FOR FOLK'S SAKE

Folk horror, UK Folk horror in particular, is everywhere. The latest episode of Inside Number 9 gave us the straw mask/crown and cult like villagers dispatching the outsider, as first placed in our consciousness by The Wicker Man.

We've had In The Earth, Midsommar, Kill List, and a variety of other versions of  the perils of paganism, with Alex Garland's Men coming shortly. There's been The VVitch and BBC's the  Witchfinder, not to mention Radiohead's clever video for Burn The Witch and a plethora of references to the bygone age of Catweazle, Children Of The Stones and seventies village mysteries. But what's the fascination?

Maybe we have all had our fill of slashers, cannibals, zombies, werewolves, cyborgs, viruses and vampires and are looking closer to home to give our fear glands a workout.

What Folk horror gives us is a taste of that innate fear of being an outsider, of not belonging. It speaks of the unspeakable hiding behind the mundane. In American life there is the 'behind the picket fence' syndrome, but in the UK there is a feeling that there are more sinister goings on out there in the forests and woods of little England than dogging and dog fighting. 

Our scandinavian friends have their fair share of pagan rites and rituals and share an appreciation of the changing of the season, dancing round a totem and tales of sacrifice and witchery. But, perhaps the puritans of early America are our nearest counterparts and their dark doings in the forests and woods of New England have real resonance. Great examples are The VVitch and American Horror Story: Roanoak.

This Century, that's getting on a bit now, may be for Folk Horror what the 40s were for Film Noir. There are many strange and ambiguous tales being told on the small and big screen and if you've not dipped a toe into these waters I would recommend the following as a glimpse into the past, present and future of Pagan Horror, this is a chronological list to set you on your way into the underbelly of the beast.

1. Häxan (1922)
2. Night Of The Demon (1957)
3. Black Sunday (1960)
4. The Witches (1966)
5. Witchfinder General (1968)
6. The Blood On Satan's Claw (1971)
7. The Wicker Man (1973) 
8. The Shout (1978)
9. Eyes Of Fire (1983)
10. Tilbury (1987)
11. Lair Of The White Worm (1988)
12. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
13. Wendigo (2001)
14. The Reaping (2007)
15. Wake Wood (2009)
16. Kill List (2011)
17. A Field In England (2013)
18. The VVitch (2013)
19. The Ritual (2017)
20. Border (2018)
21. Apostle (2018)
22. American Horror Story : Roanoak (2019)
23. In The Earth (2021)
24. Lamb (2021)
25. Men (2022)

*There are also a plethora of Asian Folk Horror Movies. More about them on a future post

CRASH! BANG! WALLOP! WHAT A MOVIE!

 

A plate of haute cuisine served with a fine wine in opulent surroundings is never really a bad thing. Nor is a classic novel, a life affirming piece of music or an example of art at it's finest, but sometimes one wants a big fat burger. That, in cinematic terms is what Michael Bay's Ambulance is.

Bay, for many years now has been the king of bombast over content, the go to guy for big bangs and fast frills. With Ambulance he has managed to blend high concept 90's action with Tarantinoesque pop culture references. The star of the movie Jake Gyllenhaal is in the top three Hollywood actors this century and has shown his ability in films like Zodiac, Nightcrawler and Prisoners and in this role he plays it perfectly as an anti-hero turned, out and out bad guy. His presence and energy literally drive the film as does his co-star Yahya Abdil-Mateen II. They make a great yin and yang partnership.

The pace of the film is exhilarating, the action given great velocity due to absurdly audacious drone camera work. Is it a guilty pleasure? In a way yes, but that detracts from it's quality. As a heist movie it works well as there is real jeopardy for the leading characters, as a buddy movie it also works as the inter dynamics of the two leads works well. 

The concept is executed perfectly and with great pizzazz. It's cousins are The Rock, Speed and Con Air, in fact The Rock is referenced by one of the characters.

I have seen several movies of real quality this year, Licorice Pizza, Titane, Belfast, Red Rocket, Boiling Point, The Worst Person In The World, all of which I would have to say were 'better' films than Ambulance, but I can honestly say that (so far) Ambulance is my favourite of 2022.

Why not take a ride while it's still on the big screen? After all who doesn't occasionally fancy a nice big juicy burger?

BANDS OF FUTURES PAST

Manicured Noise, Blurt, Delta Five, Section 25, Quando Quango,Spizz, Monochrome Set, 23 Skidoo, Rema Rema, Rubella Ballet, Television Personalities, Lydia Lunch, Snatch, Marine Girls, Josef K, Dolly Mixture, Mod-ettes, Mass, The Soft Boys, Richard Strange, Fad Gadget, LiLiPUT, Au Pairs, In Camera, Young Marble Giants, Clock DVA, DAF, Modern English, The Raincoats, Kleenex these are just some of the support bands that flourished in that glorious era at the start of the 80's when concert going was almost a nightly event. The venues were large. small, obscure, well known and downright bizarre. The main acts were very much a part of what people called Post-Punk and there was a general feeling of experimentation and possibilities.A visit to see Joy Division, Gang Of Four, Magazine, The Fall, Killing Joke, Wire, The Pop Group and the like inevitably meant there was an opportunity to see different support acts all over London and beyond.

The music created sounded like the sound of the future, it had complexity, light and shade and a Funk influence soon wound its way in. 

Looking back on those glory days, it's remarkable how affordable it all was. Getting there was cheap as chips, ticket prices were very very reasonable and refreshments at the venues took into account that none of us had a lot of money.

What it felt like was not so much as a movement but a load of bands emerging with a bit of musical aspiration, a load of bands that had their own little niche. And on top of that we also had the wonderful Two Tone bands who gave us something extraordinary and unifying.

Many, viewed that era as a bit po-faced but anyone who saw the likes of Spizz Oil/Energi/etc,  Blurt or Television Personalities will tell you that there was a lot of good old fashioned fun at these gigs.

The recorded evidence of this period has given us some amazing albums and singles but they don't capture the vibrancy of that era, the buzz of seeing so many new bands and of course the performances. These bands could play, and those that were still learning their craft would give the audience something to think about. That, for want of a better word, Post-Punk period was fantastic. It felt like the future, now!