Notizie

A woman immolates herself in a silent glade—flames licking ancient pines as unseen figures watch, half‑hidden by shadow. It’s an opening so arresting it brands itself onto the mind.

Judith, a no‑nonsense Berlin paramedic, inherits her estranged father’s rural estate in Lower Austria. She and her photographer husband, Ryan, arrive expecting a quick sale. Instead, they tumble into a labyrinth of ritual and memory, coaxed by a cadre of overwhelmingly polite—and overwhelmingly female—villagers.

The setting wears two faces: sun‑dappled woodland trails give way to looming crosses, deer skulls hanging like mute sentinels. Prochaska summons the mood of 1970s cult horror, echoes of Rosemary’s Baby and Wicker Man reborn in damp mountain air.

This marks Andreas Prochaska’s cinematic comeback after eleven years. He places Julia Franz Richter at the story’s churning center—her Judith both healer and haunted, every controlled breath hinting at buried wounds.

Christopher Lee starred in many now-classic horror movies, among them The Wicker Man, which ended up becoming the direct inspiration for a metal song 27 years after its release. Christopher Lee is one of the most respected actors of his generation, with an impressive career spanning over six decades and covering not just movies and TV projects but also music. Lee became widely known after playing Dracula in seven Hammer Horror movies, which also made him one of the most iconic horror actors ever. Outside his Dracula movies, one of Lee’s most notable horror movies is The Wicker Man.

The Wicker Man was directed by Robin Hardy, written by Anthony Shaffer, and inspired by David Pinner’s 1967 novel Ritual. The Wicker Man is a folk horror movie that follows Sgt. Neil Howie (Edward Woodward), who travels to the island of Summerisle to investigate the disappearance of a young girl. There...

Video Nasty concludes on a pleasingly chaotic note. Here’s our Video Nasty episode 6 review.

Warning! Unlike previous episode reviews, this review will be full of spoilers for Video Nasty episode 6!

Video Nasty comes to an end with episode 6 and what a chapter to conclude on. Episode 5 ended with Zoe and Joe getting hit by the parents’ car, but luckily Zoe is alright. You can’t really say the same about Joe, who is just about alive but not for long as Zoe runs him over with the car.

I mentioned in the last episode review that I had a feeling Topher might switch sides and that’s exactly what happens in the finale here. Topher ends up helping Billy and Con escape Ethel and the village priest, but it ultimately costs the poor kid his life.

Video Nasty has been implying gore and violence throughout its previous five episodes...

If there’s one thing that horror teaches over and over again, it’s not to mess with the dead. The characters in indie gem Lizzie Lazarus, acquired by Bloody Disgusting, are poised to learn that the hard way.

Channeling Stephen King’s Pet Sematary, writer/director Aviv Rubinstien’s twisted psychological horror film builds to a shocker of a finale everyone will be talking about when it arrives on Digital HD and Screambox on January 14, 2025.

But before then, horror fans in Cali can attend the Los Angeles premiere on Saturday, January 11, 2025 @7:00 Pm!

There will be photos, and a Q&a following the screening with the cast and crew, moderated by Elric Kane of the Colors of the Dark Podcast. Where: Secret Movie Club Theater, 1917 Bay Street #2nd Floor Los Angeles, CA 90021 Tickets: There are only a handful of tickets left on Eventbrite.

In the film, featuring stand-out performances...

Diane Delano, an actor with scores of film and TV credits including Northern Exposure, Popular and The Wicker Man, died December 13 of cancer at her home in Sherman Oaks, CA. She was 67.

The news was confirmed Monday by her friend Stepfanie Kramer.

Delano is best known for playing Barbara Semanski, the tough Alaska state trooper and sometimes love interest of Barry Corbin’s astronaut-turned-entrepreneur Maurice Minnefield on CBS’ Emmy-winning comedy Northern Exposure. She also played Roberta “Bobbi” Glass on Ryan Murphy’s WB Network series Popular, which aired from 1999-2001.

Other credits in her 40-plus-year career include the films The Wicker Man and the Coen brothers’ The Ladykillers, while TV credits include Mom, Mike & Molly, Everwood, Days of our Lives, Desperate Housewives, Six Feet Under, Monk, Cop Rock, Batman: The Brave and the Bold and Teen Titans.

More recently, she voiced roles in video games including Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga,...

Diane Delano, an American actress best known for her roles in “Northern Exposure” and “The Wicker Man,” has died. She was 67.

Delano died on Friday night after a battle with a brief illness, according to her rep.

Delano appeared as Officer Barbara Semanski in 12 episodes of the CBS sitcom “Northern Exposure” and played the role of Sister Beech in the 2006 remake of “The Wicker Man.”

