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Folk horror is a subgenre of
horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.
Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...
that uses elements of
folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...
to invoke fear and foreboding. Typical elements include a rural setting, isolation, and themes of
superstition
A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly applied to beliefs and ...
,
folk religion
In religious studies and folkloristics, folk religion, popular religion, traditional religion or vernacular religion comprises various forms and expressions of religion that are distinct from the official doctrines and practices of organized re ...
,
paganism
Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christianity, early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions ot ...
,
sacrifice
Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exi ...
and the dark aspects of nature.
Although related to
supernatural horror film
Supernatural horror film is a film genre that combines aspects of horror film and supernatural film. Supernatural occurrences in such films often include ghosts and demons, and many supernatural horror films have elements of religion. Common them ...
, folk horror usually focuses on the beliefs and actions of people rather than the supernatural, and often deals with naïve outsiders coming up against these.
[ The British films '' Blood on Satan's Claw'' (1971), '']The Wicker Man
''The Wicker Man'' is a 1973 British folk horror film directed by Robin Hardy and starring Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt, and Christopher Lee. The screenplay by Anthony Shaffer, inspired by David Pinner's 1967 nov ...
'' (1973) and ''Witchfinder General
Matthew Hopkins ( 1620 – 12 August 1647) was an English witch-hunter whose career flourished during the English Civil War. He claimed to hold the office of Witchfinder General, although that title was never bestowed by Parliament, a ...
'' (1968) are widely known examples. Other notable films the Swedish film ''Häxan'' (1922) and the British ''Night of the Demon'' (1957). Southeast Asian cinema Southeast Asian cinema is the film industry and films produced in, or by natives of Southeast Asia. It includes any films produced in Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam ...
also commonly features folk horror.
Background
Literature
The cultural evolutionism of E. B. Tylor
Sir Edward Burnett Tylor (2 October 18322 January 1917) was an English anthropologist, and professor of anthropology.
Tylor's ideas typify 19th-century unilineal evolution, cultural evolutionism. In his works ''Primitive Culture'' (1871) an ...
and James Frazer
Sir James George Frazer (; 1 January 1854 – 7 May 1941) was a Scottish social anthropologist and folklorist influential in the early stages of the modern studies of mythology and comparative religion.
Personal life
He was born on 1 Janua ...
and the witch-cult hypothesis
The witch-cult hypothesis is a discredited theory that states the witch trials of the Early Modern period were an attempt to suppress a pre-Christian, pagan religion that had survived the Christianisation of Europe. According to its proponents, t ...
of Margaret Murray
Margaret Alice Murray (13 July 1863 – 13 November 1963) was an Anglo-Indian Egyptology, Egyptologist, archaeology, archaeologist, anthropology, anthropologist, historian, and folkloristics, folklorist. The first woman to be appointed as a l ...
influenced a series of Victorian and Edwardian writers, who introduced ideas of pagan survivals in their fiction. In Hellebore
Commonly known as hellebores (), the Eurasian genus ''Helleborus'' consists of approximately 20 species of herbaceous or evergreen perennial flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae, within which it gave its name to the tribe of Helleboreae. ...
magazine, Maria J. Pérez Cuervo cites Grant Allen
Charles Grant Blairfindie Allen (February 24, 1848 – October 25, 1899) was a Canadian science writer and novelist, educated in England. He was a public promoter of evolution in the second half of the nineteenth century.
Biography Early life a ...
's ''Pallinghurst Barrow'' (1892), John Buchan
John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (; 26 August 1875 – 11 February 1940) was a Scottish novelist, historian, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation.
After a brief legal career ...
's ''Witch Wood
''Witch Wood'' is a 1927 novel by the Scottish author John Buchan that critics have called his masterpiece. The book is set in the Scottish Borders during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and combines the author's interests in landscape, 17t ...
