Mini Movie Marathon: The Unholy Trilogy of Folk Horror

These films were highly inspirational to the folk horror genre. They focus on rural pagan traditions, dark aspects of nature, isolation, religion, rituals, and the occult in comparison to what is considered mainstream “civilized” society. Often in the view of the mainstream “civilized” male, they explore the dark and evil world often discovering ritualistic sacrifices. Furthermore, unlike most horror films the scares take place in broad daylight. These films are a part of the British folk horror aesthetic “The Unholy Trinity.” This is a pop culture term of independent horror films released close together.

Witchfinder General (1968)

A fictionalized portrayal of the Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins, on his mercenary holy missions murdering countryside people who he thinks are Satan followers with his unkempt sadistic assistant, Stearne, across 17th century England. The sadism of the story are the portrayals of what the Witchfinder does to his victims to gain a confession through stabbings, drownings, and other torture tactics that ended with public burnings. The film is a fictionalized portrayal because the events in the film are not based on one event but a combination of many events of witch trials. The Witchfinder General is portrayed by Vincent Price who gave a cold, dark portrayal of the Witchfinder.

The Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971)

An early 18-century secluded small village is succumbed with the demonic possession of a demonic entity, Behemoth, that leaves the youthful villagers possessed with fur patches on their arms that lure then into the woods to perform more dark rituals and gain more followers. The film is known for sexualized scenes that had many re-edits before release. The film is dark and gothic for a story that the majority of the film takes place during cloudy days. The villain was inspired with pagan rituals and was dressed in white with a makeshift crown out of branches.

The Wicker Man (1973)

The iconic ending is something that everyone knows about and the remake with Nicolas Cage in the 2000s but it’s better to watch the original film. A devoutly religious police sergeant is sent to a remote Hebridean island in search of a little girl. He finds increasing evidence of a pagan cult with more evidence of rituals and practices til the great reveal at the end. The film led the viewer right into the cult behaviour with storytelling. There’s not a lot of big jump scares or sudden sounds with rapid camera shifts.