Her other notable credits include shows like “Popular,” where she played Roberta “Bobbi” Glass, and “Days of Our Lives,” where she played Agent Hilda, an FBI operative tasked with protecting Sami Brady. Her film credits include “Miracle Mile,” “The Ladykillers,” “A Mighty Wind” and “Out of These Rooms.”

Delano also lent her voice to a number of animated projects, such as “Batman: The Brave and the Bold,” “Infinity Train,” “Teen Titans” and “Rugrats.”

In 2012, Delano took home an Indie Series Award for her supporting take...

There’s nothing like getting a little R&r, whether we’re talking Rest & Relaxation or…R-Rated Bloodbaths & Really Creepy Cannibalistic Townsfolk. And you’ll find both in Steffan Haars’ dark comedy Get Away, starring the ever-charming Nick Frost (Shaun of The Dead) and Aisling Bea (Last One Laughing: Ireland). Harbingers of Doom, over-the-top goofy small-town nonsense, and true Swedish Seaside Massacre of a finale.

Like Get Out for fans of Nordic crime TV, Get Away follows the Smith family as they take a much-needed break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life to take in some culture on the remote Swedish island of Svalta. Despite warnings from literally everyone they encounter, The Smith’s press on, eager to participate in Svalta’s annual celebration of their violent liberation from Britain. Needless to say, not the best time for some out of touch UK visitors to show up unannounced...

As Grimmfest celebrates the haunting legacy of The Wicker Man 50 years on, Children of the Wicker Man makes a powerful impression, blending filmmaking history, personal discovery, and the complex relationship between father and sons. Directed by Justin Hardy and produced by Chris Nunn, this documentary goes beyond simple admiration for the cult classic, exploring the life and work of the original film’s creator, Robin Hardy, through the eyes of his children. The film is a poignant and deeply human journey that shows the impact of The Wicker Man not only on the horror landscape but also on those closest to its creator.

Will Knowles had the opportunity during the festival to speak with director Justin Hardy and producer Chris Nunn about the making of Children of the Wicker Man, its personal resonance, and what it’s like diving into such a monumental legacy while still creating something entirely their own.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Speak No Evil (2024).

The 2024 horror movie Speak No Evil received excellent reviews and Rotten Tomato scores that exceed the original, showing that the newer version isnt just an unnecessary remake. The streaming platform Shudder has gained a reputation for releasing some of the best, worst, and most silly horror movies including the 2022 Danish horror movie Speak No Evil, which falls into the first category. Directed by Christian Tafdrup, the film follows a Danish family who visits a Dutch family, expecting a lovely weekend. They soon discover disturbing secrets that lead to Speak No Evils gripping ending.

Considering the movie only came out a year before the announcement, audiences and critics were skeptical in 2023 when news confirmed that Blumhouse planned to remake the movie. Hollywood tends to remake great international films, losing what made the original special. Prime examples of this include Oldboy (2013), Fathers Day (1997), and Wickerman (2006). However,...

Los Angeles is about to go full “Wicker Man” thanks to the first teaser for “9-1-1” Season 8. The upcoming installment — as well as its bee-themed three-part opener — will premiere on ABC on Sept. 26. New episodes will be available to stream the following day on Hulu and Disney+

So far, the “9-1-1” team has tackled tsunamis, earthquakes, floods and a bouncy castle that flew away. But this time around, their natural disaster foe is 22 million killer bees. Set to Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight,” the 30-second teaser starts with Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) taking a 9-1-1 call. The camera then immediately snaps to show a truck exploding as it carries multiple crates.

“That truck was hauling 22 million killer bees,” a fellow dispatcher tells Maddie.

“Enough bees to kill …?” she asks.

“Forty-four thousand people.”

As this version of “In the Air Tonight” becomes more frantic, the camera shows people wildly swatting at their faces.

There are a lot of good-to-great Stephen King movies ... and then there's the "Children of the Corn" series. Somehow, King's short story "Children of the Corn," originally published in a 1977 issue of Penthouse and added to his 1978 short story collection "Night Shift," has popped off a horde of sequels and not one but two remakes. As of this writing, there are 11 (!!) "Children of the Corn" movies. How in the hell did this happen? Well, for one thing, the first film, released in 1984, was a big hit — primarily because it was made rather cheaply. And that then became the name of the game: make quick, cheap sequels and dump them on home video (only the first two movies, "Children of the Corn" and "Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice," went to theaters).

In King's original short story, a feuding married couple, Burt and Vicky, are on a road trip...

Face/Off 2 must maintain the original's absurdity to set itself apart from other action and sci-fi movies. Nicolas Cage and John Travolta's energy made the first film a cult classic, and whoever stars in the legacy sequel could do the same. Director Adam Wingard's history with the Monsterverse proves he knows how to maintain a film's absurdity without making it a farce.

