You Want It Darker?

Folk horror has enjoyed a revival of popularity in recent years as evidenced by the release of two impressive Blu-ray box sets from Severin Films All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror Volumes 1 & 2 as well as such theatrical releases as Ari Aster’s Midsommar (2019), Kate Dolan’s You Are Not My Mother (2021) and Danny & Michael Philippou’s Talk to Me (2022). Starve Acre (2023), based on a 2019 novel by British author Andrew Michael Hurley, definitely falls into this category but, more importantly, it harkens back to the great folk horror flicks of the seventies like The Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971) and The Wicker Man (1973). In fact, it even takes place during that time period. The ominous rural setting and gloomy atmosphere also set it apart from anything taking place in the 21st century and creates a mounting sense of dread that gets under your skin.

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M.R. James Times Two

Montague Rhodes James, better known as M.R. James (1862-1936), was a celebrated author and medievalist scholar from the U.K. who is best known today for his many ghost stories. Horror film buffs in the U.S. were first exposed to his work when director Jacques Tourneur adapted his short story “Casting the Runes” for the 1957 film Curse of the Demon (it was titled Night of the Demon in the U.K.). To date, that still reminds the most famous M.R. James theatrical feature but that doesn’t mean the author’s work hasn’t been adapted in other memorable renditions, most of them as made-for-television productions from England. One of the most famous is James’s short story, “Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad” from 1904, which has been filmed twice by the BBC, one in 1968 entitled Whistle and I’ll Come to You starring Michael Horden and a remake from 2010 with the same title that featured John Hurt.

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The Devil Made Me Do It

The Blood on Satan's ClawLooking for a Halloween film to creep you out? How about The Blood on Satan’s ClawContinue reading