In the final post in our detailed breakdown on what’s included in All The Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium Vol 2, what’s offered is perhaps the most exciting to date! Curated and produced by Kier-La Janisse, this collector’s set is continues in what volume one has started. And although the documentary that started it all, Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched (review link), is not part of the set, that’s perfectly okay. Severin films assume everyone has the first set, and has a solid understanding in what makes folk horror great. Also, it’s the perfect treat following Halloween to keep enjoyment year-round!
Disc 9: DEMON / NOVEMBER Blu-ray
DEMON (Poland, 2015) Sourced from the HD Master
A young man returns to his homeland of Poland to marry his fiancee on a large rural farm belonging to her family. In the middle of renovations, he unearths skeletal remains, triggering disturbing visions of a specter in a wedding dress. Later, as the reception rages into a drunken fury, the bridegroom succumbs to possession in a flailing spectacle.
Adapted from Piotr Rowicki’s 2008 play Adherence, Demon’s uneasy mixture of comic surrealism and bodily possession exposes dark family secrets while also giving voice to Poland’s tragic history with the Jewish population during the Holocaust. Director and co-writer Marcin Wrona explores these issues through the Jewish legend of the dybbuk, which is a spirit that has not been properly laid to rest. The dybbuk wanders the earth until it finds the right human body to cling to. In Demon, the spirit sets out to both reconcile the violent past of the country and her own untimely death. A slow burn chiller, Wrona’s ambitious and thoughtful film is a haunting allegory for social amnesia.
Special Features For DEMON
Introduction By Slavic Horror Scholar Dr. Agnieszka Jeżyk
Audio Commentary With Film Historian Daniel Bird And Film Critic/Actress Manuela Lazić
In The Shadow Of The Dybbuk – Video Essay By Peter Bebergal, Author Of Strange Frequencies: The Extraordinary Story Of The Technological Quest For The Supernatural, And Filmmaker Stephen Broomer
Trailer
Short Film
DIBBUK
NOVEMBER (Estonia/Poland/Netherlands, 2017) Sourced from the HD Master
Based on Andrus Kivirähk’s novel Rehepapp ehk November (translated into English under the title The Man Who Spoke Snakish), November is a somber and satirical Estonian fairytale about unrequited love. As winter approaches, pagan villagers employ kratts (inanimate objects that embody a human soul) to do their labor, while they steal and deceive each other. In the midst of this treachery, a young woman named Liina (Rea Lest Liik) pines for Hans (Jörgen Liik), but his heart belongs to a beautiful baroness (Jette Loona Hermanis).
Shot in a startling and crisp black and white, director Rainer Sarnet’s rural set fantasy intertwines beautiful imagery with an oppressing ugliness, capturing a poverty ridden community that can’t seem to elevate their circumstances despite their ability to perform acts of magic, including shapeshifting and spellcasting. November has won several awards, including the Spotlight Award by the American Society of Cinematographers, the International Fantasy Film Award at Fantasporto, and Best Cinematography in an International Narrative Feature at Tribeca Film Festival.
Special Features For NOVEMBER
The Supernatural Lore Of NOVEMBER – Archival Video Essay With Film Critic John DeFore
Kratt Test Footage
Theatrical Trailer
Short Films
BOUNDARY
JOURNEY THROUGH SETOMAA
MIDVINTERBLOT
Disc 10: LITAN / BLOOD TEA AND RED STRING Blu-ray
LITAN (France, 1982) HD Master from the Original Camera Negative
North American Blu-ray Premiere
From Jean-Pierre Mocky, the legendary provocateur whom Le Monde hails as “perhaps the most inventive, the most prolific, the most anarchic of French film directors”, comes this “unquestionably weird” (366 Weird Movies) “one of a kind bizarre” (Worldwide Celluloid Massacre) “cult horror sensation” (Filmhounds Magazine): When a couple visits the picturesque French village of Litan during its annual festival of the dead, they will find themselves trapped in a nightmare of murderous community customs, bizarre medical procedures, and local waters with terrifying transformative properties. Marie-José Nat (ANATOMY OF A MARRIAGE), famed singer-songwriter Nino Ferrer and Mocky himself star in this award-winning surreal tale that Film Authority calls “a wild and entertaining film that would appeal to anyone who enjoys the mysteries of David Lynch, LOST and secret hidden worlds.”
