An exhaustive documentary that purports to explore the roots and manifestations of “Folk Horror” in film. A buzzword that became quite popular in genre circles during the 2010s, folk horror can mean any number of things, and encompass nearly any horror movie ever made—as is repeatedly made clear herein, a film doesn’t have to be set in a rural environment to be folk-themed, nor must it be a period piece. This points up the fundamental flaw of WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED: its canvas is far too broad.
An exhaustive documentary that purports to explore the roots and manifestations of “Folk Horror” in film.
The creator of this film was Kier-La Janisse, of the quirky horror movie study HOUSE OF PSYCHOTIC WOMEN. That 2012 book, a thorough examination of the portrayal of disturbed women in horror cinema, proved Janisse does nothing halfway, and that same obsessive spirit is evident in this 194 minute film, put out by the DVD outfit Severin Films (for which Janisse has worked as an editor and producer since 2017).
Featured is extensive commentary by a highly eclectic selection of talking heads that encompasses academics, filmmakers and folks sporting tattoos and heavy metal t-shirts, tied together via animated snippets by Ashley Thorpe and cult legend Guy Maddin, and innumerable film clips.
A buzzword that became quite popular in genre circles during the 2010s, folk horror can mean any number of things, and encompass nearly any horror movie ever made…
It begins with examinations of WITCHFINDER GENERAL (1968), BLOOD ON SATAN’S CLAW (1971) and THE WICKER MAN (1973), all of which take place in rural settings and contain folklore -entered narratives, and so comprise the holy trinity of folk horror cinema. This leads to a dissertation on British folk horror, which includes the work of authors like Arthur Machen and M.R. James, as well as films such as PSYCHOMANIA (1973), THE STONE TAPE (1972), THE COMPANY OF WOLVES (1984) and many others.
It begins with examinations [of films]…all of which take place in rural settings and contain folklore-centered narratives, and so comprise the holy trinity of folk horror cinema.
From there the film broadens its scope to include American folk horror, starting with a discussion of witchcraft (and 2015’s THE WITCH), and things get extremely complicated as Janisse attempts to explore her subject’s every possible permutation. A dissertation on the 1800s set horror flick THE WIND (2018), for instance, leads into a lecture about the immigrant experience, while a reference to DELIVERANCE (1972) kicks off a discussion about Eugenics and the devastation left by the Civil War, while the lingering specter of slavery is explored via GANJA & HESS (1973). Also covered (briefly) are folk horror films from Australia, Czechoslovakia, Iceland and Brazil, with WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED winding up by exploring present-day anxieties, which has inspired a return (artistically, that is) to the folklore of old.
From there the film broadens its scope to include American folk horror, starting with a discussion of witchcraft (and 2015’s THE WITCH)…
Janisse’s all-encompassing approach ensures that not every film brought up gets its proper coverage (to do so would require a runtime of at least ten hours). Quite a few of those films are denoted via clips presented in the form of illustrative montages, without any direct discussion (examples include the 2012 documentary THE SOURCE FAMILY and the wonderful 1972 short TRANSFORMATIONS, which could have stood to be examined much further). Still, Janisse has provided a film that’s enormously enjoyable and informative despite its flaws, it being a rare example of a filmmaker attempting too much rather than, as is increasingly becoming the case nowadays, too little.
Vital Statistics
WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED: A HISTORY OF FOLK HORROR
Severin Films
Director: Kier-La Janisse
Producers: Kier-La Janisse, David Gregory, Winnie Cheung
Screenplay: Kier-La Janisse
Editing: Winnie Cheung, Benjamin Shearn
Cast: Kier-La Janisse, Kevin Kölsch, Dennis Widmyer, Piers Haggard, Abraham Castillo Flores, Adam Scovell, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Alice Lowe, Amanda Reyes