Folk Horror

[sherbetbizarre]

From Mark Jenkins, director of Bait (2019)

 

[BaronHardacre]

A music video, rather than film here, but very much in the folk horror vein, and slightly unsettling.

 

[ramonmercado]

The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself: Fairborn Witches battle the Blood Witches. Nathan is the son of a Fairborn Witch but his father was the evil Blood Witch Marcus Edge. Raised by his grandmother he is constantly assessed by the Fairborn Witch Council to see if he is displaying Blood Witch Traits. Things get complicated as his seventeenth birthday approaches, when Witches develop greater powers. This is set in the present day, the witches operate hidden in plain sight unknown to ordinary people. We see some manifestations of powers, shape shifting (the Evil Edge can turn into a wolf), telekinesis, mind control. but a lot of the battles between Witches will be be down to physical prowess.and being skilled in martial arts. Quite violent, even people torn limb from limb but tension is built through psychological horror as clashes, indeed doom at times, are awaited. The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself is based on a Young adult fiction novel Half Bad written by Sally Green, the series is created by Joe Barton who writes/co-writes six of the episodes. Reminds me of Outcast directed by Colm McCarthy. who also directs four episodes of this ( eight episode) Netflix Series. 8/10.

Edited to add content.

 

[ramonmercado]

The Golem: Jewish Folk Horror film set in Lithuania in 1673. The usual happens, a plague strikes the area, Jews who love in an isolated Shtetl are blamed for it, why else would they be free from the plague? It's not just antisemitism which is covered here, so is the restricted life of women in rural Shtetls. Hanna rejects this and studies the Torah and Kaballah, especially on the esoteric topics. which have driven many scholars mad. When local farmers in plague masks attack the village Hanna argues with the Rabbi, saying they should use Kaballah powers to resist the invaders. Rejected she breaks into the synagogue and finds the 72 secret names of God hidden in the Torah in order to reveal the code of merkabah, which could summon a Golem. Eventually she succeeds after going through a long ritual and while the Golem drives off the attackers much more is at stake. Controlling such a creature is difficult, it might choose it's victims arbitrarily or kill those it perceives to be it;s creator's enemies. The mundane life of a Shtetl is counterposed to the mondo horror of The Golem, it literally tears people asunder, extreme gore andterror runs throughout the film. There is also the violence if the Pogroms, lynchings, huts burned, men, women and children brutally murdered. The relationship between Hanna and her husband Benjamin is crucial to the development of the narrative just as their past is to the nature of the The Golem which is created. Sometimes when you call spirits from the vasty deep they actually come but beware of what you wish for. Directed by Doron and Yoav Paz, and written by Ariel Cohen. 8/10.

Saw it on Legend Channel.

 

[ramonmercado]

Nocebo: Filipino Folk Horror, though this is an Irish/Filipino Co-Production and was shot in Dublin and the Philippines the Western parts of the film are set in London. Christine (Eva Green), is a fashion designer who is suffering from a strange illness for which she has to take multiple pills. We see how it started when she had a vision of a wild dog covered in ticks, one of the ticks bites her, perhaps it's all in her mind but her work is suffering as is her relationship with her husband Felix (Mark Strong) and daughter Bobs (Billie Gadsdon). A woman named Diana (Chai Fonacier), turns up claiming that Christine has hired her a carer/housekeeper, by this stage Christine had been subject to serious memory failures so she accepts it. Diana helps Christine with massages and exercises, she then moves on to to use Filipino folk healing techniques. However things take a darker turn after Diana sets up an alter in the fireplace in her room. There are parallel narratives at play in Nocebo, we also see Diana's life from childhood onward, how she developed folk healing skills and the many traumatic events which befell her. The switch from folk healing to folk magic is sharply portrayed, the stronger powers are used to torture and inflict. pain. There are some really disturbing scenes, both everyday violence and suffering as well as that inflicted through supernatural means. Intricate rituals based on a syncretic religion are carried out. Not so many jump shocks but terror gradually builds up in front of your eyes, The split narrative is confusing at times but all coalesces for the finale. There are some plot twists but you'll have to watch Nocebo if you want to know about them. Directed by Lorcan Finnegan from a screenplay by Garret Shanley. 8/10.

In cinemas.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

Antrum: The Deadliest Film Ever Made, has just made it onto Prime Video.

