending as it had some touching points with a couple of flicks I watched, but it really made me think about its conclusion.
As you can see I really enjoyed in "Gomeda". While it doesn't carry on too many frights, the movie is really powerful on the visual perspective with a good idea backing it and overall provides a respectable entry to the growing list of quality international horror movies.
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE:
MOVIE YEAR: 2007
DIRECTOR: Tan Tolga Demirci
WRITING CREDITS: Tan Tolga Demirci
GENRE: Horror, Fantasy, Thriller
CAST: Feride Çetin, Halim Ercan, Bulut Köpük
COUNTRY: Turkey
RUNTIME: 90 min
RATING: 8/10
Gomeda Website/IMDB Click here
Gomeda Trailer Click here
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