It’s in the trees! It’s coming!
The Folk horror of
The Wicker Man

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the cult horror film The Wicker Man. The original print was butchered by its doomed UK distributor to fit on double bills. There is a whole under story of how things went wrong for this movie but it has been written about many times. But this year a 4k transfer of the second edit is released as the final uncut version of the movie. So it is great to see it back in the cinema again. There is also a limited vinyl release of 500 copies of the soundtrack, which I think sold out within a day. It’s beautifully packaged with a striking design by Richey Beckett.

I am unashamedly obsessed with the movie, I even named my daughter after a character in it. Along with countless other fans, I am of the opinion that there is no better horror film. No maniac with a chainsaw near a cabin in the woods, but a very original, sinister storyline which incorporates ancient pagan beliefs in sacrifice and fertility rites. Which makes for an intelligent debate between two conceptions of life grounded in faith. There are of course other horror films that explore the subject of god-fearing people and the occult too.

The actor and writer Mark Gatiss referred to these types of horror movies as “folk horror” in his very good three-part documentary on the BBC called ‘A History of Horror’ in 2010. In this, he mentioned his love of British “folk horror”, which draws influence from paganism and folklore. He gave examples of Blood on Satan’s Claw and The Wicker Man.

Blood on Satan’s Claw, from 1971, is a horror film about witches manipulating the minds of the young in the 17th century, practicing pagan ceremonies in the forest which ultimately end in human sacrifice. The more you look into the idea of ‘folk horror,’ where the yarn involves ancient rituals and pagan deities, there are quite a few movies.

Another is Witchfinder General (1968), which was based on sorcery, witchcraft and the sadistic violence of witch-hunter Matthew Hopkins in the 17th-century. The movie did bring some imitations, one of which was Mark of the Devil (1970), which, too, featured a witchfinder in 1700 who terrorizes the countryside with cruel religious persecutions. It also should be mentioned that some of these included impressive soundtracks. Mark of the Devil has a very memorable opening main theme and soundtrack by Michael Holm, which I think must have played a big influence on Riz Ortolani when writing the theme music for the notorious horror “Cannibal Holocaust”. Very similar, if not just played slightly different.

Cannibal Holocaust – Theme Music (Riz Ortolani)

Mark Of The Devil – Theme Music (Michael Holm)

Trunk Records has reissued limited vinyl album runs of The Wicker Man and Blood On Satan’s Claw soundtracks, which all sell out far too quickly. Marc Wilkinson’s theme to Blood On Satan’s Claw is a haunting masterpiece which is highly sought after on vinyl. Paul Giovanni’s soundtrack to The Wicker Man hints at a pre-Christian pagan culture and is very much based on traditional Scottish, Irish and English tunes. Finders Keepers Records have released a limited lp of the traditional folk songs that inspired these songs called “Willow’s Songs”. They have also reprinted the original David Pinner book “Ritual” from 1967 which The Wicker Man is based on, and the original has been known to command price tags as high as £600. On the subject of music, there is a great band The Hare And The Moon who are heavily influenced by these movies – they describe themselves as spook folk.

Of course, this style of film didn’t just happen in the British Isles. The first horror movie made in Russia ‘Viy‘, from 1967, is well worth checking out, being based around Ukrainian folklore; a priest has to spend three nights watching over the corpse of a witch. Another worth seeing is the 1970 Czechoslovakian film ‘Valerie and Her Week of Wonders‘, which is like a fairy tale of demons and witchcraft. It should be mentioned that it’s soundtrack is well worth a listen too. There are so many other films whose approach is folk horror, like ‘Night of the Demon‘ (1957), and most recently Ben Wheatley’s ‘A Field in England‘ (2013) and Hammer Film’s ‘Wake Wood‘ (2010) – where I should mention that my kids were extras in it.

On the 19th to the 21st of September 2014, ‘A Fiend in the Furrows’ is taking place, a three-day conference in association with the ‘School of English’ and the ‘Institute for Collaborative Research in the Humanities’ at Queen’s University Belfast, which will be exploring ‘folk horror’ in British and Irish literature, film, television, and music. The event will include academic papers, film screenings, musical performances, and readings. http://blogs.qub.ac.uk/folkhorror/

Another great resource is http://folkhorrorreview.blogspot.com