One of Nicolas Cage's cult classic movies - one that has a 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes - is getting a legacy sequel, but it can only work if it does one thing right. Nicolas Cage has made almost 100 movies in his career, and the ranking of Cage's movies goes from good to bad to "so bad they're good." There have also been multiple moments in Cage's films that were unintentionally hilarious. All that has led to the actor having a few movies become cult classics,...

Editor’s note: this list was originally published in July 2021. It has since been updated to coincide with the release of “Longlegs.”

It’s amusing, in hindsight, to look back at Nicolas Cage’s first lead role. After a small role in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” the scion of the Coppola dynasty headlined 1983’s “Valley Girl,” playing the teen heartthrob that swoops Deborah Foreman’s LA blonde off her feet. Sure, Cage was playing a punk instead of a football player, but it was altogether a rather conventional stock character, the kind that populates many teen films that came before (“Grease”) and after (“The Breakfast Club”).

As soon as he moved on from teen rom-com parts (see also: “Peggy Sue Got Married”), Cage largely has taken roles that have been anything but ordinary. The intense star specializes in playing men on the edge of madness, who feel deeply and express those emotions loudly.

What is it with Nicolas Cage and evil cults? From the trashy thrills of his Wicker Man remake to the stylized hyper-violence of Mandy, the veteran actor has taken out countless crazed believers throughout the course of his long and varied career, and I don’t think he’s about to stop anytime soon. That being said, there’s only one Nick Cage flick where he gets into a shoot-out with homicidal Satanists while continuing to have sex with a waitress – and that would 2011’s underrated neo-grindhouse thriller, Drive Angry – a near-perfect example of Horror Adjacent cinema.

Hot off the success of 2009’s surprisingly profitable My Bloody Valentine 3D (which I’d argue is one of the best horror remakes of the 2000s), director Patrick Lussier wanted to keep experimenting with new 3D technology in a more action-packed cinematic playground. Inspired by the sleazy exploitation flicks of the 70s (as...

Quick Links The Night They Raided Minsky's Plot and Cast How Norman Lear and William Friedkin Got Involved Is The Night They Raided Minskys Based on a True Story? Where to Watch The Night The Raided Minsky's

Legendary screenwriter/producer Norman Lear and iconic director William Friedkin carved out careers worthy of praise and admiration. One shaped the future of TV with a string of hit sitcoms, while the other brought forth one of the horror genre's most terrifying creations. Their names are synonyms with their specific craft in shaping their respective industries, and it will surprise some that at one point, the two giants crossed paths to work on a single movie. Moreover, the feature that brought them together was a bawdy musical that celebrated burlesque and teased audiences with the origin of the striptease.

Released in 1968 and capturing the early days of a burlesque theater in the 1920s,...

Some horror movies, such as Jordan Peeles Get Out, are immediate commercial and cultural successes. Others, like Robin Hardys The Wicker Man, take time to seep into the popular consciousness, finding their audience in coming generations. Herk Harveys Carnival of Souls belongs to the latter group, an ultra-low budget effort from 1962 that has all the hallmarks of a Mystery Science Theatre 3000 offering amateurish acting, stilted dialogue, and some oddball directorial choices. Yet the uncanny power of Carnival of Souls meant it would be rediscovered through the years via late-night showings and a growing cult following. An ethereal zombie movie that rose from the grave to thrill discerning viewers, it influenced the work of some key directors, making it a must-see for horror fans.

In Robin Hardy's supremely creepy 1973 cult picture "The Wicker Man," a cop named Neil Howie (Edward Woodward) travels to a remote island called Summerisle to investigate the disappearance of a young girl. The citizens of Summerisle are secretive and strange and still abide by ancient Celtic religious rites. Howie, a devout Christian, is put off by their pagan weirdness. During his investigation, Howie stays at a local inn, The Green Man, overseen by Mr. McGregor (Lindsay Kemp) and his comely daughter Willow. Willow is sexually forward with Howie, something else he finds discomforting.

Later that night, while Howie attempts to sleep, Willow strips nude in her own room and gyrates seductively against the wall that neighbors Howie's. Howie can't see or hear it, but he seems to sense something strange is happening. Is she casting a spell of some kind?

It turns out that the nude body audiences saw dancing wasn't Ekland at all,...

Some apotheosis of film culture has been reached with Freddy Got Fingered‘s addition to the Criterion Channel. Three years after we interviewed Tom Green about his consummate film maudit, it’s appearing on the service’s Razzie-centered program that also includes the now-admired likes of Cruising, Heaven’s Gate, Querelle, and Ishtar; the still-due likes of Under the Cherry Moon; and the more-contested Gigli, Swept Away, and Nicolas Cage-led Wicker Man. In all cases it’s an opportunity to reconsider one of the lamest, thin-gruel entities in modern culture.

A Jane Russell retro features von Sternberg’s Macao, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and Raoul Walsh’s The Tall Men and The Revolt of Mamie Stover; streaming premieres will be held for Yuen Woo-ping’s Dreadnaught, Claire Simon’s Our Body, Ellie Foumbi’s Our Father, the Devil, the recently restored Sepa: Our Lord of Miracles, and The Passion of Rememberance.

