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Folk Horror

Watched Superterranean (2020) tonight on Prime Video.

A very strange, unsettling and memorable movie.
An injured and amnesiac climber awakes in a remote bothy and tries to piece together what has happened.
After a while a strange man joins him but, instead of being concerned about sending for help, regales him with philosophical musings, tales of the sidhe, the Grey Man of Ben Macdui and other mystical material. It's quite long and talky, but creepily atmospheric and was definitely worth staying the course, for one hell of a twist, that certainly blindsided me.
A very Fortean dose of folk horror that merits a solid 8.5/10 from me.

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ramonmercado said:
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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Watched it tonight on Sky.
Paddywhackery by the shed load and Colm (chief O'Brien) Meaney has never been more menacing.
When you finally get to see the "Red Caps" though (they are to Leprechauns what Orcs are to Elves) they look rather ridiculous - bit like demented muppets. They do get some of the best lines though - loved the "silly Billy" following a whack on the head by a frying pan.
Utterly bonkers, largely predictable, but nonetheless fairly entertaining.
A 6.5/10 from me.
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
Watched Superterranean (2020) tonight on Prime Video.

A very strange, unsettling and memorable movie.
An injured and amnesiac climber awakes in a remote bothy and tries to piece together what has happened.
After a while a strange man joins him but, instead of being concerned about sending for help, regales him with philosophical musings, tales of the sidhe, the Grey Man of Ben Macdui and other mystical material. It's quite long and talky, but creepily atmospheric and was definitely worth staying the course, for one hell of a twist, that certainly blindsided me.
A very Fortean dose of folk horror that merits a solid 8.5/10 from me.

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That sounds great, i'll check it out.
 
The Outcasts (1982): Released for one week in a cinema in Dublin, had a VHS release in 1983, broadcast by Channel Four in 1984, the film was until now, i\virtually mpossible to find. This 2k restoration has been created by the IFI Irish Film Archive through IFI’s Digital Restoration Project funded by Screen Ireland / Fís Éireann with support from the Association des Cinémathèques Européennes (ACE) and the EU Creative Europe MEDIA programme.

A tale of Pre-Famine Ireland set in the early 19th century, elements of the Celtic Christian Church remain, the local priest (Paul Bennett) is no puritan and presides with equanimity over a shotgun (or rather shillelagh) wedding. The union is brokered by the Matchmaker Keenan (Cyril Cusack), one of the Archetypal characters who stride through this narrative. Keenan, like many in this story is unsure of his identity, we see him examining his face in a small mirror as he rides into the valley. The bride to be's sister Maura (Mary Ryan) is simple minded, away with the fairies as folk say. She is bullied by other teens, even her own family, telling her scary stories. As Keenan rides home he sees a vision of Scarf Michael (Mick Lally), a liminal character, a musician but no fiddler of Dooney, a far darker being. At the wedding feast, strange fiddle music is heard outside of the house. When the younger people go into the woods later, Maura is again bullied and separated from them and meets Scarf Michael. He performs folk magic which frightens Maura's tormentors. He says he is a conjurer but appears as more of a Shaman who is dealing with powers rather than tricks. Maura sleeps in a graveyard with Scarf Michael but this might also be a liminal space. After she gets home it is known that she was with Scarf Michael, those with grudges accuse her of witchcraft and she is blamed for every misfortune which occurs in the area. Though the priest defends her she is under threat and must summon Scarf Michael to protect her.

This is a dark magical tale entwining Irish Myths, History and the poetry of W.B. Yeats. There are magical journeys through a brutal landscape, (which sometimes has gentler forest glades), quests for answers that cannot be found in this world and maybe not in the in-between zones either. Michael tries to nurture Maura, make her aware of her own incipient powers. There is a goat in the film which is reminiscent of Black Philip in The Witch, as are other scenes in The Outcasts. I saw the film in the IFI at a special screening on Tuesday, December 12. This is a film which deserves a wider audience, the Irish Film Institute intends to screen it again in 2024. Hopefully it will be broadcast on television and made available for streaming and DVD release. Directed and Written by Robert Wynne-Simmons. 9/10.
 
