[Film Review] Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror (2022)

If you’re a horror nerd, then there’s nothing more fun than settling down with an in-depth documentary to enhance your genre knowledge and add to your already overflowing watchlist. As horror fans, we’re very lucky that Shudder has been knocking it out of the park lately by giving fantastic horror documentaries such as In Search of Darkness (2019) and Horror Noir (2019) the platform they deserve. 

Well, it’s folk horror’s turn now, as Shudder welcomes Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror (2021) to its roster. It’s not like folk horror is a new sub-genre, but the recent resurgence including movies like The Ritual (2017), Midsommar (2019), and The Witch (2015) have meant that folk horror is only growing in popularity. 

With a runtime of around three and a quarter hours, Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror has plenty of time to explore as many aspects of folk horror as possible. Kicking off its popularity in the UK, the ‘unholy trinity’ of Witchfinder General (1968), The Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971), and The Wicker Man (1973) are the three movies that have helped cement folk horror’s popularity over the last half a century. 

As well as these three classics, the documentary dives into how common folk horror tales were in British cinema and on our television screens. Christmas TV has featured several M.R. James adaptations over the years through Ghost Stories for Christmas (1971), popular shows such as Doctor Who (1963) often dipped into the world of folk horror, and even kids’ shows such as Bagpuss (1974) can be categorised as folk horror. 

While I knew that folk horror has always been prevalent in Britain’s horror offering, it was fascinating to see just how prevalent it was and how often regular TV-watching audiences were exposed to the folk horror themes, even if they weren’t die-hard horror fans. Britain’s rural locations, historical sites such as stone circles, and history containing human sacrifice and witch trials mean that there’s an endless supply of topics for folk horror to focus on.

Next up, Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror tackles witches, a folk horror topic that covers most of the world, before moving into American folk horror. What I found most interesting about this section was how differing the folk tales and traditions could be depending on which part of America the story was set. 

New England folk horror is riddled with Stephen King adaptations, whereas stories set in the South look at the way that part of the country felt left behind. The documentary also explores  Native American horror, Black horror, cult anxiety, Christianity, and how urban legends can blend with folk horror to create an effective story. 

From there, Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror looks at folk horror from around the world, touching on a range of different countries and focussing on the elements that make a classic folk horror from each region. 

What makes these region-specific sections stand out so much is writer/director/co-producer Kier-La Janisse and the rest of the team went to the effort to get filmmakers and horror authors from each country to talk about their particular brand of folk horror. Rather than a surface-level look at a few movies from across the world, Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror takes the time to paint a clear picture of the folklore, local fears, and anxieties that influence folk horror cinema across the world. 

The final section of the film looks at the recent folk horror revival, diving into some of our most recent favourites which have given folk horror the chance to shine for a modern audience.

Folk horror is a sub-genre I’ve always felt I knew very little about, which is quite shameful considering I’m an overly-superstitious witch, but Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror showed that plenty of my favourite movies fall under the folk horror bracket, including The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1978), Pet Sematary (1989), and Candyman (1992).

I was also delighted to see a bunch of my favourite folk horrors get a little time to shine, featuring the likes of Pumpkinhead (1988) and Jug Face (2013). I would also like to note how jealous I am that Chad Crawford Kinkle has the various Jug Faces in his home office!

Overall, Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror is the perfect horror documentary. It was a great mix of horror knowledge I already knew and could therefore feel confidently geeky about my horror chops, mixed with an incredible depth of folk horror insight from around the world.

The range of contributors is incredibly impressive, with everyone getting the chance to contribute their individual knowledge on the subjects they are most knowledgeable and passionate about. The sheer amount of films name-dropped and shown through clips also shows just how much work, passion, and research went into creating this documentary.

Whether you’re a massive folk horror fan, or, like me, you feel you could benefit from exploring the sub-genre a little bit more, I cannot recommend Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror enough. You will definitely come away with so much new knowledge, a greater understanding of the folk horror tropes that show up in different countries, and enough movies to fill up your watchlist for the rest of the year.

RELATED ARTICLES

---

---

EXPLORE

---

MORE ARTICLES

---

---