'' (1927), and Eleanor Scott's ''Randall's Round'' (1929) as early examples of folk horror fiction. Cuervo argues that, following the popularity of pagan survival theories, weird fiction
Weird fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction originating in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Weird fiction either eschews or radically reinterprets ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and other traditional antagonists of supernatural horr ...
and supernatural fiction presented rural areas as "the domain of irrational forces that could only be appeased with certain rituals", often involving animal or human sacrifice. ''Robin Redbreast'' (1970), produced three years before ''The Wicker Man'', borrows heavily from ''The Golden Bough
''The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion'' (retitled ''The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion'' in its second edition) is a wide-ranging, comparative study of mythology and religion, written by the Scottish anthropologist Sir ...
,'' and Frazer's text is quoted by one of the characters, Mr Fisher, as an authoritative source.
In the 2021 anthology ''Damnable Tales'', illustrator Richard Wells included early examples of folk horror stories by 19th-century and early 20th-century authors, such as Margery Lawrence
Margery Lawrence (8 August 1889 – 13 November 1969) (pseudonym of Mrs. Arthur E. Towle) was an English
romantic fiction, fantasy fiction, horror fiction and detective fiction author who specialized in ghost stories.Stefan Dziemianowicz, "Lawre ...
, Eleanor Scott, Sheridan Le Fanu, M. R. James
Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English author, medievalist scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936). He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambrid ...
and Arthur Machen
Arthur Machen (; 3 March 1863 – 15 December 1947) was the pen-name of Arthur Llewellyn Jones, a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. Hi ...
.
Shirley Jackson
Shirley Hardie Jackson (December 14, 1916 – August 8, 1965) was an American writer known primarily for her works of horror and mystery. Over the duration of her writing career, which spanned over two decades, she composed six novels, two me ...
's ''The Lottery
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' (1948) was described in ''The Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
'' as "arguably the most influential North American folk horror text".
Origins of the term
The term ''folk horror'' was used in 1970 in the film magazine ''Kine Weekly
''Kinematograph Weekly'', popularly known as ''Kine Weekly'', was a trade paper catering to the British film industry between 1889 and 1971.
History
''Kinematograph Weekly'' was founded in 1889 as the monthly publication ''Optical Magic Lantern a ...
'' by reviewer Rod Cooper describing the filming of ''The Devil's Touch'' - a film that would later be renamed ''The Blood on Satan's Claw
''The Blood on Satan's Claw'' is a 1971 British supernatural horror film directed by Piers Haggard and starring Patrick Wymark, Linda Hayden, and Barry Andrews. Set in early 18th-century England, it follows the residents of a rural village w ...
''. The director of ''The Blood on Satan's Claw'', Piers Haggard
Piers Inigo Haggard, OBE (born 18 March 1939), is a British theatre, film and television director, although he has worked mostly in the latter.
Haggard was born in London but grew up on a small farm in Clackmannanshire. He is the great-great-n ...
, adopted the phrase to describe his film in a 2004 retrospective interview for the magazine ''Fangoria
''Fangoria'' is an internationally distributed American horror film fan magazine, in publication since 1979. It is published four times a year by Fangoria Publishing, LLC and is edited by Phil Nobile Jr.
The magazine was originally released i ...
''. In the interview with M.J. Simpson, Haggard notes how his film contrasted with the Gothic horror
Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of ea ...
films popular in the previous decade:
I grew up on a farm and it's natural for me to use the countryside as symbols or as imagery. As this was a story about people subject to superstitions about living in the woods, the dark poetry of that appealed to me. I was trying to make a folk-horror film, I suppose. Not a campy one. I didn't really like the Hammer
A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as w ...
campy style, it wasn't for me really.
The term was later popularised by writer and actor Mark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. His work includes writing for and acting in the television series ''Doctor Who'', '' Sherlock'', and '' Dracula''. Together with ...
in his 2010 BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
documentary series ''
A History of Horror
''A History of Horror'' (also known as ''A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss'') is a 2010 three-part documentary series made for the BBC by British writer and actor Mark Gatiss. It is a personal exploration of the history of horror film, inspir ...