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lordmongrove said:
Coal Face: Devil in The Smoke. Fantastic horror story set against the backdrop of the miner's strike in 1984. A monstrous dragon emerges from under a coalface in the north of England. It would make a great film.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Coal-Face-Devil-Jay-Gunn/dp/B0BYLRVT15/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1YQ8JJY65WU4X&keywords=coal+face+devil+in+the+smoke&qid=1702504171&s=books&sprefix=coal+face+devil+in+the+smoke,s tripbooks,233&sr=1-1View attachment 72103
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That sounds very similar to 2002's excellent Reign Of Fire. British coal mine but this earlier written story's set in 2084 instead of 1984, loads of dragons unleashed, the world is now plunged back into medieval times decades later. An effective U.S. Marines dragon hunting squad are formed.

 
Swifty said:
That sounds very similar to 2002's excellent Reign Of Fire. British coal mine but this earlier written story's set in 2084 instead of 1984, loads of dragons unleashed, the world is now plunged back into medieval times decades later. An effective U.S. Marines dragon hunting squad are formed.

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Its much, much darker and the dragon is a dragon, not a wyvern.
 
lordmongrove said:
Its much, much darker and the dragon is a dragon, not a wyvern.
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So, please correct me if I have misunderstood this @lordmongrove, but a Wyvern (a rather nice pub local to me bears that very name!) is a mythical, but just about plausible tetrapod, having two legs and two wings.
A dragon, on the other hand, is supposed to have four legs and two wings - i.e. utterly impossible, given all the knowledge we have about terrestrial zoology.
Do you accept that true hexapods are restricted to arthropoda, and that dragons are supposed to be vertebrates which, by definition, cannot possibly possess 6 limbs?
That is unless you count something like the Draco volans' spread ribs as limbs?
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
So, please correct me if I have misunderstood this @lordmongrove, but a Wyvern (a rather nice pub local to me bears that very name!) is a mythical, but just about plausible tetrapod, having two legs and two wings.
A dragon, on the other hand, is supposed to have four legs and two wings - i.e. utterly impossible, given all the knowledge we have about terrestrial zoology.
Do you accept that true hexapods are restricted to arthropoda, and that dragons are supposed to be vertebrates which, by definition, cannot possibly possess 6 limbs?
That is unless you count something like the Draco volans' spread ribs as limbs?
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Some really old paintings do depict the dragon as 2-legged, 2-winged - but obviously, they weren't painting it from life:

st_george_dragon.jpg



381px-St_George_and_the_Dragon_Verona_ms_1853_26r.jpg


paolo-uccello-st-george-and-the-dragon-2-EPH870.jpg
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
So, please correct me if I have misunderstood this @lordmongrove, but a Wyvern (a rather nice pub local to me bears that very name!) is a mythical, but just about plausible tetrapod, having two legs and two wings.
A dragon, on the other hand, is supposed to have four legs and two wings - i.e. utterly impossible, given all the knowledge we have about terrestrial zoology.
Do you accept that true hexapods are restricted to arthropoda, and that dragons are supposed to be vertebrates which, by definition, cannot possibly possess 6 limbs?
That is unless you count something like the Draco volans' spread ribs as limbs?
Click to expand...
Dragon lore is highly complex and ancient. I've written two books on it. If you go along the flesh and blood path then you could postulate a huge lizard with either webbed, extended ribs or struts or cartilage with webbing rather than true wings. Peter Dickinson in his 1979 book The Flight of Dragons theorized a dinosaur descendent with such ribbed wings that flew and breathed fire due to manipulation of gas in an extendable, chambered stomach.
You could, by contrast look on dragons as a supernatural manifestation, then such things are not set in stone, a six limbed entity is not an impossibility as it is not a product of natural evolution. I write in depth about this in my new book The Highest Strangeness which is due out next year.
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
Watched Superterranean (2020) tonight on Prime Video.

A very strange, unsettling and memorable movie.
An injured and amnesiac climber awakes in a remote bothy and tries to piece together what has happened.
After a while a strange man joins him but, instead of being concerned about sending for help, regales him with philosophical musings, tales of the sidhe, the Grey Man of Ben Macdui and other mystical material. It's quite long and talky, but creepily atmospheric and was definitely worth staying the course, for one hell of a twist, that certainly blindsided me.
A very Fortean dose of folk horror that merits a solid 8.5/10 from me.