The Bob's Burgers Halloween episodes are highly enjoyable and a great way to celebrate the spooky season with the Belcher family. Bob's Burgers has achieved significant success as one of the most successful cartoons, ranking among the Top 60 Greatest Cartoons of All Time by TV Guide and winning Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program. Each year, Bob's Burgers airs a Halloween special, similar to The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror, which allows audiences to have fun and celebrate the holiday with the colorful characters of the show.

The Bob's Burgers Halloween episodes are a great way to celebrate the spooky season with the Belcher family. Bob's Burgers has quickly become one of the all-time most successful cartoons. Introduced in 2011, the animated series has gone on to enjoy tremendous critical and commercial excellence. In 2013, the show was ranked among the Top 60 Greatest Cartoons of All Time by TV Guide. In 2014 and 2017, the...

Horror author Stephen King compares Curse of the Demon to Midsommar and The Wicker Man, calling it an "excellent film" and a "spiritual ancestor." Midsommar's inspiration can be traced back to Curse of the Demon, a 1957 horror classic, due to their overlapping themes of paganism and cult behavior. Both Midsommar and Curse of the Demon explore the consequences of flawed idol worship, making King's comparison between the two grounded.

Horror author Stephen King deems Curse of the Demon a “spiritual ancestor” to Midsommar and The Wicker Man. Ari Aster's 2019 movie tells the story of a couple in a turbulent relationship who take a vacation to Sweden’s midsummer festival only to discover the ostensibly innocent villagers are actually part of a pagan cult. Midsommar was well-received upon its release and holds up as one of the most well-liked horror movies of the 21st century.

Recently, King compares Midsommar and...

The Wicker Man's infamous 2006 remake starring Nicolas Cage hurt the reputation of the original 1973 film. The original Wicker Man from 1973 tells the same story a thousand times smarter, making it one of the greatest horror movies ever made. The 50th anniversary of the original Wicker Man is a good opportunity to re-discover it, and put the Nicolas Cage version on the pop-cultural back seat.

Mention The Wicker Man, and the go-to response is to invoke the infamous 2006 disaster starring Nicolas Cage. It bombed on first release and has since attained the same dubious status as Battlefield: Earth and the 1980s Howard the Duck. Today, it's probably best known for the memes that arose from it, featuring Cage delivering manic lines like "How'd it get Burned?!" and "the bees… the Bees…"

Certainly, the film deserves every bit of its reputation as a well-meaning effort sunk beneath the weight of unfortunate creative decisions.

You can smell what’s happening in “Starve Acre” before you puzzle the rest of it out. The grassy, peaty dampness of its rural Yorkshire setting seems to hit the olfactory glands without any scratch-and-sniff assistance, only intensifying as the film unearths its literally deep-buried secrets. Daniel Kokotajlo’s impressive second feature unfolds in a vein of British folk horror that has been popular of late — with films from Ben Wheatley’s “A Field in England” to Mark Jenkins’s “Enys Men” all tapping into that retro “Wicker Man” eeriness — but rarely with such rattling sensory specificity or formal refinement. Starring Morfydd Clark and Matt Smith as former townies unprepared for the full burden of lore they inherit with their desolate farmhouse, it’s a tale of quite outlandish fantastical leaps, grounded by the chills it also finds in common weather and wildlife.

Premiering in the main competition at this year’s London Film Festival,...

After multiple Oscars, Silver Bears, Golden Globes, Grammys and a Tony, Denzel Washington has earned the right to be called one of the greatest actors of our time. He could drop the surname and still be instantly recognisable – two syllables that guarantee acting excellence.

Key to his success is his ability to mesmerise an audience into seeing past his instantly recognisable face and observing only the character. It’s arguably the central tenet to any actor’s success, yet it is with unusual success and consistency that Denzel Washington has been able to shift from character to character seemingly with ease. This is an actor who rarely repeats himself.

The need for variety and the consistency of execution makes his sole franchise role all the more intriguing. Today sees the digital premiere for the third entry in The Equalizer series, with his Training Day director Antoine Fuqua ending the trilogy...

To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the folk-horror classic, The Wicker Man, we are giving away The Wicker Man Posters Signed by Britt Ekland to 3 lucky winners!

Studiocanal is delighted to release a glorious new 4K restoration of The Wicker Man. All three versions of the film; The Final Cut, The Director’s Cut and The Theatrical Cut, have been painstakingly restored and will be released in an exclusive 5-disc Collector’s Edition as well as a 4-isc Steelbook version. The Final Cut will also be available on Digital from September 25th.