'' (Episode 2, "Home Counties Horror") in which he cited three British-made films - ''
Witchfinder General
Matthew Hopkins ( 1620 – 12 August 1647) was an English witch-hunter whose career flourished during the English Civil War. He claimed to hold the office of Witchfinder General, although that title was never bestowed by Parliament, a ...
'' (
Michael Reeves
Michael Reeves (17 October 1943 – 11 February 1969) was an English film director and screenwriter. He is best remembered for the 1968 film ''Witchfinder General'' (known in the US as ''Conqueror Worm''). A few months after the film's rel ...
, 1968), ''
The Blood on Satan's Claw
''The Blood on Satan's Claw'' is a 1971 British supernatural horror film directed by Piers Haggard and starring Patrick Wymark, Linda Hayden, and Barry Andrews. Set in early 18th-century England, it follows the residents of a rural village w ...
'' (Piers Haggard, 1971) and ''
The Wicker Man
''The Wicker Man'' is a 1973 British folk horror film directed by Robin Hardy and starring Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt, and Christopher Lee. The screenplay by Anthony Shaffer, inspired by David Pinner's 1967 nov ...
'' (
Robin Hardy, 1973) - as genre-defining works.
Examples
Cinema
Adam Scovell, writing for the
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
, notes that the three films he refers to as the "Unholy Trinity" of Folk Horror (''
Witchfinder General
Matthew Hopkins ( 1620 – 12 August 1647) was an English witch-hunter whose career flourished during the English Civil War. He claimed to hold the office of Witchfinder General, although that title was never bestowed by Parliament, a ...
,'' ''
The Blood on Satan's Claw
''The Blood on Satan's Claw'' is a 1971 British supernatural horror film directed by Piers Haggard and starring Patrick Wymark, Linda Hayden, and Barry Andrews. Set in early 18th-century England, it follows the residents of a rural village w ...
'' and ''
The Wicker Man
''The Wicker Man'' is a 1973 British folk horror film directed by Robin Hardy and starring Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt, and Christopher Lee. The screenplay by Anthony Shaffer, inspired by David Pinner's 1967 nov ...
'') subvert expectations, having little in common except their
nihilistic
Nihilism (; ) is a philosophy, or family of views within philosophy, that rejects generally accepted or fundamental aspects of human existence, such as objective truth, knowledge, morality, values, or meaning of life, meaning. The term was pop ...
tone and countryside setting, noting their "emphasis on landscape which subsequently isolates its communities and individuals".
He suggests that the rise of the genre at this time was inspired by the
1960s counterculture and
New Age
New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...
movements.
Matthew Sweet
Sidney Matthew Sweet (born October 6, 1964) is an American alternative rock/power pop singer-songwriter and musician who was part of the burgeoning music scene in Athens, Georgia, during the 1980s before gaining commercial success in the 1990 ...
, in his ''
Archive on 4
An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located.
Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...
'' documentary ''Black Aquarius'', observes that the late 1960s counterculture movement led to what he terms a "second great wave of pop occultism" which pervaded popular culture, with many film and television works containing elements of folkloric or occult rituals.
Whereas the Unholy Trinity has a very distinctive British flavour, the subgenre, as
Kier-La Janisse has argued, has culturally specific manifestations in American, Asian, Australian and European horror.
Examples of "folk horror" films from the United States include ''
Crowhaven Farm
''Crowhaven Farm'' is a 1970 American made-for-television supernatural horror film directed by Walter Grauman and starring Hope Lange, Paul Burke and John Carradine. It originally aired as the ''ABC Movie of the Week'' on November 24, 1970.
Pl ...
'' (1970), ''
The Dark Secret of Harvest Home
''The Dark Secret of Harvest Home'' is a 1978 American television horror- thriller miniseries, produced by Universal Television and directed by Leo Penn, that aired January 23–24, 1978 on NBC. The screenplay was based on the 1973 novel '' H ...