View attachment 71235
Click to expand...
I saw this tonight (Tubitv). Thanks for telling us about this one. I like it for the same reasons you do, and having just reread your post, the ending also took me by surprise. Not. A. Clue.:omg: Very atmospheric and well done. The philosophical discussions were interesting and I wanted to ponder on them, but I was also trying to figure out just what was actually happening and seeing if there were subtle clues.
 
The Curse of Humpty Dumpty (2021).

Based around the mysterious and vaguely disturbing nursery rhyme, this low-budget Brit folk horror is reasonably well acted and contained a surprising level of nuance, which saw me through to the end.
Wendy is diagnosed with dementia and returns to her (suitably old and spooky) childhood home to be looked after by her two daughters.
On a trip to the local village, Wendy visits an antique shop and spots a large and grotesque doll, which she believes belonged to her when she was a child and, despite her daughters' protestations, insists on buying it for a grossly-inflated price.
Once "Humpty Dumpty" is installed back at the house, it isn't long before weird stuff starts to happen. The subtlety here is that the film keeps you guessing whether events are genuinely paranormal or merely a manifestation of Wendy's dementia. As fragments of Wendy's memory resurface, along with the Humpty Dumpty legend, other folk horror elements, including occult worship and human sacrifice are hinted at.
Only moderately gory, but there are a few decent jump-scares in its 93 minute run-time.
Better than I expected, I'd rate it as a 7/10.
On Amazon Prime Video.


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Bring out the Fear.

This 2021 Irish movie ticks a great many of the standard folk horror boxes.
Dan and his recovering alcoholic girlfriend Rose go for a walk in the Wicklow woods, only to find themselves pixie-led and walking in circles.
Perhaps not the most opportune moment for Dan to propose to Rose. She turns him down and the ensuing awkwardness is compounded by a whole series of folk horror tropes. We have Panic in the original sense, an apparent vardoger of Rose's ex, strange effigies, weird noises (banshees?) and time dilation, as the day stretches on seemingly forever and escape from the woods appears impossible.
So far so good, but all of these memes felt to me rather like the director simply bashing all his favourite horror toys together with no real attempt at coherent development or explanation. The enigmatic ending left me feeling very short changed too.
A decent overall premise and adequately acted for a low-budget movie, but ultimately rather unsatisfying.
5½/10 from me.
On Amazon Prime.

fear.png
 
Play

“We Won’t be Hungry Much Longer” : Survival Cannibalism in North American Folk Horror Narratives​

TLRHub
​


TLRHub​

Follow TLRHub and others on SoundCloud.

Recorded March 26, 2024.

A talk by Dr Bernice Murphy (TCD) -

“We Won’t be Hungry Much Longer”: Survival Cannibalism in North American Folk Horror Narratives.

English Staff-Postgraduate Seminar Series is a fortnightly meeting which has been integral to the School of English research community since the 1990s. The aim of the seminar series is to provide a relaxed and convivial atmosphere for staff and students to present their research to their peers. The series also welcomes distinguished guest lecturers from the academic community outside Trinity College to present on their work. It is a fantastic opportunity to share ideas and engage with the diverse research taking place within the School.

https://soundcloud.com/tlrhub%2Fwe-wont-be-hungry-much-longe
 
All You Need is Death: Searching for rare traditional songs is an art, you can't just be a chancer, you have to understand and appreciate the topic, but there is money to be made, rich collectors will pay for previously unheard variations but will pay a lot more for lost songs, so the trade does attract some mercenary characters. A couple, maybe mid twenties, Anna (Simone Collins) and Aleks (Charlie Maher) travel around bars, houses and towns, looking for old folk songs. They'll even stage mock fights in an attempt to draw out more information, with Anna being the damsel in distress. They get some garbled account of a folk singer who has unknown songs but the trail peters out. They attend a seminar of like minded song hunters, run by Agnes (Catherine Siggins) who informs all participants that she might only be able to set them on the road to finding the rare songs. Impressed by Anna's singing she provides them with the name of the singer. Rita Concannon (Olwen Fouéré), and her hometown, Crossmaglen but claims she is dead. When they finally get to Rita's house they find Agnes already there, speaking to the hard drinking Rita who is very much alive and in a wardrobe. Coming out of the closet she sings a song for Anna which is in an unknown language, containing elements of Old Irish. while Anna doesn't record the song, Agnes clandestinely does so. This seems to unleash powerful malign forces.