It Is Time To Keep Your Appointment With The Wicker Man. In the 50 years since its original release, The Wicker Man has achieved true cult status as one of the most revered horror films in cinema history, despite a difficult production and heavily cut original theatrical release. The search for the fabled missing scenes has only added to...

Horror novels have a long history of being adapted into both brilliant and embarrassingly bad films, with Stephen King's works being no exception. Many successful horror novels, such as The Body Snatchers and The Haunting of Hill House, have been poorly adapted, disappointing fans and deviating from the source material. Films like Dreamcatcher, Pet Sematary, and Children of the Corn have received lackluster adaptations that failed to capture the terror and depth of the original novels.

For decades, great horror books have undergone some terrible film adaptations. From urban legends to true-crime books to bestselling novels, literature has influenced horror cinema since its silent, black-and-white origins. This longstanding relationship has blessed cinephiles with Gothic classics like Frankenstein and Dracula, cerebral thrillers like The Silence of the Lambs and Psycho, and a multitude of Stephen King adaptations like The Shining and Misery. To balance out the brilliance of these cult favorites,...

It is the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking 1973 British folk horror masterpiece, a tale of paganism run riot on a remote Scottish island. Starring Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland and Christopher Lee, and directed by Robin Hardy, here are rarely seen photographs of the film-makers and cast on location in Scotland

• A special 5-disc Collectors Edition of the Wicker Man will be released by Studiocanal on 25 September...

Cult Horror Masterpiece, The Wicker Man, Arrives on a SteelBook in 4K Ultra HD October 17: "The cult horror masterpiece, The Wicker Man, arrives on a SteelBook® in 4K Ultra HD™ (+ Blu-ray™ + Digital) on October 17th from Lionsgate. Directed by Robin Hardy (The Fantasist), the film follows Police Sergeant Howie, as he investigates Lord Summerisle and his secretive pagan society. The Wicker Man will be available for the suggested retail price of $27.99."

Official Synopsis

When a young girl mysteriously vanishes, Police Sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward) travels to a remote Scottish island to investigate. But the seemingly quiet community is not as it appears, as the detective uncovers a secretive pagan society led by the strange Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee). While the townsfolk tempt and threaten him with bizarre rituals and wanton lust, Howie must race to discover the truth behind the girl's disappearance before his clash with Lord Summerisle builds...

Plot: A bachelorette party being held in an isolated farmhouse is crashed by a group of homicidal home invaders.

Review: In some circles, writer/director Neil Labute tanked his reputation by making the goofball 2006 remake of The Wicker Man – which is a shame, because when he first arrived on the scene he was a best known for making emotionally devastating dramas and dark comedies like In the Company of Men and Your Friends & Neighbors. His latest film is the home invasion thriller Fear the Night… and while it’s not on the level of his well-regarded dramas and dark comedies, it also doesn’t fall to the depths of the Wicker Man remake. (Which star Nicolas Cage insists was always meant to be a comedy as well.) So it may be best to refer to this one as “From the director of Lakeview Terrace”. It’s not great, it’s not bad.

A new season of The Wicker Man is upon us. The classic 1973 horror film, which is arguably the best-known of three British films from its era that embody “folk horror” (the others being Witchfinder General and Blood on Satan’s Claw), is returning to UK cinemas for one night on June 21 in a special new 4K remastered version of the “Final Cut,” complete with re-edited footage deleted from the original, troubled theatrical release.

Following that, the three existing versions of the film (The Wicker Man may rival Blade Runner in the department of different cuts), all in 4K Uhd, will be released in an exclusive 50th anniversary collector’s edition on Sept. 4. The five-disc set will also contain a bevy of goodies, including new essays, an EP of music, and plenty of other bonus content.

Despite a turbulent production and initial release, The Wicker Man has only grown in stature over...

Director Robin Hardy’s 1973 folk horror film The Wicker Man (watch it Here) is considered to be a genre classic – and the folks at Studio Canal are certainly showing it a lot of love and respect with their upcoming 5-disc collector’s edition release, which will contain Blu-ray (which may be locked to Region B) and 4K Uhd (All Region) discs. The street date for this release is September 4th – and before that, Studio Canal will also be holding a “one night only” theatrical re-release event on June 21st.

In addition to the 5-disc collector’s edition, there will be a new digital release and a steelbook.

Inspired by David Pinner’s 1967 novel Ritual, The Wicker Man was directed by Hardy from a screenplay by Anthony Shaffer. The film has the following synopsis: When a young girl mysteriously disappears, Police Sergeant Howie travels to a remote Scottish island to investigate.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of horror classic The Wicker Man, UK company Studiocanal has announced today that the 1973 film will return to cinemas June 21 in 4K, and it’s also hitting 4K Uhd as a special Collector’s Edition, Steelbook & Digital from September 4.

The good news for fans in the United States? 4K discs are Region Free.