Special Features For LITAN
Audio Commentary With Film Historian Frank Lafond
Un Tournage LITAN – Archival Making-Of Made For Antenne 2
Jean-Pierre Mocky, Un Drôle D’Oiseau – 1982 Episode Of Temps X
BLOOD TEA AND RED STRING (USA, 2006) 2K Scan from the Original Camera Negative
Worldwide Blu-ray Premiere
Thirteen years in the making, Christiane Cegavske’s first feature length film is an evocative, dreamlike feast for the senses. A stop-motion animated tale, Blood Tea and Red String is shot on 16mm and revolves its tale around the Creatures Who Dwell Under the Oak, a sort of fox-bird hybrid, who build a doll and refuse to sell it to the aristocratic mice who commissioned its design. Frustrated, the mice abscond with the doll in the middle of the night, and are soon pursued by the Creatures who encounter hallucinogenic vegetation, a wizard frog and a savvy bartering spider along their journey. Cegavske wrote, produced, directed and designed all of the puppets and sets in this ambitious, poignant fable that explores the binaries of creation and destruction. The doll is both revered and simply an object to possess. And, as the bestiary tale unfolds in Cegavske’s crisp and colorful forest, the doll becomes an expression of love, desire and obsession. In an interview with Beautiful Bizarre, Cegavske comments “I think the doll signifies the public self. The construction that protects or hides the tender inner self. The doll is the mask that is mistaken for the real face.”
Special Features For BLOOD TEA AND RED STRING
Introduction By Director Christiane Cegavske
2021 Indie Scream Online Film Festival Q&A With Christiane Cegavske
Production Stills And Concept Illustrations
Trailer
Trailer For SEED IN THE SAND, Cegavske’s Work-In-Progress
Disc 11: NAZARENO CRUZ AND THE WOLF / AKELARRE Blu-ray
NAZARENO CRUZ AND THE WOLF (Argentina, 1975) HD Scan of the Only Existing Print
Worldwide Blu-ray Premiere
From award-winning Argentinian writer/director Leonardo Favio (ANICETO) comes this “beautiful, hypnotic and ahead of its time” (Terror Weekend) adaptation of the infamous Paraguayan Guarani folk horror legend: Despite warnings from a local witch that he will carry the werewolf curse, the seventh son of a family of sons is born and given the holy name Nazareno Cruz as protection. But when Nazareno grows to become a well-liked young man without a single transformation, the devil appears in the guise of a beguiling stranger to offer him wealth, power and a permanent escape from lycanthropy in exchange for renouncing his love for the beautiful Griselda. Nazareno refuses, and the next full moon unleashes the full horror of his affliction. Is a descent into Hell itself Nazareno’s only hope for negotiation? Juan José Camero (VERONICO CRUZ), Marina Magali (DEATHSTALKER), Alfredo Alcón (LOVE LETTERS OF A NUN) and Lautaro Murúa (SHUNKO) star in “perhaps one of the most important films in Argentine cinema” (Cinreservas) though rarely seen outside the country, now making its worldwide HD premiere nearly 50 years after its legendary release.
Special Features For NAZARENO CRUZ AND THE WOLF
Audio Commentary With Adrian Garcia Bogliano, Director Of HERE COMES THE DEVIL, And Nicanor Loreti, Director Of PUNTO ROJO
Short Film
LOVE FROM MOTHER ONLY
Audio Commentary For LOVE FROM MOTHER ONLY With Director Dennison Ramalho
AKELARRE (Spain, 1984) 4K Scan from the Original Camera Negative
Worldwide Blu-ray Premiere
From acclaimed director Pedro Olea (TORMENTO, THE FENCING MASTER, THE ANCINES WOODS) comes the film that shocked the 34th Berlin International Film Festival, became a landmark of Spanish cinema, and has lost none of its power to shock and disturb: In a small village in the Navarrese valley, the Spanish Inquisition brutally targets a peaceful community of pagans with accusations of witchcraft. An award-winning cast that includes Mary Carrillo (DARK HABITS), Walter Vidarte (THE NIGHT OF THE SUNFLOWERS), Patxi Bisquert (CELL 211) and legendary actress/writer/director Silvia Munt (IN THE COMPANY OF WOMEN) star in this “gem of a film” (Corre Camara) based on the true story of the 17th century Araitz witchcraft trials in which 27 people were arrested and 11 women and 2 men were executed in the name of Catholicism.