Music and song is very important to this film, how old songs are handed down, in this case over millennia from mother to daughter. The main song 1s by Lankum’s Ian Lynch and Paul Duane, is really magnificent. The forces summoned up are seen as smudges at times but can forcefully slay their victims, indeed this a gory film with some very disturbing scenes but a lot of the horror is psychological. There are also elements of body horror introduced as the narrative unfolds and we see flashbacks to an ancient time when the events in the song took place. It would probably be a spoiler to reveal much more of the plot except to mention Rita's son, Breezeblock (Nigel O'Neill) a puppeteer and children's entertainer who is as highly-strung as his marionettes as he goes on a murderous rampage across Ireland. Though Olwen Fouéré's role is little more than a cameo it is central to the film as she convincingly portrays a wisewoman/keeper of secrets who is plagued (quite literally) by her demons. Simone Collins is impressive not least in her singing abilities and her change in character half way through the movie. There are some problems with pacing but this is a worthy addition to the Irish Folk Horror Film Canon. Written & Directed by Paul Duane. 8/10.

In cinemas.
 
ramonmercado said:
All You Need is Death: Searching for rare traditional songs is an art, you can't just be a chancer, you have to understand and appreciate the topic, but there is money to be made, rich collectors will pay for previously unheard variations but will pay a lot more for lost songs, so the trade does attract some mercenary characters. A couple, maybe mid twenties, Anna (Simone Collins) and Aleks (Charlie Maher) travel around bars, houses and towns, looking for old folk songs. They'll even stage mock fights in an attempt to draw out more information, with Anna being the damsel in distress. They get some garbled account of a folk singer who has unknown songs but the trail peters out. They attend a seminar of like minded song hunters, run by Agnes (Catherine Siggins) who informs all participants that she might only be able to set them on the road to finding the rare songs. Impressed by Anna's singing she provides them with the name of the singer. Rita Concannon (Olwen Fouéré), and her hometown, Crossmaglen but claims she is dead. When they finally get to Rita's house they find Agnes already there, speaking to the hard drinking Rita who is very much alive and in a wardrobe. Coming out of the closet she sings a song for Anna which is in an unknown language, containing elements of Old Irish. while Anna doesn't record the song, Agnes clandestinely does so. This seems to unleash powerful malign forces.

Music and song is very important to this film, how old songs are handed down, in this case over millennia from mother to daughter. The main song 1s by Lankum’s Ian Lynch and Paul Duane, is really magnificent. The forces summoned up are seen as smudges at times but can forcefully slay their victims, indeed this a gory film with some very disturbing scenes but a lot of the horror is psychological. There are also elements of body horror introduced as the narrative unfolds and we see flashbacks to an ancient time when the events in the song took place. It would probably be a spoiler to reveal much more of the plot except to mention Rita's son, Breezeblock (Nigel O'Neill) a puppeteer and children's entertainer who is as highly-strung as his marionettes as he goes on a murderous rampage across Ireland. Though Olwen Fouéré's role is little more than a cameo it is central to the film as she convincingly portrays a wisewoman/keeper of secrets who is plagued (quite literally) by her demons. Simone Collins is impressive not least in her singing abilities and her change in character half way through the movie. There are some problems with pacing but this is a worthy addition to the Irish Folk Horror Film Canon. Written & Directed by Paul Duane. 8/10.

In cinemas.
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Ian Lynch on Scoring All You Need is DeathCLIP • 21 MINS • 15 APR • ARENAPaul Duane’s All You Need is Death gets its cinema release this Friday. Lankum’s Ian Lynch composed the soundtrack and joined Sean to talk about it.

https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22384435/
 
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