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Folk Horror

New film coming out:
Sorcery: On the remote island of Chiloé in the late 19th century, an Indigenous girl named Rosa lives and works with her father on a farm. When the foreman brutally turns on Rosa’s father, she sets out for justice, seeking help from the king of a powerful organization of sorcerers.
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Unwelcome: A traditional Irish greeting is céad míle fáilte (100 thousand welcomes) and it's just what Jamie (Douglas Booth) and the heavily pregnant Maya (Hannah John-Kamen) receive when they move to rural Ireland after suffering a horrific home invasion in London (though for a moment the locals pretend to state at the couple like typical pub customers in Folk Horror films). Jamie has inherited the house from his late Great Aunt, a friend of whose. Maeve (Niamh Cusack) has looked after it and warns them of the need to leave out a blood offering for the Redcaps (Goblins definitely not Leprechauns), liver will do. The house needs some repairs and the duo make the mistake of employing local builders the Whelans who turn out to be a violent criminal family. Then things turn unwelcome. There are elements of humour in this film, even some good natured paddy whackery but it is generally dark in tone. When a local drunk sings a song mocking the fairies he is killed by the Redcaps. When these creatures do appear they look like malevolent Yodas, armed with little daggers. They come to the rescue of Maya when she is attacked but when called upon again for help there is a price to be paid. Some very violent scenes as the Redcaps stab, cut throats and dine on their victims., they even deliver a severed head in a plastic bag, like a faithful cat bringing home a mouse as a present. Equally upsetting is the violence of Daddy Whelan (Colm Meanry) towards his simple son Eoin and the violence of the Whelans as a whole towards Jamie and Maya during a siege of the house. Dark misty woods, the creepy muttering Redcaps and a stone structure amid the trees add to the eeriness. The unevenness of the horror/comedy tone does detract somewhat from the film as a whole but it remains a welcome addition to the Irish Folk Horror Canon (even if it was filmed in England). Directed by Jon Wright, co-written by Wright and Mark Stay. 7.5/10.

In cinemas

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Just watched the 2022 Norwegian horror Viking Wolf on Netflix.

It all kicks off some years before the Norman Conquest, when Vikings returning to Scandinavia from Normandy, bring what the sagas describe as a hell-hound back with them.
Fast forward almost a thousand years and a teenage beach party (Scandi-style) somewhere in Norway is rudely interrupted by a particularly gory murder.
Police chief Liv Mjönes (you'll recognise her from Midsommer) investigates and, as the body count starts to rise, slowly begins to accept that those ancient sagas may have some truth behind them. Worse still, her own daughter seems to be in the middle of it all.
Borrowing very heavily from An American Werewolf in London, with a few hat-tips to Jaws thrown in, Viking Wolf is a competent, but far from original take on the time-honoured lycanthrope theme.
Tying the action into ancient Viking folklore was the one glimmer of originality here, but I knew pretty well what was going to happen next and I'm sure you will too.
A minor keep-you-guessing conundrum in the finale just about makes it worthwhile staying the 97 minute course.
6/10 from me.

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Infiesto: What at the outset looks like a film about a serial killer/kidnapping ring morphs into a Spanish Folk Horror thriller. It begins in March 2020 just as the Covid lockdowns were first implemented. A girl who has been missing for nearly 3 months suddenly turns up. She has escaped from her abductors but is traumatised, remembers little. Two detectives who themselves are suffering from family separation due to the quarantines and curfews investigate the case and soon connect it to other missing young people. Strange characters are encountered and the obvious assumption is that a people trafficking gang is at work. But strange symbols are observed and the words of suspects suggest that a Cult with a hidden leader is involved. Sacrifices to appease an Old God, the coming of The End Times are all in the mix with the pandemic itself. The Asturias mountains where the detectives hunt for the Cult members and their victims provide a stark and eerie background. From old farm barns through the woods and pursuit along narrow roads, Cultists determined not to be taken alive must be pursued. Quite violent and gory in parts but much of the horror is psychological. This film could have been fleshed out and would have benefited from a twenty minute extension to it's 97 minute running time. Written and directed by Patxi Amezcua. On Netflix. 8/10.
 
