Inexhaustive: Folk Horror
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- DirectorBen WheatleyStarsJulian BarrattPeter FerdinandoRichard GloverAmid the Civil War in 17th-century England, a group of deserters flee from battle through an overgrown field. Captured by an alchemist, the men are forced to help him search to find a hidden treasure that he believes is buried in the field.
- DirectorRobin HardyStarsEdward WoodwardChristopher LeeDiane CilentoA puritan police sergeant arrives in a Scottish island village in search of a missing girl, who the pagan locals claim never existed.I'm not sure what else needs to be said about The Wicker Man- if you are reading this list then you've watched this film. If you haven't then stop reading now and go and do it.
- DirectorDavid KeatingStarsAidan GillenEva BirthistleTimothy SpallThe parents of a girl who was killed by a savage dog are granted the opportunity to spend three days with their deceased daughter.An effective folk horror story that hits all the right notes, even if it doesn't quite hit the ball out of the park. Timothy Spall is excellent and the nasty ending bumps it up a star in my rating. Well worth a watch if you are a fan of the earlier, classic British folk horror films, as it really captures their creepy atmosphere.
- DirectorPiers HaggardStarsPatrick WymarkLinda HaydenBarry AndrewsIn early 18th century England, the children of a village slowly convert into a coven of devil worshipers.
- DirectorMichael ReevesStarsVincent PriceIan OgilvyRupert DaviesDuring the English Civil War, a young Roundhead seeks vengeance against a vicious witch-hunter and his henchman, who have terrorized the soldier's fiancée and wrongfully executed her uncle.
- DirectorZivko NikolicStarsVelimir 'Bata' ZivojinovicViktor StarcicRados BajicOne dark and stormy night a pretty girl arrives on a small island. She becomes an excuse for the turbulence and evil that springs when a man forgets his dignity and becomes a beast.I am unsure if this is here on its own merits, or if I got this wrong and meant to add the TV series. I'm trying to backtrack my thinking on this.
- StarsGareth ThomasVeronica StrongPeter DeminScientist Adam Brake and his son Matthew arrive in the sleepy English village of Milbury to find it under the grip of weird psychic powers unleashed by the sinister village squire, Hendrick, and whose power they struggle to break.
- DirectorTerence FisherStarsChristopher LeeCharles GrayNike ArrighiDevil worshipers plan to convert two new victims.
- DirectorJacques TourneurStarsDana AndrewsPeggy CumminsNiall MacGinnisAmerican professor John Holden arrives in London for a parapsychology conference, only to find himself investigating the mysterious actions of Devil-worshipper Julian Karswell.Based on "Casting the Runes" a short story by MR James.
- DirectorFritz KierschStarsPeter HortonLinda HamiltonR.G. ArmstrongA young couple is trapped in a remote town where a dangerous religious cult of children believes that everyone over age 18 must be killed.
- DirectorDaniel MyrickEduardo SánchezStarsHeather DonahueMichael C. WilliamsJoshua LeonardThree film students vanish after traveling into a Maryland forest to film a documentary on the local Blair Witch legend, leaving only their footage behind.
- DirectorAlan ClarkeStarsSpencer BanksJohn AtkinsonGeorgine AndersonSummer 1955, and pastor's son Stephen must come to terms with his own identity amid societal pressure, religious guilt and his own imaginings.
- DirectorPeter SasdyStarsMichael BryantJane AsherIain CuthbertsonA research team from an electronics company moves into an old Victorian house to start work on finding a new recording medium. When team member Jill Greeley witnesses a ghost, team director Peter Brock decides not only to analyse the apparition, which he believes is a psychic impression trapped in a stone wall (dubbed a "stone tape"), but also to exorcise it--with terrifying results.
- DirectorJohn CooperStarsDavid SimeonBernard LeeUna Brandon-JonesA young country vet begins to suspect that the local farmland is under the spell of a witch.
- DirectorDon TaylorStarsAnna CropperSylvia KayEdward PetherbridgeFour friends gather for Christmas dinner at an old cottage. Suddenly, there's a power failure and the phone goes dead. Then their wine turns to blood and the turkey makes them violently ill. Then things really get strange!
