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Kier-La Janisse delves into folk horror with Severin’s “WOODLANDS DARK”; news and poster

Thursday, July 11, 2019 | News

By MICHAEL GINGOLD

Classics like THE WICKER MAN and WITCHFINDER GENERAL are explored in depth in WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED: A HISTORY OF FOLK HORROR, a new documentary from Severin Films and acclaimed genre author Kier-La Janisse. We’ve got the info and the poster.

WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED tells the history of a subgenre that has been particularly conspicuous recently with the relase of films like MIDSOMMAR. “Folk horror has exploded over the last decade with a multidisciplinary reach that few other subgenres of horror enjoy,” says Janisse, author of HOUSE OF PSYCHOTIC WOMEN among others and a regular on the festival/revival scene. “Its manifestations on film, in visual arts and music are proliferating at a surprising rate. Moreover, the genre has inspired a rabid online fanbase whose favorite pastime seems to be endlessly debating exactly what folk horror is.” 

WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED will define that term via original collages by revered Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin and talks with over 30 interviewees, including Piers Haggard (director, BLOOD ON SATAN’S CLAW), Lawrence Gordon Clark (director, A GHOST STORY FOR CHRISTMAS series), Jeremy Dyson (co-director, GHOST STORIES), Alice Lowe (director, PREVENGE), Robert Eggers (director, THE WITCH), Ian Ogilvy (actor, WITCHFINDER GENERAL), Adam Scovell (author, FOLK HORROR: HOURS DREADFUL AND THINGS STRANGE), Andy Paciorek (founder, FOLK HORROR REVIVAL), Howard David Ingham (author, WE DON’T GO BACK: A WATCHER’S GUIDE TO FOLK HORROR), Kat Ellinger (editor, Diabolique magazine), John Cameron (composer, PSYCHOMANIA), Bobbie Seagroatt of the band Comus, Marc Wilkinson (composer, BLOOD ON SATAN’S CLAW) and Jim Williams (composer, A FIELD IN ENGLAND, KILL LIST), as well as archival interviews with original WICKER MAN director Robin Hardy and screenwriter Anthony Shaffer. Look for more details in the coming months; Severin has the documentary BLOOD & FLESH: THE REEL LIFE & GHASTLY DEATH OF AL ADAMSON world-premiering at Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival on Tuesday, July 16.

Michael Gingold
Michael Gingold (RUE MORGUE's Head Writer) has been covering the world of horror cinema for over three decades, and spent 28 years as a writer and editor for FANGORIA magazine and its website. In addition to RUE MORGUE, he currently writes for BIRTH.MOVIES.DEATH, SCREAM, IndieWire.com, TIME OUT, DELIRIUM and others. His book THE FRIGHTFEST GUIDE TO MONSTER MOVIES (FAB Press) is out this fall, and he has contributed liner notes and featurettes to a number of Blu-ray and DVD releases. Among his screenplay credits are SHADOW: DEAD RIOT and LEECHES!, and he is currently working on THE DOLL with director Dante Tomaselli.