Folk Horror
by Goblinkingscrotch | created - 04 Jul 2012 | updated - 17 Jul 2014 | PublicFolk Horror is a hard sub genre to clearly define more of a feeling than anything it refers to a group of films and TV serials originally made in Britain in the late 60's to mid 70's often set in rural communities and dealing with pagan myths. There were some good Euro-Horror (and the odd US) additions to the genre in the late 70's and 80's and most recently there would seem to be a slight revival of movies on these themes in the UK... This list is a work in progress.
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1. Curse of the Demon (1957)
Approved | 96 min | Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
American professor John Holden arrives in London for a parapsychology conference, only to find himself investigating the mysterious actions of Devil-worshipper Julian Karswell.
Director: Jacques Tourneur | Stars: Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, Niall MacGinnis, Maurice Denham
Votes: 15,503
2. The Plague of the Zombies (1966)
Approved | 90 min | Horror
During a mysterious epidemic in a small Cornish village, the local doctor summons his professor friend for help.
Director: John Gilling | Stars: André Morell, Diane Clare, Brook Williams, Jacqueline Pearce
Votes: 5,647
3. The Reptile (1966)
Approved | 90 min | Horror
In a Cornish village, various locals die from mysterious snake bites, but the coroner rules the deaths as heart attacks, until a family of newcomers starts an investigation.
Director: John Gilling | Stars: Noel Willman, Jennifer Daniel, Ray Barrett, Jacqueline Pearce
Votes: 3,960
4. The Witches (1966)
Not Rated | 90 min | Horror
Following a horrifying experience with the occult in Africa, a schoolteacher moves to a small English village, only to discover that black magic resides there as well.
Director: Cyril Frankel | Stars: Joan Fontaine, Kay Walsh, Alec McCowen, Ann Bell
Votes: 3,250
5. Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
Approved | 97 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A mysterious artifact is unearthed in London, and famous scientist Bernard Quatermass is called in to divine its origins and explain its strange effects on people.
Director: Roy Ward Baker | Stars: James Donald, Andrew Keir, Barbara Shelley, Julian Glover
Votes: 11,510
6. Witchfinder General (1968)
Unrated | 86 min | Drama, Horror
A young soldier seeks to put an end to the evils caused by a vicious witch-hunter when the latter terrorizes his fiancée and kills her uncle.
Director: Michael Reeves | Stars: Vincent Price, Ian Ogilvy, Rupert Davies, Patrick Wymark
Votes: 12,218
7. The Devil Rides Out (1968)
G | 95 min | Horror
Devil worshipers plan to convert two new victims.
Director: Terence Fisher | Stars: Christopher Lee, Charles Gray, Nike Arrighi, Leon Greene
Votes: 10,260
8. The Crimson Cult (1968)
R | 87 min | Horror
Robert visits the remote country house where his brother was last seen. While his host seems outwardly friendly, Robert senses a sense of menace in the air.
Director: Vernon Sewell | Stars: Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee, Mark Eden, Barbara Steele
Votes: 2,983
9. Cry of the Banshee (1970)
GP | 91 min | Horror
In 1500s England, a cruel witch-hunting magistrate, who often tortures innocent villagers for his entertainment, runs afoul of a witch who conjures a banshee to kill the magistrate and his family.
Director: Gordon Hessler | Stars: Vincent Price, Elisabeth Bergner, Essy Persson, Hugh Griffith
Votes: 2,897
10. Crowhaven Farm (1970 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 74 min | Drama, Horror
A young couple inherits a farm. Hoping that the rural location might help to patch up their strained marriage, they move into it, only to be confronted by the supernatural forces that inhabit it.
Director: Walter Grauman | Stars: Hope Lange, Paul Burke, Lloyd Bochner, John Carradine
Votes: 1,018
11. The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971)
R | 97 min | Horror
In early 18th century England, the children of a village slowly convert into a coven of devil worshipers.
Director: Piers Haggard | Stars: Patrick Wymark, Linda Hayden, Barry Andrews, Michele Dotrice
Votes: 7,521
12. The Devils (1971)
R | 111 min | Biography, Drama, History
In 17th-century France, Father Urbain Grandier's protection of the city of Loudun from the corrupt Cardinal Richelieu is undermined by a sexually repressed nun's accusation of witchcraft.