- StarsDorothy EdwardsGillian HillsMichael HoldenThree teenagers discover a mysterious set of owl and flower-patterned dinner plates in the attic and the magical ancient legend of the "Mabinogion" comes to life once again in their Welsh valley.
- DirectorGraham EvansStarsRichard PascoJudy ParfittJohn WellsStones and curses go together. A series of strange events connected with Stonehenge lead Professor Reeve, an Oxford historian, to wonder if this superstition is true.
- 201059m8.1 (95)TV EpisodeDirectorRachel JardineStarsMark GatissRoy Ward BakerJohn CarpenterA look at the heyday of British horror cinema such as the lurid color monster films of Hammer Films.The episode of Mark Gatiss' documentary series that helped crystallise the idea of "folk horror" for a lot of people, although the whole series is well worth tracking down.
- DirectorJohn GillingStarsAndré MorellDiane ClareBrook WilliamsDuring a mysterious epidemic in a small Cornish village, the local doctor summons his professor friend for help.
- DirectorPiers HaggardStarsJohn MillsSimon MacCorkindaleBarbara KellermanA separate screenplay by Nigel Kneale for theaters, parallel to the 1979 Quatermass 4-part miniseries. The story, set in the near future, involves influences from outer space that are possessing people. Professor Quatermass must save his granddaughter from the clutches of a popular, sinister cult called "Planet People" that "performs raptures."A film based on the reworked scripts for the TV series.
- StarsJohn MillsSimon MacCorkindaleRalph ArlissIn the distant future, a now-elderly Bernard Quatermass investigates the disappearance of his granddaughter and a mysterious cult.Granted it is sinister "aliens" at work but they are working through stone circles as they have done since ancient times. It also has resonances with Torchwood: Children of Earth.
- DirectorBen WheatleyStarsNeil MaskellMyAnna BuringHarry SimpsonNearly a year after a botched job, a hitman takes a new assignment with the promise of a big payoff for three killings. What starts off as an easy task soon unravels, sending the killer into the heart of darkness.A film that seems to plunge from one genre to the next, from a kitchen sink drama featuring a soldier returned from war whose wounds are on the inside, to crime where the two protagonists work through a kill list, before it breaks out into full blown folk horror, even if there are hints of it throughout the film.
One of my favourite films of 2011.
There is a good overview here, although I'd go further - the reconstruction is a re-enactment of an ancient ritual (like a warped Hero's Journey). The kill list guides them through the early stages of the ritual (with each individual occupying some kind of role, perhaps directly related to their "jobs" - priest, record keeper and leader). They then pass through a tunnel, usually signifying rebirth, before enacting the final killing - that of his wife and child, the only things anchoring him to normality. This is clearly the last act needed for him to take his place in the cult (I don't really buy the Antichrist angle).
I've been to a number of Palaeolithic painted caves in southern France and was struck by the way you often have to travel through a tunnel before getting to the main cave where the paintings are. The end sequence definitely had that kind of feel even if, in both case, the actual meaning and importance is unknown. - StarsArthur HewittFred PearsCyril PoacherA record of a song and dance evening at the Ship pub, Blaxhall, Suffolk in the early 1950s, with various folk performers.A documentary on British folk traditions back before the modern world could properly kick the (straw?) stuffing out of them.
- DirectorJames MacTaggartStarsAnna CropperAmanda WalkerJulian HollowayAfter a long-term relationship ends, Norah moves to a remote house in the country. The locals are friendly., if eccentric. She starts a flirtatious relationship with young gamekeeper, Rob. But events at a festival have her feeling manipulated. Only later, do the consequences of that relationship leave her trapped in a nightmare.
- DirectorJ. Lee ThompsonStarsDavid NivenSharon TateDeborah KerrWorkers employed at a French vineyard quietly follow old pagan rituals that call for the life of the marquis owner to save his crops during dry seasons.OK this is set in France but all they really did was set this folk horror film in sunnier climes, so they could use the failing grape harvest to drive the story.