Special Features For AKELARRE
The Realistic Inquisition – Interview With Director Pedro Olea
Empowered Woman – Interview With Actress Silvia Munt
Playing The Villain – Interview With Actor Iñaki Miramón
Invoking The Akelarre – Dr. Antonio Lázaro-Reboll, Author Of Spanish Horror Film, On The Basque Witch Trials
Disc 12: FROM THE OLD EARTH Blu-ray
FROM THE OLD EARTH (Wales, 1981) 2K Scan from the Original Camera Negative
Produced by Bwrdd Ffilmiau Cymraeg (the Welsh Film Board), this 1981 shocker was one of the first horror films in Welsh and became a landmark study of Celtic folklore terror: When a local farmer unearths an ancient stone head from sacrificial Druid burial grounds, it will trigger the rebirth of a horned demon and the murderous wrath of sacred Celtic gods. Directed by Wil Aaron (BLOOD ON THE STARS), O’R DDAEAR HEN/FROM THE OLD EARTH has been scanned in 2K from the original camera negative provided by The National Library of Wales and is presented with English subtitles for the first time ever.
Special Features For FROM THE OLD EARTH Blu-ray
Introduction To FROM THE OLD EARTH By Musician Gruff Rhys
Getting A Head In North Wales – Interview With Director Wil Aaron
FROM THE OLD EARTH By The Book – Welsh Folklore And O’R DDAEAR HEN
A Sword In The Battle Of Language – Welsh Film Scholar Dr. Kate Woodward On The Welsh Film Board
Short Films
Introduction To BLOOD ON THE STARS By Gruff Rhys BLOOD ON THE STARS
Reunion Hotel – BLOOD ON THE STARS Cast Reunion From Gwesty Aduniad
THE WYRM OF BWLCH PEN BARRAS
Disc 13: THE CITY OF THE DEAD / THE RITES OF MAY Blu-ray
THE CITY OF THE DEAD (UK, 1960) 2K Scan from the Original Camera Negative
Whitewood, Massachusetts, 1692: In a small New England village besieged by witchcraft, a local woman rumored to have sworn a pact with Lucifer vows revenge as she’s burned at the stake. More than 265 years later, a young college student interested in the sociology of the supernatural is encouraged by her professor to visit the modern-day town. But as she begins to explore local lore, she will discover a living nightmare of occult sacrifice, immortal evil, and cataclysmic Satanic horror.
The legendary Christopher Lee leads a cast that includes Venetia Stevenson (STUDS LONIGAN), Betta St. John (CORRIDORS OF BLOOD), Dennis Lotis (SWORD OF SHERWOOD FOREST) and Patricia Jessel (THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP) in this “undisputed classic of British horror” (Rock! Shock! Pop!) – edited for American audiences and released under the title HORROR HOTEL – directed by John Llewellyn Moxey (THE NIGHT STALKER). Also notable as the first horror film co-produced by Milton Subotsky and Max J. Rosenberg – whose Amicus Productions would eventually produce classics that include THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD and TALES FROM THE CRYPT – CITY OF THE DEAD is now scanned uncut in 2K from the original camera negative.
Special Features For THE CITY OF THE DEAD
Introduction By Kay Lynch, Director Of The Salem Horror Fest
Audio Commentary With Film Historians Kim Newman And Barry Forshaw
Archival Audio Commentary With Film Historian Jonathan Rigby
Archival Audio Commentary With Actor Christopher Lee
Archival Audio Commentary With Director John Llewellyn Moxey
Sir Christopher Lee Remembers THE CITY OF THE DEAD
Archival Interview With John Llewellyn Moxey
Archival Interview With Actress Venetia StevensonBurn Witch, Burn! A Tribute To John Llewellyn Moxey – Video Essay By TV Historian Amanda Reyes And Filmmaker Chris O’Neill
Trailer
THE RITES OF MAY (Philippines, 1976) 4K Scan from the Original Camera Negative
North American Disc Premiere
This startling first feature by iconic Philippines’ filmmaker Mike DeLeon (3RD WORLD HERO, CITIZEN JAKE) was rediscovered thanks to its inclusion in the award-winning 2021 documentary WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED, as well as 2022 retrospective screenings at The Cannes Film Festival and The Museum of Modern Art. Originally released in 1976 as ITIM, it remains “a fascinating foray into supernatural horror” (Rowe Reviews) and an international fear classic unlike any you’ve ever experienced: A magazine photographer returns to his rural hometown during Holy Week, only to uncover an unnerving nightmare of superstition, possession and shocking family secrets. Philippine acting legends Tommy Abuel (DAGSIN), Mario Montenegro (VENGANZA) and Charo Santos-Concio (WHETHER THE WEATHER IS FINE) star in “one of the most remarkable debuts in cinema history” (MOMA), now scanned in 4K from the 35MM negative preserved at The British Film Institute.
Special Features For THE RITES OF MAY
Audio Commentary With Filipino Film Historian Andrew Leavold
ITIM: AN EXPLORATION IN CINEMA – Archival Documentary
Portrayal Of Guilt – Filipino Film Scholar Anne Frances N. Sangil On The Darkness Of THE RITES OF MAY