Director: Ken Russell | Stars: Vanessa Redgrave, Oliver Reed, Dudley Sutton, Max Adrian
Votes: 18,660 | Gross: $1.13M
13. Black Noon (1971 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 74 min | Horror, Western
A traveling minister and his wife are quietly menaced by a devil cult in the Old West. By the time the Good Reverend figures out what's going on it may be too late to stop the evil.
Director: Bernard L. Kowalski | Stars: Roy Thinnes, Yvette Mimieux, Ray Milland, Gloria Grahame
Votes: 400
14. The Wicker Man (1973)
R | 88 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A puritan police sergeant arrives in a Scottish island village in search of a missing girl, who the pagan locals claim never existed.
Director: Robin Hardy | Stars: Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Diane Cilento, Britt Ekland
Votes: 92,256 | Gross: $0.06M
15. To the Devil a Daughter (1976)
R | 95 min | Horror
An American occult novelist battles to save the soul of a young girl from a group of Satanists, led by an excommunicated priest, who plan on using her as the representative of the Devil on Earth.
Directors: Peter Sykes, Don Sharp | Stars: Richard Widmark, Christopher Lee, Honor Blackman, Denholm Elliott
Votes: 4,904
16. Rawhead Rex (1986)
R | 89 min | Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
An ancient creature called Rawhead is awakened from its slumber near an Irish village and goes on a rampage killing anyone in sight.
Director: George Pavlou | Stars: David Dukes, Kelly Piper, Hugh O'Conor, Cora Venus Lunny
Votes: 6,623
17. Eyes of Fire (1983)
R | 86 min | Drama, Horror, Western
A preacher is accused of adultery, and he and his followers are chased out of town. They become stranded in an isolated forest, which is haunted by the spirits of French colonists controlled by evil.
Director: Avery Crounse | Stars: Dennis Lipscomb, Guy Boyd, Rebecca Stanley, Sally Klein
Votes: 2,263
18. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
R | 98 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Kids all over America want Silver Shamrock masks for Halloween. Doctor Daniel Challis seeks to uncover a plot by Silver Shamrock owner Conal Cochran.
Director: Tommy Lee Wallace | Stars: Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin, Dan O'Herlihy, Michael Currie
Votes: 60,987 | Gross: $14.40M
19. Kill List (2011)
Not Rated | 95 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Nearly a year after a botched job, a hitman takes a new assignment with the promise of a big payoff for three killings. What starts off as an easy task soon unravels, sending the killer into the heart of darkness.
Director: Ben Wheatley | Stars: Neil Maskell, MyAnna Buring, Harry Simpson, Michael Smiley
Votes: 45,327 | Gross: $0.03M
20. Wake Wood (2009)
R | 90 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
The parents of a girl who was killed by a savage dog are granted the opportunity to spend three days with their deceased daughter.
Director: David Keating | Stars: Aidan Gillen, Eva Birthistle, Timothy Spall, Ella Connolly
Votes: 8,818
21. The Wicker Tree (2011)
R | 96 min | Drama, Horror
Charmed by the residents of Tressock, Scotland, two young missionaries accept the invitation to participate in a local festival, fully unaware of the consequences of their decision.
Director: Robin Hardy | Stars: Brittania Nicol, Henry Garrett, Graham McTavish, Jacqueline Leonard
Votes: 2,947
22. The Stone Tape (1972 TV Movie)
90 min | Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
A research team from an electronics company moves into an old Victorian house to start work on finding a new recording medium. When team member Jill Greeley witnesses a ghost, team director... See full summary »
Director: Peter Sasdy | Stars: Michael Bryant, Jane Asher, Iain Cuthbertson, Michael Bates
Votes: 1,882
23. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Horror
Two American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.
Director: John Landis | Stars: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Joe Belcher, Griffin Dunne
Votes: 120,476 | Gross: $30.57M
24. A Field in England (2013)
Not Rated | 90 min | Drama, History, Horror
Amid the Civil War in 17th-century England, a group of deserters flee from battle through an overgrown field. Captured by an alchemist, the men are forced to help him search to find a hidden treasure that he believes is buried in the field.