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blessmycottonsocks said:
Just watched the 2022 Norwegian horror Viking Wolf on Netflix.

It all kicks off some years before the Norman Conquest, when Vikings returning to Scandinavia from Normandy, bring what the sagas describe as a hell-hound back with them.
Fast forward almost a thousand years and a teenage beach party (Scandi-style) somewhere in Norway is rudely interrupted by a particularly gory murder.
Police chief Liv Mjönes (you'll recognise her from Midsommer) investigates and, as the body count starts to rise, slowly begins to accept that those ancient sagas may have some truth behind them. Worse still, her own daughter seems to be in the middle of it all.
Borrowing very heavily from An American Werewolf in London, with a few hat-tips to Jaws thrown in, Viking Wolf is a competent, but far from original take on the time-honoured lycanthrope theme.
Tying the action into ancient Viking folklore was the one glimmer of originality here, but I knew pretty well what was going to happen next and I'm sure you will too.
A minor keep-you-guessing conundrum in the finale just about makes it worthwhile staying the 97 minute course.
6/10 from me.

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I liked it, especially the wolf/werewolf as the havoc it caused. Also the old hunter who had been tracking it for years. I'd be a bit kinder and give it 7/10
 
ramonmercado said:
I liked it, especially the wolf/werewolf as the havoc it caused. Also the old hunter who had been tracking it for years. I'd be a bit kinder and give it 7/10
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The old hunter was basically Quint from Jaws, wasn't he?

BTW thanks for the heads-up on Infiesto.
Watched it last night and, despite a few reservations about the police behaviour - I was yelling "don't go into the mines on your own. Call for backup FFS!", I enjoyed it and agree with your rating.
 
Race with the Devil (1975); Satanists in central Texas. Two couples head off in their RV for a ski trip on Aspen, Colorado, stopping off along the way. In an isolated meadow they spot a fire and hear chanting. What they first take to be an orgy turns into human sacrifice. They flee with the Satanists in hot pursuit, climbing onto the RV, breaking. Making their escape they encounter skeptical police, who act rather oddly. Actually everyone they meet is a bit off. Thus ensues a deadly chase across Texas where no one can be trusted. Hexes and spells are involved, the two women, Kelly (Lara Parker) and Alice (Loretta Swift) get books from a library to bone up on satanism & "Witchcraft". The sort of paranoia which may result is vividly illustrated when Kelly feels everyone is staring at her when they use a swimming pool. Plenty of odd characters are encountered. Perhaps this Satanist conspiracy is too all encompassing to really convince but this is an effective action/horror film. With Peter Fonda and Warren Oates as the males turning from ordinary urban dwellers into killers, a touch of Deliverance. An overlooked gem. Directed by Jack Starrett, written by Wes Bishop and Lee Frost. 7.5/10.

Streaming (free) until 3 August at: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/race-with-the-devil
 
JamesWhitehead said:
The BFI has a useful webpage about the term Folk Horror.

Unlike other sub-genres, folk horror’s very form is difficult to convey. Despite what its simplistic description implies – from the emphasis on the horrific side of folklore to a very literal horror of people – the term’s fluctuating emphasis makes it difficult to pin down outside of a handful of popular examples.

The term first came to prominence in 2010 when Mark Gatiss used it as an umbrella theme to describe a number of films in his A History of Horror documentary for BBC4. Yet the term was used in the programme in reference to an earlier interview with the director Piers Haggard for Fangoria magazine in 2004, in which Haggard suggests of his own film Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971) that he “was trying to make a folk horror film”.

Since then, the term has spiralled out, largely thanks to social media and digital platforms, to include a huge variety of culture, from silent Scandinavian cinema, public information films and the music of Ghost Box records to writing by the likes of M.R. James, Susan Cooper and Arthur Machen. It is the evil under the soil, the terror in the backwoods of a forgotten lane, and the ghosts that haunt stones and patches of dark, lonely water; a sub-genre that is growing with both newer examples summoned almost yearly – for example, Ben Wheatley’s Kill List (2011) and A Field in England (2013), Paul Wright’s For Those in Peril (2013) and Robert Eggers’ The Witch (2015) – and older examples returning from beneath the furrows like the return of the repressed.