“The Wicker Man has had an enduring fascination for audiences since its release in 1973. A unique and bone-fide horror masterpiece, brilliantly scripted by Anthony Schaffer and featuring an astounding performance by the legendary Christopher Lee. Director Robin Hardy’s atmospheric use of location, unsettling imagery and haunting soundtrack gradually builds to one of the most terrifying and iconic climaxes in modern cinema.”

Special Features include:

5-disc 4K Uhd collector’s edition rigid ‘book’ pop-up packaging, including all 3 cuts of the film restored in 4K X1 exclusive EP featuring artists from Heavenly records...

Evoking the twisted eeriness of classic folk horror but with a contemporary twist, Joseph Brett’s Stones is the story of a brother and sister whose family reunion at a stone circle becomes interrupted by an uninvited guest. Realised through the medium of stop motion animation, Brett’s film embraces the uncanny nature of the form with silicone-style puppets that bring a childlike yet unsettling sensibility to its tale of nostalgia, home and the connections we share with our local landscapes. Dn is delighted to premiere Stones today on the May 1st, the day used to commemorate the pagan festival of Beltane, alongside a in-depth conversation with Brett about his journey creating the film across lockdown, the creative marriage he sees between folk horror and stop motion, and the desire he and Writer Bec Boey (the other half of their Production Company Jackdaw Films) had to alter notions of representation within popular folk aesthetics.

Good news for those who wish to know what their Twitter feed’s jacking off to: the Criterion Channel are launching an erotic thriller series that includes De Palma’s Dressed to Kill and Body Double, the Wachowskis’ Bound, and so many other movies to stir up that ceaseless, fruitless “why do movies have sex scenes?” discourse. (Better or worse than middle-age film critics implying they have a hard-on? I’m so indignant at being forced to choose.) Similarly lurid, if not a bit more frightening, is a David Lynch retro that includes the Criterion editions of Lost Highway and Inland Empire (about which I spoke to Lynch last year), a series of shorts, and a one-month-only engagement for Dune, a film that should be there in perpetuity.

Retrospectives of Harold Lloyd, Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons, and shorts by Fanta Régina Nacro round out the big debuts,...

Taking the fashionable genre as a starting point, Ric Rawlings’ film tries to elevate amateurism in three creepy rural stories but it just looks inept

Those interested in the concept of rewilding, a form of environmental conservation that seeks to restore land to a more natural state as popularised by the book by Isabella Tree, should be well advised that this film has nothing to do with that. Rather, it is an almost endearingly amateurish package, written and directed by Ric Rawlins, that is an exercise in something that’s almost as fashionable these days: folk horror. There’s lashings of folk horror about these days, some of it, like Enys Men, very good. Rewilding, however, is not very good, if we are being honest. But it’s as folky as you get, telling three disconnected stories set in the West Country and Wales revolving around such folky elements as spooky coastal caves,...

Here is the meaning behind the Midsommar flower crown worn by Florence Pugh's Dani. Folk horror is a particularly chilling subgenre and is best exemplified by movies like The Wicker Man, The Blood On Satan's Claw or Kill List. The setup for these movies typically finds an outsider - or group of outsiders - arriving in an isolated place and being confronted by the strange religious customs of the local community. The popularity of folk horror seems to have made a comeback in recent years, due to the success of movies like The Witch.

Midsommar - whose deaths represent the four elements - was another high-profile release for the subgenre in 2019. The story follows Florence Pugh's Dani, who is grieving the sudden loss of her parents and sister, as she accompanies her emotionally distant boyfriend Christian on a trip to Sweden with his friends. They soon find they're being...

Get ready to praise the Wicker Man again, because the terrifying 1973 film is coming to television. A series adaptation is currently being pitched to broadcasters across the United Kingdom, according to Deadline. Actor and director Andy Serkis will help bring the show to life as a producer alongside Jonathan Cavendish through their Imaginarium production company. Howard Overman, who created the BAFTA-winning series "Misfits," will serve as the series writer.

"[Overman has] created a bold, shocking, and unique series," wrote Cavendish in a statement, "pulling the themes and terrifying power of the original Wicker Man into a thrilling modern setting."

Details on what will remain and what will be changed for this adaptation are being kept under wraps. However, Overman teased that this modern-day version will still "explore the same themes of sacrifice, superstition, and ritual that were at [the original movie's] core."

Time To Keep Your Appointment

Serkis's involvement is intriguing. The Imaginarium...

Back in 1973, director Robin Hardy and screenwriter Anthony Shaffer brought us the horror classic The Wicker Man (watch it Here), which was inspired by David Pinner’s 1967 novel Ritual. In the decades since, The Wicker Man has inspired the likes of Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz, received a “spiritual sequel” called The Wicker Tree, and had its good name sullied by the 2006 remake directed by Neil Labute and starring Nicolas Cage. Now it’s set to get the TV treatment. Deadline reports that a The Wicker Man TV series is in development at the Studiocanal-backed company Urban Myth Films and Andy Serkis and Jonathan Cavendish’s company The Imaginarium.

