Folk Horror Archives | Otaku No Culture

It’s Often Best Not to Let “The Beast Within” Run Wild

Halloween doesn’t have to be about ghosts and vampires, but also The Beast Within, and what must not be let loose! But the metaphor is clearly there, should viewers want to believe it’s also a story about cursed lineages.

The Beast Within Blu Ray Cover — Available to purchase on Amazon USA

Well GO USA

Kit Harrington is an amazing actor, and while not every film he’s in can spotlight just how beautiful his voice is, that will depend on the director to bring it out. With The Beast Within, a dramatic thriller, whether his character Noah is really a werewolf. The signs are there, and as for this personality, perhaps there’s much to fear. But for 10-year-old Willow (Caoilinn Springall) the real question is if she knows who her father really is.

That’s where the tension gets tested. I’m never too sure what’s going on in this parent’s mind. His actions spoke louder than words, and while how wife (Ashleigh Cummings) is very protective of their child, the elder member of this family, a grandpa (James Cosmo) is doing his best to keep everyone safe. The selling point of this film is in seeing the lengths the adults are doing to keep the kid safe. However, there’s some pagan world which isn’t as well-defined to explain some past this individual is obviously a ruler of.

Continue reading “It’s Often Best Not to Let “The Beast Within” Run Wild”

Continuing on Revealing All The Deets on All The Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror Volume Two

The world tour continues in part two of our detailed look at what’s coming in All The Haunts Be Ours Volume Two. Trailers are included (where possible), and the focus here is on Asian films!

All The Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium Of Folk Horror Vol. 2 — **Available to pre-order on Amazon USA**

Release Date: Nov 12, 2024

In part two of our reveal in what’s to be contained in All The Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror Volume Two, we look at volumes five to eight. These works curated and produced by Kier-La Janisse, really dives into what this film historian belives is the best of the best, and that’s going to be hard to argue!

Although some of these works can be found online, they won’t be the same quality as this blu-ray release, and they don’t include the bonus material that’s included to expand one’s appreciation of each film.

Continue reading “Continuing on Revealing All The Deets on All The Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror Volume Two”

All The Deets on All The Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror Volume Two

Due to the huge amount of information presented, this breakdown on what will be offered in All The Haunts Be Ours Volume Two will be split into three articles.

Release Date: Nov 12, 2024

Everything fans of folk horror want to know but were afraid to ask is continuing to be explored in an all new continuation, simply titled All The Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror Volume Two. And when I own a copy of the first set, there’s no turning back! Not only am I a rabid completist but also this new collection offers recent movies that define what this genre is all about.

As for older works that can’t be easily found online or not available, half the list includes films making their debut on the optical medium. The care and attention put into these collections says it all. I’m particularly glad there’s a lot more to explore. What’s offered is an extension of the documentary that started it all, Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched Documentary (review link)

Continue reading “All The Deets on All The Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror Volume Two”

The Moor Delivers A Fiendishly Clever Tale of Regret and Why Past Mistakes Shouldn’t Be Forgotten

Sometimes tis better to forgive and forget, but in what The Moor represents, is unburying the past a good idea?

Debuting in the UK
June 14, 2024
Available for Digital Download Beginning July 1, 2024.

When there’s a movie simply titled The Moor, it’s tough to not use a certain set of adjectives to describe why I find this film effectively creepy. This thriller from the creative team of Chris Cronin and Paul Thomas plays around with local folklore, and the supernatural mystery feels like it’s culled from a time before the Celts landed in the island before it became known as Britain.

In this tale’s case, this biome is the grave of many lost children. During the opening credits, everything that audiences are afraid of hearing is recounted in fast succession. There was a killer prowling around. After getting caught, he didn’t volunteer any further information. To find all those bodies would’ve taken time and I’m sure nobody wanted that job. But for those parents who need closure, they’re still in mourning.

Continue reading “The Moor Delivers A Fiendishly Clever Tale of Regret and Why Past Mistakes Shouldn’t Be Forgotten”

The British Paranormal Society’s Dark Horse Death Defying Debut!

The British Paranormal Society is an all new comic book miniseries by Chris Roberson and Mike Mignola, and it has the makings of running like the real life Society of Paranormal Research!

The British Paranormal Society Dark Horse Comics
Available in Comic Stores Near You

The British Paranormal Society is an all new comic book miniseries by Chris Roberson and Mike Mignola, and it has the makings of running like the real life Society of Paranormal Research! The introductions on how they work are very similar and we see the comparison nicely highlighted in the very first few pages.

In this debut, Simon Bruttenholm and Honora Grant are two founding members who’ve set out to investigate the strange goings on at Noxton, England. They aren’t out to find a ghostly haunting. Instead, Honora is looking into this town’s oddball traditions–perhaps on a similar trail as in The Wicker Man–and Simon is searching for his missing assistant. He was last known to have visited this town. But there’s mysterious standing stones nearby that has the man’s attention.

Continue reading “The British Paranormal Society’s Dark Horse Death Defying Debut!”

[Fantasia 2021] A History on Folk Horror in Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched Documentary Review

Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble with this review of Woodlands: Dark and Days Bewitched. A History on Folk Horror

Available to view on demand
For local screenings, please visit the official webpage

Clocking in at over three hours, Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched is a very detailed examination of what defines folk horror and on what the seminal films are. Kier-La Janisse certainly knows the cinematic realm to the tee, and I’d have to rewatch this work to catalogue all the movies referenced. I’d take breaks just because there’s a lot of terrific information to soak in.

The Unholy Trinity of “Witchfinder General,” “Blood on Satan’s Claw,” and “The Wicker Man” are referenced and rightly so. They helped define this new genre of cinematic folk horror. And thankfully, instead of focusing on the output from one country, many other worlds are looked at. Not every film is examined, and neither is every movie noted. The runtime doesn’t do the look at world cinema justice. Continue reading “[Fantasia 2021] A History on Folk Horror in Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched Documentary Review”