31 Days of Horror Recommedations: The Wicker Man (1973)

 

Year: 1973

Country: UK

Subgenre: Folk/Pagan Horror

Runtime: 88 min. (theatrical)/99 min. (extended)/94 min (final edit)

Director: Robin Hardy

The last decade has seen the release of a large number of folk horror films (especially if you factor in films with folk themes/traditional monsters from Asia), but the genre as arguably been around since the 1950's (longer if you consider Benjamin Christensen's Häxan, which was released in 1922, a folk horror film).  As good as many of them are (and films like The Ritual and The Witch are pretty dang good), none of them have surpassed The Wicker Man in my opinion. I won't go into the film, as it's really impossible to describe it in any way without including spoilers (for anyone who hasn't seen it yet). Let's just say that for a film that mostly takes place is bright sunlight, it's one of most horrifying films out there, and scary as hell! In fact, I would say that this is, hands down, the scariest film that Christopher Lee ever acted in. Recent films Midsommar (Ari Aster) and Apostle (Gareth Evans) are basically remakes of this one. 

October 2 Alien Monsters: Under The Skin (2013)

It's hard to say what kind of alien "The Female" is, and a lot has been written about what exactly she up to with the men she lures--aside from, obviously, sex; no one has really speculated that a component of her activities may be consumption (in the act of consummation) of some sort. It's a little hard to see her as not having a type of "feeding" element to her behaviors. Aside from the obvious: that she is indeed some type of alien creature from somewhere, her trolling matches up almost exactly with the methods of a human serial killer....and a male one at that. 

Countdown To Halloween Day 29-Werewolves: Dog Soldiers

British Horror: Dog Soldiers

Monty Python And Their Rabbits

Macbeth (Michael Fassbender 2015)

This is wholly new to the household--never seen it before.  Love Michael Fassbender as an actor of range (English spy in WWII Germany to "robot" in an Alien film); I think this would put any one's acting chops to the ultimate.  I'm always interested in the portrayal of Weird Sisters in any production of "the Scottish play," no matter in what time frame it is set during--historical to modern (could do a whole Friday on nothing but the Macbeth witches).  Here there is a little twist, an little girl--apprentice of some sort.  Also, I was just informed a that the same composer for the Australian horror of extreme menace (scared the shit out of me anyway) The Babadook, Jed Kurzel composed the soundtrack for this!