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Fortean Documentaries

Forthcoming from the BFI. Although even they put "documentary" in inverted commas!

Legend of the Witches & Secret Rites (Flipside 039) (Dual Format Edition)

The 39th release in the long standing BFI Flipside strand sees the release of two far out British films. Exploitation director Derek Ford’s Secret Rites and Malcolm Leigh’s Legend of the Witches.

Legend of the Witches (1970, 78 mins): The originally X-rated film documentary which looks in detail at previously hidden magic rites and rituals. Sharing the secrets of initiation into a coven, divination through animal sacrifice, ritual scrying, the casting of a 'death spell', and the chilling intimacy of a Black Mass. It also explores Britain's hidden pagan heritage and its continued influence on our lives today.

Secret Rites (1971, 47 mins): Part Mondo movie, part countercultural artefact, this strange mid-length 'documentary' by sex film director Derek Ford lifts the lid on witchcraft in 1970s Notting Hill. Mystery band The Spindle provide the groovy, psychedelic sounds while tentative occult enthusiast Penny and a serious-sounding narrator introduce the viewer to three ritual acts. Far out.


https://shop.bfi.org.uk/new-release...t-rites-flipside-039-dual-format-edition.html
 
Thanks FrKadash, good find. I went on a bit of a Matthew Manning binge after that. What struck me was that it's unusual to read / hear from someone directly at the centre of a poltergeist outbreak, especially someone so eloquent. I've been reading lots of 100yr+ accounts recently and you don't hear from the young person involved at all - you might hear from adults round them. So that was really interesting.
I'm not sure so far what to make of his consequent career in healing (but trying to do good in the world can't be a bad motivation. I think he got caught up in the book-selling world tour thing and then realised he didn't want to become part of the geller-style psychic circus).
 
I settled down to watch QI XL tonight, and the continuity announcer said something along the lines of, "Stay tuned after this, there's a new Werner Herzog documentary!" My ears pricked up, and I did stick with what was a lovely, Fortean documentary based around his friend, explorer Bruce Chatwin, who died thirty years ago. Herr Herzog travels to Australia, Avebury, Patagonia, Tatooine and elsewhere in his inimitable style, sometimes funny, sometimes moving. I really enjoyed it, lots of amazing scenery and some good vintage clips too.

It's called Nomad and it's on the BBC iPlayer:
iPlayer Link

A very pleasing way to spend 90 minutes.
 
No word of a release date, but here's a trailer for Class Action Park:

The theme park that could kill you! And for many, that was the attraction, getting seriously injured there was a badge of pride. As if you were in any doubt that people are nuts.
 
After years of hunting, I've finally found a very poor copy of the BBC's The Ghostman of Skye on, of all places, the Russian social network, Odnoklassniki: Here - if anyone's interested.

Very much in the style of the BBC's old 40 Minutes documentary strand - much more Molly Dineen than Ghosthunters. Gentle, evocative and quite moving - I really enjoyed it, and am glad to have the opportunity to watch it again.

(I think it may see occasional repeat broadcast on BBC Alba - but I've never managed to catch it.)
 
After years of hunting, I've finally found a very poor copy of the BBC's The Ghostman of Skye on, of all places, the Russian social network, Odnoklassniki: Here - if anyone's interested.

Very much in the style of the BBC's old 40 Minutes documentary strand - much more Molly Dineen than Ghosthunters. Gentle, evocative and quite moving - I really enjoyed it, and am glad to have the opportunity to watch it again.

(I think it may see occasional repeat broadcast on BBC Alba - but I've never managed to catch it.)
this is amazing, was this part of a series? I would love to see more of this sorta thing
 
The Ghostman of Skye was part of BBC "Wonderland" films on BBC4 I seem to remember from 2009. Really good film.

There was another excellent show as part of the "Storyville" series with a sort of Fortean theme about a guy searching for the lost gold of the Highlands while also caring for his elderly mother. :)


Also a bizarre one called "Shooting Bigfoot" which had a really weird ending.
 
I think Shooting Bigfoot is still on iPlayer, at least it was last time I looked. More a portrait of a con artist than a doc about Bigfoot, though, I'd say.
 
I think Shooting Bigfoot is still on iPlayer, at least it was last time I looked. More a portrait of a con artist than a doc about Bigfoot, though, I'd say.

the trickster is an essential part of the paranprmal no? ;)
 
I think Shooting Bigfoot is still on iPlayer, at least it was last time I looked. More a portrait of a con artist than a doc about Bigfoot, though, I'd say.

Haha, I've watched so many dodgy Bigfoot films since then, I'm probably getting it all mixed up. I forget what it was all about now, just the last final moments of footage etched into my brain.

The BBC's Wonderland and Storyville series had some excellent episodes. The one about the man who ate roadkill and lived in fear was good too.
 
Ive spent a wonderful couple of days watching "Ghosthunters" on YouTube. Well worth it :)
 
I'm just watching this: "The West Lothian Question" - which interviews Bob Taylor (and his doctor, the police and the forensic scientists). He said he was attacked by spiky spheres in a forest in Dechmont Law in 1979. It seems very measured and non-sensational (finding fortean stuff on youtube that isn't annoying dross is tediously time-consuming don't you find. This is by 'Waterborne Productions' in 2004).
It's interesting that the "explanation" the sceptic comes up with is so much more convoluted and difficult to stomach, than to just accept that Bob experienced something (whatever that something was and why he experienced it). I think it's a really interesting programme!
 
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I'm just watching this: "The West Lothian Question" - which interviews Bob Taylor (and his doctor, the police and the forensic scientists). He said he was attacked by spiky spheres in a forest in Dechmont Law in 1979. It seems very measured and non-sensational (finding fortean stuff on youtube that isn't annoying dross is tediously time-consuming don't you find. This is by 'Waterborne Productions' in 2004).
It's interesting that the "explanation" the sceptic comes up with is so much more convoluted and difficult to stomach, than to just accept that Bob experienced something (whatever that something was and why he experienced it). I think it's a really interesting programme!
Two weeks until the 40th anniversary
 
I've also found this Polish film," Odwiedziny, Czyli u Progu Tajemnicy" (A visit, or on the threshold of mystery). It's about a UFO encounter in Poland in 1978 (Wikipedia summarises: A farmer in Emilcin is said to have been abducted and medically examined by short, green-faced, humanoid entities speaking an unearthly language in a white, hovering, humming craft. )
I wonder if there's a version with english subtitles somewhere? (if not, perhaps there's a project for a philanthropic Polish speaker for those long dark winter evenings :).

edit: some more information on the case at Culture.pl
 
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Did any of our members in Ireland catch the RTÉ documentary shown on Halloween, Into the Mystic?

One-off documentary featuring people who believe they have had spiritual experiences. They include undertaker Jeremy Massey, who has experienced some strange and profound things when grief has reduced people to their most raw state, and Robin Kelly, who recalls taking possession of his human body at the age of three and believes his soul came from somewhere else in the universe.

https://www.rte.ie/player/movie/into-the-mystic/116449320226

Really worth watching, also now back in the U.K. I just found out that RTÉ Player works over here too! Wish I had found out that ages ago.
 
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