It mentions an issue of Sight & Sound from 2010, which I have stashed away somewhere, devoted to films of "Old Wyrd Britain." :)
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This link is a great introduction for anyone wishing for a entrance into a very enjoyable genre.
 
brownmane said:
Thank you. Now I will see what everyone has talked about.
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Hope you enjoy it!
I bought the DVD some 25 years ago, when it was cheap as chips (think I paid 5 or 6 quid) but now I can see it's going for silly money - £ 60 on Amazon!
It is a classic slice of English hauntology/folk horror, but aimed at a young adult audience, so don't expect it to get too scary.
 
Third season of Van der Valk reboot is pretty good Especially the episode "Magic in Amsterdam". A participant dies during a ritual to summon up a Demon. Was he murdered or did a Demon materialise? The ritual was organised by an Occult society which included judges and rock stars. Piet Van der Valk discovers a dead cat and 666 written in a blood on a carpet during his investigation. Dueling Mages also figure in this story as well as a strange night club,and a missing person. A satisfyingly dark tale. 90 minute running time. Saw it on ITV3, it'll likely be repeated around various channels. 8/10.
 
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blessmycottonsocks said:
Hope you enjoy it!
I bought the DVD some 25 years ago, when it was cheap as chips (think I paid 5 or 6 quid) but now I can see it's going for silly money - £ 60 on Amazon!
It is a classic slice of English hauntology/folk horror, but aimed at a young adult audience, so don't expect it to get too scary.
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Not much scares me in horror.

Started it last night. The music is a little intrusive and cheesy. I'm trying to understand why they are talking about leylines other than the fact that they were of big interest in the 70's/80's.

It is entertaining. Even if I had seen it as a kid, I don't think I would have been scared. Intrigued, yes.

I watched Night Gallery and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, for example, on my own when I was about 8. Some of those scared me:)
 
Given that the last post seemed popular, I shall point out that the excellent The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971) is available in full on YouTube (increase quality setting to 1080p):


(Strangely, I have no age-restriction, but one has appeared on posting)

See also: Penda's Fen (1974) (also high-def):


Legend of the Witches (1970):

 
Dark Winds: Set mainly in the Navajo Nation reservation in 1971. The plot involves an armored truck robbery killing two guards in Gallup, New Mexico, three weeks later two murders occur in a motel in the Navajo Nation. How these two events are connected must be investigated by Tribal Police and FBI Agents including one who goes undercover in the Police. Navajo culture is important to how the plot unfolds. Medicine Women, Witches, folk magic and scaring people to death are just some aspects of this. The narrative is infused with Folk Horror, not just Sympathetic Black Magic but hexes which work suddenly from a distance. Dispossession, racism, corruption and familial loss are themes which run throughout he series. Season 1 is quite impressive, I have S2 recorded and S3 has been commissioned. Created by Graham Roland based on the Leaphorn & Chee novel series by Tony Hillerman. I saw/recorded it on AMC+. it is now being shown on Alibi. 8/10.
 
Yithian said:
Given that the last post seemed popular, I shall point out that the excellent The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971) is available in full on YouTube (increase quality setting to 1080p):


(Strangely, I have no age-restriction, but one has appeared on posting)

See also: Penda's Fen (1974) (also high-def):


Legend of the Witches (1970):

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The Penda's Fen video is blocked in the UK for copyright reasons.
 
