DEEP DIVE: Folk Horror Globetrotting

This is a watch at home, discuss in person event.

At long last, spooky season is back! As if I don't watch enough horror movies throughout the year, October is the perfect excuse to do what we all really want, which is watch absolutely nothing but horror movies for an entire month. I definitely will be mixing it up throughout the month between classy and sleazy, international and domestic, old and new, but I wanted to settle on a genre for my October deep dive. I've done crime horror, video nasties, but I haven't yet done one of my favorites (when done right): folk horror! I love this genre because no matter where in the world the movies come from, the ideas about what people fear have such universal roots. I also love that it’s a genre that often directly explores superstition and how beliefs can be weaponized.

Please try to watch all three films before the discussion, but it's okay if you've only seen 1 or 2.

Films:
Häxan (1922, Benjamin Christensen):
Grave robbing, torture, possessed nuns, and a satanic Sabbath: Benjamin Christensen’s legendary film uses a series of dramatic vignettes to explore the scientific hypothesis that the witches of the Middle Ages suffered the same hysteria as turn-of-the-century psychiatric patients. But the film itself is far from serious– instead it’s a witches’ brew of the scary, gross, and darkly humorous.
Stream on HBO Max or for FREE on Kanopy

Kwaidan (1964, Masaki Kobayashi):
Taking its title from an archaic Japanese word meaning “ghost story,” this anthology adapts four folk tales. A penniless samurai marries for money with tragic results. A man stranded in a blizzard is saved by Yuki the Snow Maiden, but his rescue comes at a cost. Blind musician Hoichi is forced to perform for an audience of ghosts. An author relates the story of a samurai who sees another warrior’s reflection in his teacup.
Stream on HBO Max or the Criterion Channel

Witchfinder General (1968, Michael Reeves):
England, 1645. The cruel civil war between Royalists and Parliamentarians that is ravaging the country causes an era of chaos and legal arbitrariness that allows unscrupulous men to profit by exploiting the absurd superstitions of the peasants; like Matthew Hopkins, a monster disguised as a man who wanders from town to town offering his services as a witch hunter.
Stream for FREE on Tubi

We'll meet at Barquentine Brewing Company at Edgewater Public Market. I'll make sure and reserve space in their back room unless it's really nice outside and we want to take in the fall air while we discuss. See you all there!