Now available from Severin Film’s
This box set is massive, MASSIVE. 13 discs, a ton of features and short films, more extras than one can watch, and a fantastic book. This is a set for folk horror fans with something for everyone for which quick reviews for each of the films can be found below.
Bakeneko: A Vengenful Spirit (1968)
When a Vassal hoping to get the property and wife of his Lord kills his Lord, the Lord’s wife kills herself and her cat to avoid being taken by the evil man. This black and white Japanese horror film written and directed by Yoshihiro Ishikawa is moody and a bit slow, but it feels more straight up horror than many of the other films in this set. It’s less subtle but it works well. One of the main attractions here is the cinematography which is quite beautiful and just the right balance of darkness and light. The cast is good, the writing works, but it is slow which is easily allowable once the film really gets going.
Man-Eater Mountain (short film) (2010)
This short film is art as animation and not actually, classically animated, but it is so pretty that it all doesn’t matter as the art on the screen is just stunning and sad and creepy and so many other things. The song in the short is quite an odd choice and will make many do the wtf-puppy-head thing. Some of the subtitles seem a bit off, but once again, there is something so strong about the art on the screen that nothing else ends up mattering, not the music, not the story, nothing. Given that, the story here is interesting and creepy, so it works on that front too.
Nang Nak (1999)
An absolutely stunning film taking place in Thailand where a man goes to war leaving his pregnant wife behind. When he comes home traumatized and damaged, his wife takes care of him and he attempts at having a normal life for himself, her, and their baby, that until a secret comes out. This film uses the beautiful locations to their best potential and to destabilize the viewer before the creepy factor kicks in. The film is so pretty and it’s also so heartbreaking, making this spooky story one that crawls under your skin and grabs at your heart. It’s amazingly well-shot, the writing is solid, the direction works, and the cast is on point. It’s beautiful and sad and beautifully sad. It’s one of those movies that should have received a wider release and have had a longer lasting impression on the general public.
Sundelbolong (1981)
A strong opening that leads to a film that loses the attention here and there starring the Queen of Black Magic Suzzanna. This one is a bit cheesy but clearly culturally important. It has ok writing and a very specific type of direction that was present in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Unfortunately, the mix does not lead to a fully entertaining film and somewhere between the slow movement of the story, its seemingly anti-abortion message, some continuity errors, effects of dwindling quality after the opening scene, it becomes a frustrating watch and one that feels almost tedious. Trigger warning: Rape and gang rape
White Song (short) (2006)
A woman’s grief attracts a ghost of lore to herself as she wants to evade the pains of life, something the ghost clings to not realizing that the woman’s unborn child would work against her. The film is stunning with great cinematography and images that create a mood over anything else. It takes you in and seduces you the way the ghost seduces the widow. The acting is subtle and on point, the writing works, the direction has a plan, and it shows, this is a carefully crafted film that pulls you in and doesn’t let go.
Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic (2024)
A new documentary about actress and star Suzzanna (star of Sundelbolong) that shows her life through the eyes of others with some archival footage. She is shown as both good and bad, as a woman of many things, as an actress, a mother, a woman with a goal and one she was not ready to let go of under any circumstances. Unfortunately, the film loses the attention before the halfway point and it becomes a bit of a chore to fully pay attention to all the way to the end.
Beauty and the Beast (1978)
This take on the classic story goes extra gothic and takes places in the countryside of seemingly Czechoslovakia, its country of origin. Co-writer and director Juraj Herz takes the story to darker places and really plays with the gothic elements and the dark romance fairytale that the story is. His take on this is interesting and somewhat fascinating. The beast here is properly beastly and the beauty is beautiful indeed. For fans of recent versions of the story, this one seems to have inspired the Gans film much more than the Disney ones.
Frantisek Hrubin (short film) (1964)
This short film is pretty and fairly entertaining at first as a man reads a text, perhaps a poem, over the film’s images. Unfortunately, the interesting weans quickly and the film soon becomes a bit boring which leads it to feel inconsequential.
The Ninth Heart (1979)
From the same director as Beauty and the Beast above, this one has beautiful and interesting costume with a score that feels magical and very fairytale-like. Here, a student finds his way in wanting to save a princess from an evil magician. This one is incredibly dated, but those who love this kind of film should be right at home here.
Demon (2015)
Reviewed during its original festival run here.
Dibbuk (short film) (2019)
When a man is not himself, his wife calls on Dan who ends up bringing together a group of Jewish man to perform an exorcism. In this version an exorcism, the rituals and ways shown and used are from the Jewish faith, showing a lesser seen take on the possession and exorcism story. This short is solid on all fronts, from the acting to the story, to the lesser seen version of an exorcism, the film is a strong one. An almost quiet ending with a big impact.
