The Top 10 Best Folk Horror Movies
5. In the Earth
Ben Wheatley is one of the best folk horror filmmakers of all time. He’s best known for Kill List and A Field in England, but In the Earth is my favorite of his folk horror movies because of the way it presents science and folklore as two sides of one truth. It follows Martin Lowery (Joel Fry), a scientist sent to assist in a study deep within an unusually fertile forest. He’s partnered with a Ranger (Ellora Torchia) to keep from getting lost, but the forest has other plans for them. Things get really weird when they stumble into the philosophical debate between scientist Olivia (Hayley Squires), and pagan, Zach (Reece Shearsmith). Both acknowledge the forest is sentient, but debate its sapience. Neither can comprehend what the forest has planned for them, though. Beautifully shot, In the Earth is a must-see movie.
4. Hereditary
When I sat down to write this list of folk horror movies I knew Ari Aster was getting a spot. Midsommer might seem like the more obvious choice, but one of the most crushing themes in folk horror is isolation, and Hereditary hits that on multiple levels. It’s a gut-wrenching examination of the ripples set off by a family tragedy and the destructive power of grief. Before you start thinking “that doesn’t sound like much of a horror movie,” let me assure you the Hereditary is not only 127 minutes of anxiety-inducing tension, it’s got witchcraft, a secret cult, and demon. Heads up, this movie is a visceral experience that will leave you a hollow shell of your former self, but Toni Collette is outstanding.
3. The Wailing
Folk horror movies aren’t just a product of western cinema. Our next country comes from Korea, a country well known for its addictive television dramas and terrifying revenge movies. For the sake of this list, I’m going with the haunting thriller, The Wailing. Set in a small mountain village called Gokseong, where a gruesome series of murders draws the attention of two local police officers (Son Gang-guk and Kwak Do-won). They discover that an illness has taken hold in their community and those infected eventually murder their entire families. Their investigation takes them down a dark path filled with twists and turns where they learn this epidemic isn’t the result of a disease, but the essence of evil passing from victim to victim. The Wailing offers a new perspective on the genre’s themes, proving that horror speaks a universal language.
2. The Hole in the Ground
Reason 82 not to trust children: Changelings. We already saw one film featuring the malevolent fae folk on this list of folk horror movies, but The Hole in the Ground will really make your skin crawl. This slow-burn psychological horror-thriller follows Sarah (Seána Kerslake), a woman who moves to the Irish countryside with her son, Chris (James Quinn Markey). With a beautiful forest right in their backyard, Chris takes to daily adventures through the woods. One day though, Sarah suspects that the Chris who came out of the woods isn’t the same one who went in. As “Chris” begins to display unusual and even aggressive behavior, Sarah wonders what has happened to her son and if it’s too late to save him. The Hole in the Ground will grip you from start to finish, making it a perfect movie for the number 2 spot.
1. The Witch
Writer/director Robert Eggers burst onto the scene in 2015 with his modern horror classic, The Witch (or as I like to call it, “The V-Vitch”). The film is an amalgam of themes from various horror genres, and some have even argued that it belongs in a genre all its own called “elevated horror.” I’m convinced that this is not only a good old-fashioned folk horror movie, but it’s the best one of all time. Taking place in Puritan America, a man is kicked out of town for being “too much of an extremist” even for the fundamentalist community. So, he packs up his bags and moves his family into the woods. Well, creepy stuff happens in the woods and soon accusations are flying around about who may or may not have made a covenant with the devil. The Witch earns the top spot on this list because its underlying message examines how man is at the core of folk horror movies. Demons, witches, and monsters might be scary, but zealots are the real terror to watch out for in the woods.
Honorable Mention: Pet Semetary (1989)
To this day, Pet Semetary is not only one of my favorite folk horror movies, but one of my favorite Stephen King adaptations of all time. Even now, when I think “folk horror movies” Fred Gwynne instantly pops into my mind and tells me, “Sometimes dead is bett’ah.” The film had a huge impact on me when I accidentally stumbled upon it on TV one spooky season, and since then it’s been a guilty pleasure. It also happens to feature everything a good folk horror movie should, isolation, supernatural elements, the folly of man in the face of forces he doesn’t fully comprehend… Plus, it’s just a plain good scary movie. That’s why it’s getting an honorable mention.
Shout-Out(s): Pumpkinhead and Children of the Corn
I’m a firm believer that not all great movies are good, which is why I’m giving a shout-out to 2 delightfully awful folk horror movies, Pumpkinhead and Children of the Corn. Both films feature isolated fundamentalism taken to an extreme as tight night communities make pacts with supernatural creatures. In Pumpkinhead Appalachian hill people summon an ancient spirit of vengeance to hunt down a group of city folk who done manslaughtered a boy. In Children of the Corn bible-belt, evangelical children perform sacrifices to appease the fertility demon, He Who Walks Behind the Rows. Both films are campy classics that I always end up watching every Halloween, which earns them a shout-out on this list of folk horror movies.
That concludes the top 10 best folk horror movies. There are a ton of other entries in the genre though, and I’d love for you to comment below with some of your favorites. As always, I’ll be on the lookout for new folk horror movies and will be updating this list with worthy additions in the future. So, be sure to check back to see how the rankings change. Until then, try not to offend any fertility gods and don’t talk religion or politics in isolated farming communities.