Izmir's Hacıömerli village's inhabitants left one by one to work in the newly established factories in the province's nearby industrial hub of Aliağa in the early '70s. Yet, the abandonment and the empty feel it left behind has made the village the favorite spot for horror movie producers.
"There was a tailor, grocery store and blacksmith in our village. Ours was a village where the surrounding villages did their shopping. Thirty years after the migration started, it became completely empty," Suat Ural, the mukhtar of Hacıömerli village, said. Currently, 10 people live in three households in the village.
The locals, however, are not exactly happy the village is associated with horror movies.
Turkish filmmakers tend to shoot horror movies that take place in deserted villages, usually one of the inhabitants ends up being haunted by a jinn, a supernatural creature usually depicted as evil in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic mythology and theology.
"The village looks like a horror movie set because it is desolate at night. We are not happy with the promotion of the village in this way. After the film is shot, it is not restored. They removed the street lights and did not put them back up. Then they shoot a horror movie because it is dark,” Ural complained to the producers.
Halil Erkeçli lived in the village until the age of 24 and then left the village to work. "After retirement, I came here again. I do ranch in my village. One feels sad, but life conditions required me to leave it in those years. Our village was a very beautiful place to live, but the conditions were difficult. Neighborhood relations, customs and traditions were very good,” he said.
"The horror movie does nothing to promote the village," said Erkeçli.
"They made signs on the houses and shot films in dark places. It has nothing to do with the promotion village. They do not show the beauty of the village. Instead of horror films, other films that highlight the natural beauty can be made,” he added.