Director: Ben Wheatley | Stars: Julian Barratt, Peter Ferdinando, Richard Glover, Ryan Pope
Votes: 13,991 | Gross: $0.03M
25. Black Death (2010)
R | 102 min | Action, Drama, History
Set during the time of the first outbreak of bubonic plague in England, a young monk is given the task of learning the truth about reports of people being brought back to life in a small village.
Director: Christopher Smith | Stars: Eddie Redmayne, Sean Bean, Carice van Houten, Kimberley Nixon
Votes: 51,233 | Gross: $0.02M
26. The Death Wheelers (1973)
PG | 85 min | Adventure, Horror
An amiable, psychopathic leader of a violent teen motorbike gang is spurred by his mother, a Satan-worshiping spiritual medium, into committing suicide and returning to life as an "undead".
Director: Don Sharp | Stars: George Sanders, Beryl Reid, Nicky Henson, Mary Larkin
Votes: 3,147
27. The City of the Dead (1960)
PG-13 | 76 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A young college student arrives in a sleepy Massachusetts town to research witchcraft; during her stay at an eerie inn, she discovers a startling secret about the town and its inhabitants.
Director: John Llewellyn Moxey | Stars: Patricia Jessel, Dennis Lotis, Christopher Lee, Tom Naylor
Votes: 8,515
28. Kwaidan (1964)
Not Rated | 183 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A collection of four Japanese folk tales with supernatural themes.
Director: Masaki Kobayashi | Stars: Rentarô Mikuni, Michiyo Aratama, Misako Watanabe, Kenjirô Ishiyama
Votes: 19,979
29. Eye of the Devil (1966)
Not Rated | 96 min | Horror, Mystery
Workers employed at a French vineyard quietly follow old pagan rituals that call for the life of the marquis owner to save his crops during dry seasons.
Director: J. Lee Thompson | Stars: David Niven, Sharon Tate, Deborah Kerr, Donald Pleasence
Votes: 3,218
30. The Owl Service (1969–1970)
200 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
Three teenagers discover a mysterious set of owl and flower-patterned dinner plates in the attic and the magical ancient legend of the "Mabinogion" comes to life once again in their Welsh valley.
Stars: Dorothy Edwards, Gillian Hills, Michael Holden, Francis Wallis
Votes: 229
31. Mark of the Devil (1970)
R | 90 min | Drama, History, Horror
In 1700s Austria, a witch-hunter's apprentice has doubts about the righteousness of witch-hunting when he witnesses the brutality, the injustice, the falsehood, the torture and the arbitrary killing that go with the job.
Directors: Michael Armstrong, Adrian Hoven | Stars: Herbert Lom, Udo Kier, Olivera Katarina, Reggie Nalder
Votes: 3,904
32. Virgin Witch (1971)
R | 88 min | Horror
A pair of miniskirted birds who travel to a remote castle in order to land a contract in the modeling agency of the mysterious lesbian Sybil Waite (In HD).
Director: Ray Austin | Stars: Ann Michelle, Vicki Michelle, Keith Buckley, Patricia Haines
Votes: 1,572
33.
Beasts (1976)
Episode:
Baby
(1976)
Drama, Horror, Mystery
A young couple move to the countryside and discover a strange mummified animal in the wall of their cottage. The wife increasingly feels that she and her unborn child are in danger.
Director: John Nelson-Burton | Stars: Jane Wymark, Simon MacCorkindale, T.P. McKenna, Mark Dignam
Votes: 155
34.
Against the Crowd (1975)
Episode:
Murrain
(1975)
55 min | Drama
A young country vet begins to suspect that the local farmland is under the spell of a witch.
Director: John Cooper | Stars: David Simeon, Bernard Lee, Una Brandon-Jones, David Neal
Votes: 131
35. Pumpkinhead (1988)
R | 86 min | Fantasy, Horror
After a tragic accident, a man conjures up a towering, vengeful demon called Pumpkinhead to destroy a group of unsuspecting teenagers.
Director: Stan Winston | Stars: Lance Henriksen, Jeff East, John D'Aquino, Kimberly Ross
Votes: 27,823 | Gross: $4.39M
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