Howard Overman, creator of the Epix series War of the Worlds, is writing The Wicker Man TV series and the production companies are currently pitching the project to potential broadcasters. Overman told Deadline that the series “will differ from the...

Folk horror property The Wicker Man is once again burning to life with a TV series adaptation in the works, Deadline reports. Via the site, “Almost 50 years after the release of Robin Hardy’s horror classic, Andy Serkis and Jonathan Cavendish’s The Imaginarium and Studiocanal-backed Urban Myth Films are turning The Wicker Man into a TV series.”

Howard Overman (War of the Worlds) wrote the script for the small screen adaptation, with Urban Myth and The Imaginarium in the “early stages of pitching to potential broadcasters.”

Starring Edward Woodward and Christopher Lee, the original The Wicker Man movie was released in 1973. Neil Labute directed a remake in 2006, which starred Nicolas Cage.

The classic tale “follows Police Sergeant Neil Howle, who journeys by seaplane to the remote Hebridean Island of Summerisle to investigate the disappearance of a young girl. The devout Christian is dismayed to find the Islanders paying homage...

The classic horror movie The Wicker Man is set to be adapted into a television series by Andy Serkis and Jonathan Cavendish’s Imaginarium Productions and Urban Myth Films. According to Deadline, BAFTA-winning writer Howard Overman (War of the Worlds) has written the script, and Imaginarium and Urban Myth have acquired the rights from Studiocanal. The project is currently in the early stages of being pitched to potential broadcasters. The original Wicker Man was released in 1973, directed by Robin Hardy and starring Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt, and Christopher Lee. It was penned by Anthony Shaffer, who was inspired by David Pinner’s 1967 novel Ritual. The film centers on Police Sergeant Neil Howie, a devout Christian, who visits an isolated Scottish island in search of a missing girl, only to find the island’s inhabitants involved in Celtic paganism. While the TV adaptation is expected to differ from the original film,...

Plot: A man thinks his mysterious date will be another casual hook-up. While getting acquainted, their flirtation turns playful, sexy and sinister. Hoping to get lucky, his luck may have just run out.

Story: House of Darkness is a slowburn in every sense of the word. If you’re going into this expecting a lot to happen, then you may be disappointed. Writer and Director Neil Labute ramps up the tension as the story unfolds and trusts the audience to have some patience. But this story of a man trying to get laid, isn’t quite what you would expect it to be.

The opening credits, with red font, while a piano and strings play in the background felt like an Old Hammer Horror film. It really helps set up the gothic aesthetic right from the jump. In many ways, this is a modern story told through the lens of the past.

Welcome back to Let’s Scare Bryan to Death, where this month we’re going Og folk horror with the 1971 Piers Haggard film, The Blood On Satan’s Claw. Our guide this month is Chandler Bullock, who in addition to having bylines at Dread Central, We Are Horror, Morbidly Beautiful, and Film Cred, also created The Beauty of Horror podcast to explore “the unsettling beauty found in the horror genre.” Bullock takes a very thorough but accessible approach to explaining how we can find the macabre to be attractive, and I’m excited to incorporate that into a discussion about a subgenre known for its contrast of traditionally pleasant aesthetics with more horrific elements.

Directed by Piers Haggard, The Blood on Satan’s Claw takes place in a small 18th-century English village, where farmer Ralph (Barry Andrews) accidentally unearths some ghastly remains in one of the fields. While the local...

"Ex Machina" director Alex Garland's newest film, "Men," had an unexpected source of inspiration. This will be the filmmaker's first venture into folk horror. As expected, the film pays tribute to staples of the genre like "Wicker Man" (1973). The terrifying conclusion of "Men," however, actually takes influence from an anime — the hit fantasy series "Attack on Titan."

"Men" follows Harper (Jessie Buckley), a woman who escapes to the English countryside for some peace of mind after her husband's death. Instead of relaxing, she feels a presence following her through the woods, even creeping into her subconscious in the form...

The post How Attack on Titan Inspired Alex Garland to Change the Ending of Men appeared first on /Film.

Nicolas Cage just provided a peek into “The Unbearable Weight” of state funding.

The Oscar winner and Las Vegas resident revealed during “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” April 20 that he had plans to build a movie studio in Vegas. Cage previously starred in Vegas-set films “Leaving Las Vegas” and “Honeymoon in Vegas,” before moving to Nevada for the state tax breaks.

“There’s good mojo there for me,” Cage explained of the “small town and big city” feel of Vegas. But a silent electric car killed Cage’s film deal with the city.

“I tried to get a movie studio built there, and then Elon Musk came in,” Cage said, “and all the money I got for the movie studio – I got 80 million — they put it into the Tesla cooperation. Which then, ironically, drained all the water out of the city.”

