The Invocation of Enver Simaku

In 1997 two Spanish documentary makers, couple Julien and Angela, are working in Albania. She is killed during a night of rioting. Eighteen years later he returns determined to find the truth behind his wife's death. As he, with the help of local translators, starts to investigate links to Albanian folklore emerge; people believe the killers acted after Enver, their brother who'd been in a coma for over twenty years, died. They believe Enver had been battling a possessing spirit and upon his death it took over his brothers. Julien's investigation uncovers an older investigation by a unit of the communist era's secret police that specialised in supernatural cases.

I had no idea what to expect from this film; I only watched it because I was intrigued by its Albanian setting. I'm glad I did though. It is more of a chiller than a conventional horror film. Little happens that provides sudden scares; there is just a constant sense that something isn't quite right. The fact that it takes the form of a documentary with a series of interviews gives it a sense of reality. I thought the cast did a solid job as for the most part they came across as ordinary people being interviewed rather than actors fully at ease in front of the camera. The setting is great; the impressive scenery could be from a tourist board film but the choice of music gives it an ominous feel. I liked how it incorporated Albanian folklore, a subject I admit to knowing nothing about, into the core of the story. Overall this might not be for everybody but I'd recommend it to chiller fans looking for something a little different.

Even though the film is listed as being in English I'd recommend turning on the subtitles as there are some scenes that aren't; notable one interview that takes place in Italian.

During the first few minutes, I was skeptical- thought it was some student project. And then it was getting better and better every moment. Some real history, political impact, folk myths, paranormal investigation- it had everything. Was there any scientific explanation of the incidents? Or all of the said story was mass hysteria? Or really something occult? You'll start to ask these within half hour.

It is indeed a different kind of movie, and a good one. And no, don't expect any ghost or gore from this movie.

THE INVOCATION OF ENVER SIMAKU documents the effort of a man who tries to find out what exactly happened during a particular night in 1997 when his wife and dozens of local Albanian villagers were murdered by a seeming madman, and a period of upheaval began in the entire country.

This is a slow-burn story which takes its time to follow various leads and in the meanwhile introduces us to various topics of Albanian culture, geography and history. For a movie that is not a real documentary, it contains quite a lot of such information, and I found this aspect the most interesting. Now I know, for example, that Albania during Communist times was declared the world's first atheist country, prohibiting the exercise of religion altogether until the regime's downfall in 1990; that superstition and belief in folk myths such as the kukuth, a demon-like creature that is supposed to make people do horrible things, began to occupy the vacuum of belief in at least in some people; and that the fall of the Albanian right-wing government in 1997 was catalyzed by the failure of Ponzi schemes and subsequent losses in which the overwhelming majority of the population had invested based on the irresponsible endorsement by their government.

When it comes to the story itself, it doesn't generate too much excitement, save for a couple of unsettling scenes, of which the seeming slow emergence of a kukuth from behind a couch (or was it just the imagination?) is probably the most notable. The ending, which recapitulates the beginning, seems to have been conceived as poetic but ends up being anticlimactic.

The film is at pains to say that it is based on true events. Whether it really is or not I can't tell, but all the background info I checked turned out correct. So, this is probably most suited for people who like to learn more about other cultures in general and Albania in particular.

Definitely one of the worst 5 films I've ever seen in more than 70 years. Totally boring, un-eventful, Non-horror or anything else. I've seen reviews for "The Exorcist" give the same rating as this trash and THAT was voted the Best-Ever Horror film by fans and critics alike. How on earth can you compare the two? In the end I wish all those involved had joined Enver. .

The fact that this film has very low ratings doesn't surprise me: in order to understand it, you need a wealth of historical knowledge that is not taken for granted. The horror plot intertwines with the recent history of Albania, of which it is necessary to have at least some notions to understand different elements of the film. The story also proceeds quite slowly, while remaining in a climate of constant anguish. Visually however it is very interesting and the acting is good. It's a raw, gritty, non-commercial horror film that evidently isn't to everyone's taste (understandably, shall we say).