November (2017)
A very pretty and stark black and white with some seriously interesting imagery, this slow burn of a film will either be adored or have zero impact, there seems to be no middle with this one. While it is slow, it does maintain interest for those who are its public, the film brings in themes of Christianity, respect for the dead, and perhaps witchcraft. The acting is odd, but it works great within this film, the writing and direction go hand in hand in creating a very specific world for the cast to evolve into.
Boundary (short film)
For an artsier crowd than this reviewer, this one is mostly people in static positions, just kind of there, no dialog, wind noises, occasional animal noise, nature sounds, … If this sounds like your cup of tea, then it should be.
Journey through Setomaa (short film) (1911)
An Estonian film that is completely silent, recently restored it looks like, this short shows a small village with its farm life. It mostly interesting as a digitized version of a 1911 nitrate negative and thus one that is incredibly old and meant to be seen to really show life back then in Estonia.
Midvinterblot (The Sacrifice) (short film) (1946)
An oddly mesmerizing film with no dialog and only music over images showing a ritual with human sacrifice. Not a lot of explanation as things go along, yet impossible to take the eyes away from it. Warning of mild flashing lights.
Litan (1982)
In this French folk film, a couple visit the titular town when it is about to have its carnival where things get odd and witchy. The film plays with rituals, paganism, outsiders coming in to mess it up, magic, witchcraft, etc. This one is a faster paced film than most of the set here and a welcomed change of pace. It’s entertaining even with its slightly “extra” acting that can kill a few scenes through the runtime. There is something charming and utterly entertaining in this film.
Blood Tea and Red String (2006)
An old-school style stop motion animation film that is mesmerizing and fascinating. The story is whimsical, child-like, and filled with wonder while having its dark side. The look of it is oddly nostalgia inducing and really pulls the viewer in. So much so, that it takes a while to realize there is no dialog, only this lovely, almost quiet music. This one is stunning, charming, fascinating, mesmerizing and needs to be seen.
Nazareno Cruz and the Wolf (1975)
A sort of werewolf story based on folktales, this feature unfortunately drags a bit too much and loses interest for this viewer too many times to be salvageable unfortunately. The cinematography is however quite good. Odd semi-sex scenes await those willing to look past most of the oddity here and the odd pacing. A few scenes did not have subtitles, something that was not clear if on purpose or not.
Love from Mother Only (short film) (2002)
Catholicism versus Paganism (and perhaps Satanist or what the film’s characters see as such), this short film is excellent and extremely well-shot with even clarity in the dark sequences. This is a short that will shock some, but it has a point and makes good use of special effects and fear based in beliefs.
Akelarre (1984)
The classic Catholic church versus witchcraft that tells a well-known story really, one that looks good, has solid performances, seems well-written and well-directed, yet it keeps losing the attention so thus leads to a film that is more tedious to watch than expected.
From the Old Earth (1981)
Taking place in Wales, this shorter feature film tells the story of an old stone head found in a garden and that brings calamities to those who own it. This Wales-set story has some interesting moments here, and some less so unfortunately, and as a whole almost feels like a made for television film. The story here feels stunted a bit and like something was limiting what the filmmaker was able to bring to the screen.
Blood on the Stars (short film)
A film that seems to take place around the Holidays and shows how those involved in a specific show are taken out one by one by something mysterious. The film here is interesting and entertaining with some decent acting throughout with some truly dated and low budget wigs and makeup effects that leads to believe this may have been an early film for those involved or even a film school effort.
The Wyrm of Bwlch Pen Barras (short film) (2023)
A short film with a slow start that ends up slow throughout but has a decent payoff. A more recent short film with some interesting bits here and there. The acting works well, the effects are decent, there is that strong payoff and at just 14 minutes, even as a slow burn, it’s not all that long before it gets to its point. Basically, it works.
City of the Dead (1960)
A shorter form feature film at just 1 hour and 16 minutes, this one will attract the attention of most horror fans (and many more) based on one single fact, it co-stars Christopher Lee. That should be enough for most to have their interest piqued. This stark contrast black and white British studio film that takes place in the US (?) and makes the most of the studio system there. The film looks stunning, the acting works well, the direction is good, the images are carefully crafted. This is one of those surprise highlights that makes this set worth getting.
The Rites of May (1976)
A visually great restoration of a film that struggles to keep the attention throughout. The acting and just about everything is decent to good to solid even, but something here is missing, causing the viewer to just clock out well before the end unfortunately.
The extras here are too numerous to list, but the fact that most of the films, features or short films, have a commentary is commendable and makes for a very worthwhile box set. Of course, there are a ton of other extras here including a stunning book and so much information on each film, it’s almost dizzying.