This month I’m spending time on a subgenre that doesn’t get as much play as it used to: folk horror. While the success of Ari Aster’s Midsommar sparked a short-lived interest in the subgenre, these types of films are generally few and far between. What makes folk horror special is its ability to meld stories that deal with witches, murders, and cults — specifically Satanic cults – and placing them in every day settings.
What is folk horror? Mainly it’s a film or story that deals with old world folklore, primarily told in a modern setting and using rural or isolated environments. While many traditional folk horror movies take place in woodsy locales, some are set in cities, or presented as the superstitious world creeping into civilization. That’s the case with the three films I watched this week, all dealing with cultists and old world evil, in some shape, way, or form.
A film that merges old world superstitions with modern issues is 1987’s THE BELIEVERS. After the tragic death of his wife, psychiatrist Cal Jamison (Martin Sheen) moves with his young son, Chris (Harley Cross), to New York City where Cal begins working as a doctor for the NYPD. When Chris comes across a cult-like sacrificial altar in Central Park, along with the body of a decapitated cat, Cal thinks it’s just a one-time thing. Soon after, policeman Tom Lopez (Jimmy Smits) discovers the murdered body of a child in Harlem in what appears to be a ritualistic setting. Convinced it’s the work of people performing a dangerous form of witchcraft, Lopez is committed to a psychiatric ward, where Cal is assigned to treat him.
But when another child is found murdered on an altar on Staten Island, all eyes point to Lopez, who escaped from the hospital the day before. Lopez contacts Cal, warning that he and Chris are in danger — but Cal is unaware that Lopez is under a spell performed by a Caribbean man named Palo (Malick Bowens), who arrived in town just before the murders began. In a fit of rage, Lopez kills himself after leaving a message for Cal, who discovers Lopez did work for a charity organized by a wealthy man named Robert Calder (Harris Yulin).
Cal eventually finds out Calder’s son was killed in a similar ritualistic fashion years earlier and realizes Calder, along with his followers, are sacrificing their own sons for power. Truth doesn’t come without consequences and, predictably, those close to Cal begin to fall under sinister spells — including Cal’s new girlfriend, Jessica (Helen Shaver), who, in one of the film’s most grisly scenes, has a boil full of spiders burst from her face.
Somewhat successfully mixing folk horror elements with ritualistic cult themes, The Believers is undeniably engrossing in its portrayal of paranoia and distrust. The late director John Schlesinger does a good job at creating a feeling of unease and ominousness for Cal and Chris, especially considering the brightness of its (mostly) New York City environment. The film does slightly overstay its welcome, and a tighter pace and a more carefully edited screenplay (that gets a bit heavy-handed with its Latin American black magic explanations) could have benefited the overall effect of the story.
An early entry in the folk horror world, and “Ozploitation” classic, is the 1981 atmosphere-heavy ALISON’S BIRTHDAY. During a makeshift seance put together by three teenagers, 16-year-old Alison (Joanne Samuel) is contacted by the spirit of her father and warned not to return home on her 19th birthday. Nearly three years later, a week before the occasion, Alison receives a call from her Aunt Jenny (Bunney Brooke) and Uncle Dean (John Bluthal) to come home to celebrate her birthday.
Upon arriving, Alison is urged by Aunt Jenny not to venture beyond the stone wall in their woodsy backyard, for fear of snakes and other critters lurking within the overgrown vegetation. But with her interest piqued, Alison sneaks past the forbidden doorway, through the stone wall, and discovers several massive rocks in a circular formation. Dean later tells Alison the rocks are a sort of miniature Stonehenge built by the house’s former owner who was an amateur astronomer.
Later that night, while Alison sleeps, an old woman (Marion Johns) in a wheelchair sneaks into Alison’s room and tries to touch her. Confused and frightened, Alison is informed by Aunt Jenny that the woman is Alison’s great-grandmother, Throne, and is senile. Unaware of having a great-grandmother, Alison accepts Aunt Jenny’s explanation but remains skeptical. Feeling more and more uneasy in the house, Alison spends a lot of time with her boyfriend, Peter (Lou Brown), who’s staying with his father nearby.
When Alison’s health starts to decline, Peter becomes suspicious of Aunt Jenny and Uncle Dean and tries to get Alison out of the house, but realizes she’s a prisoner. Peter seeks the help of his friend, Sally (Lisa Peers), who’s into mysticism and learns that Jenny and Dean are part of a cult who worship an ancient Celtic demon (now presiding inside grandmother Thorne). Now, the entity needs a female body, age 19, in which to host its essence — specifically, Alison.
While the story seems fairly standard compared to today’s folk/cultist horror movies, Alison’s Birthday does a good job at creating heavy atmosphere. Despite several bright scenes in the beautiful Australian countryside, director Ian Coughlan manages to create a claustrophobic feeling, and even manages to build some tension leading to the revealing ending.
Building tension is something the 2016 mystery, THE INVITATION, tries to do, but fails. While attending a dinner party thrown by his ex-wife, Eden (Tammy Blanchard), Will (Logan Marshall-Green) and his girlfriend, Kira (Emayatzy Corinealdi), along with a handful of their friends, are surprised to discover a new addition to Eden’s family. Not only has Eden remarried a man named David (Michael Huisman), but the two have invited a strange young woman, Sadie (Lindsay Burdge), to live with them.
While being introduced to the collective of friends, we learn that Will and Eden lost their child years ago, putting Eden in a depressed, suicidal state. After the divorce, Eden spent two years in Mexico, where she met David and Sadie. When a strange man named Pruitt (John Carroll Lynch) arrives at the party, it eventually comes out — after David deadbolts the front door with a key — that Eden, David, Sadie, and Pruitt are part of a cult known as The Invitation, a group that deals with grief and loss.
David shows everyone a video of the cult talking with a woman on her deathbed, which makes Will extremely uncomfortable and angry towards Eden. When Pruitt admits to having murdered his wife, and that The Invitation helped him through his grieving process, Claire (Marieh Delfino), one of the party guests, becomes unsettled and wants to leave, creating tension when Will asks what David’s intentions are. Will questions Eden and David, not only about their bizarre behavior, but about the mysterious absence of their friend, Gina’s (Michelle Krusiec), husband, who Will discovers had arrived at Eden’s house earlier but disappeared. Is Will just paranoid about The Invitation, or are there actually sinister plans in the air?
After a good set-up, The Invitation slips into inevitable predictability. The film writes itself into a corner by presenting characters so transparent they might as well be wearing signs around their neck stating their motives. Eden and David act ominous right from the start, while Pruitt is so obviously a villain, the casting of someone less charismatic than Lynch may have benefited the role. It also doesn’t help that Will is essentially the only smart and sympathetic person in the film, creating a vacuum of soulless supporting characters and uninteresting subplots. In the end, you’ve got a whole lotta nothing. | Alison’s Birthday: B The Believers: B– The Invitation: C