'' (1978) and ''
Children of the Corn'' (1984), an adaptation of
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...
's
1976 short story.
More recent films in the genre include ''
The Witch
A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft.
Witch, WITCH, or variations thereof may also refer to:
Animals
* Witch (lefteye flounder) (''Arnoglossus scapha''), a Pacific flatfish
* Witch (righteye flounder) (''Glyptocephalus cynoglossus''), a Euro ...
'' (2015), ''
Apostle
An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...
'' (2018), ''
Midsommar
''Midsommar'' is a 2019 folk horror film written and directed by Ari Aster. The film stars Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor as a dysfunctional couple who travel to Sweden with a group of friends for a midsummer festival, only to find themselv ...
'' (2019), ''
Lamb
Lamb or The Lamb may refer to:
* A young sheep
* Lamb and mutton, the meat of sheep
Arts and media Film, television, and theatre
* ''The Lamb'' (1915 film), a silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in his screen debut
* ''The Lamb'' (1918 ...
'' (2021) and ''
Men
A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chro ...
'' (2022).
Horror films from the Southeast Asia region have frequently drawn upon local folk beliefs, including those of
Indonesian
Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to:
* Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia
** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago
** Indonesian ...
,
Thai
Thai or THAI may refer to:
* Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia
** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand
** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand
*** Thai script
*** Thai (Unicode block ...
,
Malay
Malay may refer to:
Languages
* Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century
** Indonesi ...
and
Dayak cultures.
In a review of
''The Medium'', which draws inspiration from
Thai folklore
Thai folklore is a diverse set of mythology and traditional beliefs held by the Thai people. Most Thai folklore has a regional background for it originated in rural Thailand. With the passing of time, and through the influence of the media, large ...
, Kong Rithdee wrote in
''The Bangkok Post'': "International critics will not hesitate to tag ''The Medium'' as the latest example of "folk horror"—think Robert Eggers' ''The Witch'' or Ari Aster's ''Midsommar''. But Southeast Asian horror has always been folk horror. It's our default mode, our ''modus operandi'', it's what audiences in this part of the world grew up with—think ''
Nang Nak
''Nang Nak'' ( th, นางนาก) is a 1999 Thai supernatural horror film based on the Thai legend of Mae Nak Phra Khanong. It was directed by Nonzee Nimibutr and released in 1999 by Buddy Film and Video Production Co. in Thailand. It depi ...
'' or
''Pontianak'' as classic examples, or more recently,
Joko Anwar
Joko Anwar (born 3 January 1976) is an Indonesian film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Prior to becoming a filmmaker, he worked as a journalist and film critic.
Anwar first rose to prominence for co-writing Nia Dinata's 2003 hit ' ...
's
''Satan Slaves'',
Syamsul Yusof
Mohd Syamsul Mohd Yusof (born 21 May 1984) is a Malaysian actor, film director, writer, producer and singer. He is the son of producer and director Yusof Haslam. He is the youngest director to win the Malaysian Film Festival for Best Directo ...
's ''
Munafik
''Munafik'' ( Malay: ''Hypocrite'') is a 2016 Malaysian supernatural horror film directed by Syamsul Yusof. It was his ninth film as well as his second horror film after '' Khurafat'' (2011) and also the first film in a planned ''Munafik'' tri ...
'' and Emir Ezwan's
''Roh''."
Indonesian horror films
Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to:
* Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia
** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago
** Indonesia ...
have featured local folklore for many decades, including
''Satan's Slave'' (1980) and ''
Mystics in Bali
''Mystics in Bali'' (originally released as ''Leák'') is a 1981 Indonesian supernatural horror film directed by H. Tjut Djalil. Based on the novel ''Leák Ngakak'' by Putra Mada, the film stars Ilona Agathe Bastian, Yos Santo, Sofia W.D., and ...
