Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror
Directed by Kier-La Janisse
Explore the rural roots, occult creeds and cultural lore that continue to shape international cinema. From writer/director/co-producer Kier-La Janisse comes "a seductive mega-text" (Indiewire) through the history of folk horror, featuring clips from over 200 films and interviews with more than 50 filmmakers, authors and scholars. Severin Films presents this "astounding achievement" (Screen Anarchy) that Rue Morgue calls "an unprecedented journey into where folk horror has been, where it's going and ultimately what it says about humanity." A SHUDDER EXCLUSIVE
This acclaimed documentary is a mega text through the history of folk horror, exploring the rural roots, occult creeds and cultural lore that continue to shape international cinema.
Cast: Kevin Kölsch, Dennis Widmyer, Piers Haggard, Abraham Castillo Flores, Adam Scovell
Member Reviews
This is a style of documentary that really irritates me. The method is to chop all the source material into 30 second clips, and then throw them all together in such a way as to show off the creativity of the editor. Thus we go back again and again to Witchfinder, and again and again we are confraonted with the faces of the not very convincing interviewees. —That’s my rant 🤣
This might be my third review of this documentary. I just can't get tired of it, no matter how many times I watch it.🤣
This documentary changed my perspective on storytelling. examining the way our stories are often horrific to reflect the clash of spiritual beliefs, fear of the unknown, colonialism, misogyny and other significant tragedies that come up in an society. This examination is anthropologically fascinating and can be very informative to how history repeats patterns of collective fear as a driving force for the trajectory of the society's evolution. Many cultures are covered and related to one another in a big picture way that I really enjoyed.
Not bad, have a lot of footage. But it is such a specific angle... if you are interested in reviewing British folk horror movies, it is good. But I've learned nothing about real folk horror.
Really fantastic, well researched documentary covering the past and present eras of the genre. So glad Shudder features this film, it’s really a treasure in my opinion.