Cage joked, “I almost had it.”

The “Con Air” star has...

(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)

The Movie: "Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror"

Where You Can Stream It: AMC+, Shudder

The Pitch: The folk horror sub-genre gets the documentary treatment in a film tracing it from its "Wicker Man"-era roots to its more recent revival in movies like "Midsommar."

Directed by Kier-La Janisse, "Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched" hit Shudder last month and it really drove home the point to me that as much as I...

The post The Daily Stream: Woodlands Dark And Days Bewitched Will Have You Drawing Up A Folk Horror Watchlist appeared first on /Film.

Ashley Thorpe's animation illuminates Woodlands Dark And Days Bewitched: A History Of Folk Horror Photo: Fantasia International Film Festival

It’s not often that a three hour documentary emerges as one of the most popular choices at a film festival, but at this year’s Fantasia it’s widely agreed that Kier-La Janisse’s Woodlands Dark And Days Bewitched: A History Of Folk Horror is a standout. It’s not only a film of major importance in recording the history of cinema, it’s also tremendously enjoyable from start to finish, densely packed with information and utterly beguiling. The secret to that seems in part to be Kier-La’s infectious passion for her subject, so when we met up during the festival to discuss the film, I asked her where that passion began.

“I was a really big Wicker Man fan as a teenager, and everything kind of grew from there,...

“Awake,” starring Gina Rodriguez, imagines a world in which a global event wipes out humanity’s ability to sleep. The film is Netflix’s latest foray into the horror genre and premieres on the streamer Wednesday. In the meantime, let’s look back at Netflix’s in-house thrillers and chillers and see which were downright scary and which were just scary bad.

Netflix 1. Calibre (2018)

Tomatometer: 95%

The best-reviewed Netflix thriller is “Caliber,” which tells the story of two friends on a doomed hunting trip in Scotland. The Ringer’s review of the film said, “Excellently shot and acted, and gutsy enough to not cop out when it counts, ‘Calibre’ is one of the year’s best genre efforts.”

Netflix 2. Hush (2016)

Tomatometer: 93%

The next best-reviewed Netflix original horror film is 2016’s “Hush,” which centers on a deaf woman being stalked by a killer in her home. Directed by Mike Flanagan of the “Haunting of Hill House” series,...

Last week, Kier-La Janisse celebrated the world premiere of her expansive folk horror documentary Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched as part of the 2021 SXSW Film Festival. The project celebrates folklore and folk horror from Britain, the U.S. and all over the world over the course of three-plus hours, and it was announced just a few days ago that Janisse’s doc picked up the Audience Award for this year’s SXSW Midnighters slate as well.

Daily Dead recently had the honor of speaking with Janisse about Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched, and during our interview, she discussed how the project initially started off as a bonus feature for Severin, but eventually evolved into the mega-doc that it is today. Janisse also chatted about the research process, trying to whittle everything down for the project, and more.

What was the catalyst behind Woodlands? Was it just something you'd always wanted to do,...

Over the last decade, us genre fans have been blessed by the second phase in genre veteran Barbara Crampton’s career that has seen her tackle a wide array of roles in projects like You’re Next, We Are Still Here, Sun Choke, Beyond the Gates, Channel Zero, Road Games, Into the Dark: Culture Shock, and many more. Beyond that, Crampton has also stepped into the role of producer on several films and even contributes to Fangoria with her insightful column as well.

Daily Dead recently had the opportunity to speak with Crampton about her latest role in Sacrifice, a Norweigan cult thriller where she plays the leader of a cult who has plans for an unassuming couple that arrive in the area, unaware of the danger lurking at every turn. During our interview with Barbara, she discussed her involvement with Sacrifice, taking on a Norweigan accent for her role in the film,...

This April, Rebellion Publishing’s 2000 Ad moves beyond the sci-fi genre that has been the mainstay of the iconic title since its late 1970s launch with the release of Thistlebone, a collection of the folk horror strip by T.C. Eglington and Simon Davis.

Described by Rebellion as “Midsommar meets The Wicker Man,” the strip — which originally ran in 2000 Ad last year — centers around the cult hidden in the heart of a rural English village that wants to escape the modern world and return to simpler ways… while also worshipping an ancient deity that demands human sacrifice.

One such sacrifice was ...

This April, Rebellion Publishing’s 2000 Ad moves beyond the sci-fi genre that has been the mainstay of the iconic title since its late 1970s launch with the release of Thistlebone, a collection of the folk horror strip by T.C. Eglington and Simon Davis.

Described by Rebellion as “Midsommar meets The Wicker Man,” the strip — which originally ran in 2000 Ad last year — centers around the cult hidden in the heart of a rural English village that wants to escape the modern world and return to simpler ways… while also worshipping an ancient deity that demands human sacrifice.

One such sacrifice was ...