'' (1981); in the 2010s, ''
The Queen of Black Magic
''The Queen of Black Magic'' ( id, Ratu Ilmu Hitam) is a 2019 supernatural horror film directed by Kimo Stamboel and written by Joko Anwar. The film is a loose remake of the 1981 Indonesian horror film of the same name also produced by Rapi Film ...
'' and ''
Impetigore
''Impetigore'' ( id, Perempuan Tanah Jahanam, lit=Woman of the damned land) is a 2019 Indonesian horror film written and directed by Joko Anwar. The film stars Tara Basro, Marissa Anita, Christine Hakim, Asmara Abigail, and Ario Bayu. The fil ...
'' also attracted international attention.
Adam Scovell, who has written extensively on the genre, cites an early example as the 1952 Finnish horror film ''
The White Reindeer
''The White Reindeer'' ( fi, Valkoinen peura, sv, Den Vita Renen) is a 1952 Finnish horror drama film directed by Erik Blomberg in his feature film debut. It was entered in competition at the 1953 Cannes Film Festival and earned the Jean Coc ...
'', in which a lonely bride is transformed into a
vampiric
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...
reindeer, an idea derived from
Finnish mythology
Finnish mythology is a commonly applied description of the folklore of Finnish paganism, of which a modern revival is practiced by a small percentage of the Finnish people. It has many features shared with Estonian and other Finnic mythologies, ...
and
Sámi shamanism
Traditional Sámi spiritual practices and beliefs are based on a type of animism, polytheism, and what anthropologists may consider shamanism. The religious traditions can vary considerably from region to region within Sápmi.
Traditional Sámi ...
.
Television
As well as cinema, rural
Paganism
Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christianity, early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions ot ...
formed the basis of a number of British television plays of the 1970s - examples from the BBC's ''
Play for Today
''Play for Today'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage ...
'' strand include
John Bowen's ''
Robin Redbreast'' (1970) and ''A Photograph'' (1977),
David Rudkin
James David Rudkin (born 29 June 1936) is an English playwright .
Early life
Rudkin was born in London. Coming from a family of strict evangelical Christians, he was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and read Mods and Greats at St ...
's ''
Penda's Fen
''Penda's Fen'' is a British television play, written by David Rudkin and directed by Alan Clarke. It was commissioned by BBC producer David Rose, and first broadcast on 21 March 1974 as part of the corporation's ''Play for Today'' anthology seri ...
'' (1974) and
Alan Garner
Alan Garner (born 17 October 1934) is an English novelist best known for his children's fantasy novels and his retellings of traditional British folk tales. Much of his work is rooted in the landscape, history and folklore of his native count ...
's ''
Red Shift
In physics, a redshift is an increase in the wavelength, and corresponding decrease in the frequency and photon energy, of electromagnetic radiation (such as light). The opposite change, a decrease in wavelength and simultaneous increase in fr ...
'' (1978), along with entries in the 1972 ''
Dead of Night
''Dead of Night'' is a 1945 black and white British anthology horror film, made by Ealing Studios. The individual segments were directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer. It stars Mervyn Johns, Googie Wi ...
'' anthology series, such as ''The Exorcism''
[ Adaptations of the antiquarian ghost stories of ]M. R. James
Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English author, medievalist scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936). He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambrid ...
, which derive their horror in cursed objects, medieval superstition, occult practices and witch trials also provided a regular stream of folkloric horror - from Jacques Tourneur
Jacques Tourneur (; November 12, 1904 – December 19, 1977) was a French film director known for the classic film noir ''Out of the Past'' and a series of low-budget horror films he made for RKO Studios, including ''Cat People (1942 film), Cat ...
's ''Night of the Demon
''Night of the Demon'' (in the United States, released as ''Curse of the Demon'') is a 1957 British horror film, produced by Hal E. Chester and Frank Bevis, directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins and Niall MacG ...
