The leaves are dropping, you’re stocking up on those bags of fun size bars…It’s Trick or Treat time, and that means connoisseurs of horror movies are going to have to make some shelf space for some worthy new hard media releases. This time out, we’re highlighting some just-arriving items that fall under the increasingly popular sub-genre of folk horror.
Folk horror cinema, and literature, relies on regional lore and superstition to provide the scares in their scenarios. Usually, the protagonist is an outsider come to a rural setting, and who scoffs—initially—when the locals pin unnatural doings on long-held myths. Whether the peril has genuinely unearthly origins, or is just the consequence of very earthly mobthink, it’s not going to work out well for the hero.
It’s generally accepted that the folk horror film took popular root in British cinema of the ‘60s and ‘70s, as exemplified by Witchfinder General (1968) and The Wicker Man (1973). Recent modern-era entries include The Witch (2015) and Midsommar (2019). Being that every culture has folkloric fear stories, folk horror has proved to be a genuinely global phenomenon, with filmmakers on every continent offering up these primal pulse-pounders.
To illustrate the point, we’re going to look at three items hitting out shelves—from Europe, Asia, and Australia—sure to be of interest to folk-horror fans.
Il Demonio (1963): This effective shocker from Italy starred period pin-up Daliah Lavi as a promiscuous villager who can’t accept the fact the townsman (Frank Wolff) she covets is betrothed to another. After his marriage, her sundry attempts to place a curse on him raise the ire of the locals. Is her increasingly erratic behavior a ploy to win him over, or, as many in the community fear, genuine demonic possession?
Demon Pond (1979): A kabuki staple for over a century, this tale has received several renditions in Japanese cinema as well. This dreamlike effort from director Masahiro Shinoda follows a teacher (Tsutomu Yamazaki) on a cross-country hike who encounters an old acquaintance (Gô Katô) in a small lakeside village—and then discovers his old friend claims to be mystically bound to the town, lest the pond’s demons flood it.
Alison’s Birthday (1981): Heading down the Pacific Rim, we’ve got this entry from Down Under, where student Alison (Joanne Samuel) and her boyfriend Pete (Lou Brown) head to her back country hometown to spend her 19th birthday with the aunt and uncle (Bunney Brooke, John Bluthal) who’d raised her since her parents’ untimely demise. Her relatives’ odd behavior spurs the reveal of their connection to a Celtic cult…and let’s just say Alison won’t like the present they got her.