ramonmercado said:
Dark Winds: Set mainly in the Navajo Nation reservation in 1971. The plot involves an armored truck robbery killing two guards in Gallup, New Mexico, three weeks later two murders occur in a motel in the Navajo Nation. How these two events are connected must be investigated by Tribal Police and FBI Agents including one who goes undercover in the Police. Navajo culture is important to how the plot unfolds. Medicine Women, Witches, folk magic and scaring people to death are just some aspects of this. The narrative is infused with Folk Horror, not just Sympathetic Black Magic but hexes which work suddenly from a distance. Dispossession, racism, corruption and familial loss are themes which run throughout he series. Season 1 is quite impressive, I have S2 recorded and S3 has been commissioned. Created by Graham Roland based on the Leaphorn & Chee novel series by Tony Hillerman. I saw/recorded it on AMC+. it is now being shown on Alibi. 8/10.
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Is that the one starring Zahn McLarnon? Looks great. Will have to wait for tv broadcast.
 
escargot said:
I saw that at the cinema. Can't remember a single thing about it. Either it was mundane enough to be completely forgettable or I was more interested in certain other, offscreen entertainment! :wink2:
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Blimey Scargs!
BOSC hit the cinemas in 1972.
I thought we we around the same age. All I was interested in 1972 was having bike races and playing football (and Subbuteo) with my mates!
 
escargot said:
I saw that at the cinema. Can't remember a single thing about it. Either it was mundane enough to be completely forgettable or I was more interested in certain other, offscreen entertainment! :wink2:
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Do you remember when you could buy two seats that didn't have an arm in the middle?????? :loveu:
 
Frideswide said:
Do you remember when you could buy two seats that didn't have an arm in the middle?????? :loveu:
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Yup, one of our local cinemas had those. :nods:

There was a story about a friend of mine who, during some earnest movie appreciation with her strapping boyfriend, overloaded one of the double seats and broke it. :chuckle:
 
It Lives Inside: Sometimes you get evil spirits in lamps or other fancy containers; in this Indian Folk Horror film the demon is in a Mason jar which unfortunately breaks far too easily allowing the Entity to escape. This is a story of generational conflict, Samidha "Sam" (Megan Surian) Indian-American girl who like her father wishes to assimilate, a mother who wants to hold on to the old Hindu ways. Tamira (Mohana Krishnan) is the girl who carries the jar around, after the Demon escapes she is abducted and tortured by it, This is not just another teen flick, there are convincing scenes of horror and an atmosphere of fear which pervades the film. Feeding the Entity raw meat to keep it sated in it's receptacle is a gruesome spectacle to behold. In her attempts to track down and free Tamira, Sam endures the wrath of the entity, with the help of a teacher she discovers it is a demonic Hindu spirit known as a Pishach. The Pishach is more terrifying when it is invisible, dragging people off by their hair, bloody bite marks appearing. When we finally see it is a bit disappointing, looks like a Star Trek Gorn suffering from the mange. Apart from that though this is an entertaining Folk Horror film with worthy performances by Surian and Krishnan. Written and Directed by Bishal Dutta. 7.5/10.

In cinemas.
 
Mother Superior: A Folk Horror film set in Austria in 1975. Sigrun goes to a remote mansion to nurse the ailing Baroness Heidenreich. Sigrun has ulterior motives she knows that the Baroness ran one of the SS Lebensborn Homes where Sigrun was born in 1944, Hoping to find out who her mother was , she searches through hidden archives. There's more going on in the house though, she finds the Baroness and her strange servant Otto performing Pagan Rituals. There are magazines and news clippings scattered around which point to Heidenreich's long involvement with German folk circles in particular a cult which worshiped the Moon Goddess and opposed Patriarchy. The Baroness was attempting to run a very strange breeding programme during the Nazi era. There is an eerie, ethereal feel to the film from the outset, Sigrun has dreams and visions of the Goddess and Occult activities in the manor. She undergoes preparations for a ritual, indeed the ritual may have been going on since she first arrived. The narrative unfolds through "found footage" where Sigrun is interrogated by two police officers, through flashbacks we learn of about what occurred. For once this is a film which would have benefited from additional running as at 71 minutes the ending feels a bit rushed though satisfying from a Folk horror perspective. Directed & Written by Marie Alice Wolfszahn. 8/10.

Saw it at the IFI Horrorthon.
 
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