When the darkness of the trees closes in and the sounds of wildlife drown out human noise, we’re reminded that we haven’t climbed as far up the food chain as we’d like to think. Enter folk horror, a subgenre that explores the terror of the lush, green landscape, the mountainside, the wild and primal places unmarred by the creep of civilization.

DE EN ES FR IT PT RU

DE EN ES FR IT PT RU

30 Hagazussa, 2017

The dark legend of the young woman Albrun and her struggle to preserve her own sanity, and tries to explore the fine line between ancient magic, faith and madness at a time when pagan beliefs in witches and nature spirits spread fear and terror in the minds of the rural population.

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29 The Queen of Black Magic (Ratu Ilmu Hitam), 2019

A family travels to the distant, rural orphanage where the father was raised to pay their respects to the facility’s gravely ill director. But his and his best friends’ homecoming turns into a terrifying supernatural ordeal that threatens their and their families’ lives: someone is using dark magic to avenge evil deeds, long-buried but not forgotten. Stamboel’s film is a reimagining of the 1981 Indonesian horror classic of the same name.

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28 Pyewacket, 2017

Leah Reyes is a teenager fascinated with black magic and occult practices. Following the death of Leah’s father, her grieving mother decides to move to a remote woodland house for a fresh start, forcing Leah to leave her school friends behind and join her. After a fierce argument with her mother, Leah wishes death on her and performs an occult ritual in the forest from one of her books, to summon the demon Pyewacket to kill her mother. However, Leah bonds with her mother shortly afterwards, and she soon regrets her actions.

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27 The Hallow, 2015

A couple and their infant move into the backwoods. The husband, an expert in microbiology, has come to inspect the trees for clearance. He is warned by the locals not to trespass the forests as the «hallows» will trespass into his house and steal his baby. One night the window of the infant’s room is broken, but the local cop assures the couple not to worry, some bird must have done it. But things get dreadful as the mystery unfolds.

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26 Moloch, 2022

MOLOCH tells the story of 38-year-old Betriek, who lives at the edge of a peat bog in the North of the Netherlands. When she and her family are attacked by a random stranger one night Betriek sets out to find an explanation. The more she digs, the more she becomes convinced that she is being hunted by something ancient.

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25 Antlers, 2021

In a small town in central Oregon, Frank Weaver runs a meth lab out of an abandoned mine. While his young son Aiden waits outside the mine in his truck, Frank and an accomplice are attacked by an unseen creature. Investigating strange noises, Aiden is also attacked by the creature. Frank and Aiden survive their encounter with the creature and return home, where their condition quickly worsens. Frank sets up a locked room and demands that no matter what, Aiden’s older brother Lucas keeps them locked inside.

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24 The Shrine, 2010

After a young American backpacker goes missing in Europe, a group of journalists link his disappearance to a remote village in Poland. They travel there hoping to get the story, but as they unravel the secrets behind this mysterious village, they are suddenly pursued by hostile locals.

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23 Gretel & Hansel, 2020

When their mother descends into madness, siblings Gretel and Hansel must fend for themselves in the dark and unforgiving woods. Hungry and scared, they fortuitously stumble upon a bounty of food left outside an isolated home. Invited inside by the seemingly friendly owner, the children soon suspect that her generous but mysterious behavior is part of a sinister plan to do them harm.

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22 In the Tall Grass, 2019

When siblings Becky and Cal hear the cries of a young boy lost within a field of tall grass, they venture in to rescue him, only to become ensnared themselves by a sinister force that quickly disorients and separates them. Cut off from the world and unable to escape the field’s tightening grip, they soon discover that the only thing worse than getting lost is being found.

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21 Krampus, 2015

While the holiday season represents the most magical time of year, ancient European folklore warns of Krampus, a horned beast who punishes naughty children at Christmastime. When dysfunctional family squabbling causes young Max to lose his festive spirit, it unleashes the wrath of the fearsome demon. As Krampus lays siege to the Engel home, mom, pop, sister and brother must band together to save one another from a monstrous fate.

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