'' (1957), Jonathan Miller
Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE (21 July 1934 – 27 November 2019) was an English theatre and opera director, actor, author, television presenter, humourist and physician. After training in medicine and specialising in neurology in the late 19 ...
's ''Whistle and I'll Come to You
"Whistle and I'll Come to You" is a 1968 BBC television drama adaptation of the 1904 ghost story 'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad' by M. R. James. It tells of an eccentric and distracted professor who happens upon a strange whistle whi ...
'' (BBC, 1968) and Lawrence Gordon Clark
Lawrence Gordon Clark, is an English television director and producer, perhaps best known for his ''A Ghost Story for Christmas'' series of mostly M. R. James ghost stories, which were broadcast annually by the BBC throughout the 1970s.
These ar ...
's yearly ''A Ghost Story for Christmas
''A Ghost Story for Christmas'' is a strand of annual British short television films originally broadcast on BBC One between 1971 and 1978, and revived sporadically by the BBC since 2005. With one exception, the original instalments were directe ...
'' strand for the BBC (1971-1978).[ ITV, meanwhile, produced the Alan Garner adaptation '']The Owl Service
''The Owl Service'' is a low fantasy novel for young adults by Alan Garner, published by Collins in 1967. Set in modern Wales, it is an adaptation of the story of the Welsh mythology, mythical Welsh woman Blodeuwedd, an "expression of the myt ...
'' (1969), Nigel Kneale
Thomas Nigel Kneale (28 April 1922 – 29 October 2006) was a Manx screenwriter who wrote professionally for more than 50 years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award, and was twice nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British S ...
's ''Beasts
Beast most often refers to:
* Non-human animal
* Monster
Beast or Beasts may also refer to:
Bible
* the Beast (Revelation), Beast (Revelation), two beasts described in the Book of Revelation
Computing and gaming
* Beast (card game), English n ...
'' (1976) and the HTV drama ''Children of the Stones
''Children of the Stones'' is a British television fantasy drama serial for children, produced by HTV in 1976 and broadcast on the United Kingdom's ITV network in January and February 1977. The serial was produced by Peter Graham Scott, with ...
'' (1977), which share a theme of ancient folklore seeping into the modern world.[
Matthew Sweet observes that occult and pagan elements even appeared in children's programmes and 1970s episodes of '']Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
''.[ Comedian ]Stewart Lee
Stewart Graham Lee (born 5 April 1968) is an English comedian, screenwriter, and television director. His stand-up routine is characterised by repetition, internal reference, deadpan delivery, and consistent breaking of the fourth wall.
Lee b ...
, in his retrospective of ''The Children of the Stones'' ("a tale of archaeology, occult ritual and Chopper bikes") identifies that series as part of a "collective Sixties comedown" which includes the genre works ''The Owl Service'', ''Timeslip
''Timeslip'' is a British children's science fiction television series made by ATV for the ITV network and broadcast between 1970 and 1971. It was first broadcast on Friday evenings at around 5:10-5:15pm in the ATV region with the other ITV re ...
'' (1970), ''The Tomorrow People
''The Tomorrow People'' is a British children's science fiction television series created by Roger Price. Produced by Thames Television for the ITV Network, the series first ran from 30 April 1973 to 19 February 1979.
The theme music was c ...
'' (1973), '' The Changes'' (1975) and ''Raven
A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...
'' (1977).
See also
*Postmodern horror
Postmodern horror is a horror film related to the art and philosophy of postmodernism. Examples of this type of film includes George A. Romero's ''Night of the Living Dead'', Tobe Hooper's '' The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' and John Carpenter's lege ...
*Art horror
Art horror or arthouse horror (sometimes called elevated horror) is a sub-genre of both horror films and art-films. It explores and experiments with the artistic uses of horror.
Characteristics
Art-horror films tend to rely on atmosphere bui ...
References
{{Authority control
*
Film genres
Horror films by genre
1960s in film
1970s in film
1980s in film
1990s in film
2000s in film
2010s in film
2020s in film
Folklore