It's a curious mixture of found footage, film-within-a-film and mocumentary, which has been carefully constructed to unsettle the viewer to a significant degree.
It even comes with a warning and countdown timer, giving you time to bail out before it's too late.
Ringing faint echoes of Blair Witch, A Field in England and Lars Von Trier's Antichrist, this slab of Folk Horror features a brother and sister digging a hole to hell in some remote forest and stumbling upon a couple of red-neck satanists. The use of subliminal images of torture and a very disturbing and discordant soundtrack makes everything seem far nastier than it actually is. Rather like the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, there is next to no genuine gore on display here - but you feel as if there is.
An obviously low budget movie, but one that punches above its weight and gets under your skin.
It was only a work of fiction wasn't it?
7/10.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

Men: Disturbing is putting it mildly, The Green Man, Sheela na Gig, birth and rebirth, a pub with stranger patrons than those in The Wicker Man. Pretty good but even after two viewings I'm still not sure if I understand it fully. Harper (Jessie Buckley) has recently witnessed the death of her husband, how it happened and the events leading up to it are gradually revealed as the narrative unfolds. she takes a break, renting a Manor House from Geoffrey (Rory Kinnear) who is every inch a the country squire. He is odd, a touch creepy even but in comparison with the other men from the village who Harper meets over the next couple of days. A judgmental gas-lighting vicar; a strange, verbally abusive boy; an inept, uncaring policeman; odd yokel locals in the pub and a naked man who seems to be stalking her. This last character is the most important as he displays aspects of The Green Man.

An atmosphere of threat runs through the film rising to crescendos of existential terror at various stages but the finale blends terror with scenes that some will find disturbing as it explores themes of birth, death and rebirth, a cycle which may end with redemption and forgiveness or a burying of the hatchet. Building towards that denouement we encounter a baptismal font in the local church with a Green Man on one side and a Sheela na Gig on the other and a scene in which a tunnel on an abandoned railway line which provides some remarkable cinematography and sound effects. Rory Kinnear plays all of the male roles (apart from Harper's husband, Paapa Essiedu), using a variety of minimal disguises, exuding toxicities of slightly differing types. An enigmatic but important addition to the English Folk Horror Film Canon., written and Directed by Alex Garland. 8/10.

In cinemas.

Watched it tonight, as It's just made it onto Prime Video.
Agree with your review and rating, as It's certainly compelling stuff, with some jaw-dropping body-horror in the latter stages.
I'm still unsure quite how to rationalise that ending though!
PTSD? Purgatory? Or just plain madness?

 

[sherbetbizarre]

‘I like films that take you into the woods – then leave you there’ – the beguiling folk-horror of Mark Jenkin

The Bafta-winning writer, director and composer discusses exploring the dark side of Cornwall in his latest film, Enys Men

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/dec/27/mark-jenkin-interview-enys-men

 

[ramonmercado]

The Devil to Pay: Set in a remote region of Appalachia which is essentially self-governing, there's a Creed (Covenant) but stronger folks as always bend the rules. Lemon (Danielle Deadwyle) lives a fraught, marginal existence, her husband is missing, she's caring for her son when two heavies arrive. She is summoned to the house of a local strong woman (the heavies "mind" her child); she finds out that her husband owes the woman Tommy (Catherine Dyer) a debt and she now has twi days to make good on that or she and her son will be killed. She searches for her husband, gets a loan of a car in return for delivering vitriol to a strange Cult who live outside of the Creed. The vitriol is to bve used in a ceremony of passing on leadership. Some real Folk Horror vibes *both verbal and visual) here with the Cult's devotion to Nature, sacrifice and rebirth.. Not so much a road movie, rather a mountain movie as Lemon makes her way across hill and dale until she makes a horrifying discovery. But her quest/ordeal is far from over as betrayal and double dealing is exposed. The scenery here is beautiful but can quickly turn threatening as you transform from searcher to prey. The Cult are odd and responsible for some of the most gruesome scenes but their actions have an internal logic. Some other extremely violent sequence on the part of both Lemon and her opponents contribute to the disturbing nature of the film. Much of the horror is psychological though as lemon tries to fulfill Tommy's demands and find ways to outwit her. REminds me in parts of Winter's Bone, the Wrong Turn Reboot and Ozark but it is very much it's own film. Written and Directed by Ruckus Skye and Lane Skye. On Netflix. 8.5/10.

 

[MrRING]

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.

 

[ramonmercado]

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

​

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

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.

 

[ramonmercado]

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.

 

[ramonmercado]

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

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

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

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.