I had the pleasure of joining the lovely Ben Errington and Andy Conduit-Turner to talk about the atrocious Return to Silent Hill on Horror Hangout. It was lush to have a good natter, after being in the same circles for a while and always missing each other – even if it was about this stinker of a film. But I enjoyed talking about it with them, learning some more about the game and the story that I didn’t get from the movie! Hopefully I’ll join Ben and Andy again soon, to talk about a film I actually DO enjoy!
It’s the second week of January and, somehow, I’ve only watched four movies so far this year. 2025 had a bloody brilliant start, with me going to see Nosferatu on New Year’s Day – 2026 hasn’t started with as majestic a bang! (Although seeing 28 Years Later and The Bone Temple as movies 3 and 4 has helped!)
Last year was absolutely brilliant for horror cinema and I thought I’d write a round-up of my year in horror. I fully planned to do this last January, wrapping up 2024’s movies. I mapped it out, got as far as February or March, got overwhelmed and ditched it. So this year, I’m eating the elephant in chunks (or whatever that weird phrase is) and breaking it down. I want to challenge myself to write more regularly and forcing myself into a 12 month retrospective is hardly the best place to start!
I am relying on love of my life, Letterboxd, to go through my year otherwise I won’t bloody remember anything. As I go month by month, I’ll link to various reviews and videos to mix it up a bit, in an attempt to make this somewhat digestible. I logged 311 films in 2025 (god knows how many I forgot to log…), covered 7 film festivals as press and got so many brilliant review opportunities. I’m a bit proud of myself, even if I don’t know what to do with that feeling.
New movies
Nosferatu was a wonderful way to start the year and I fell in love with how beautiful it was. The cinematography, costumes, score, performances and Orlok himself were all exquisite. In typical me fashion, I’d planned to write or record a full review but after I left this hilarious Letterboxd note I left it as it was. Nosferatu was also my second movie of the year – I went back to watch it again, this time on IMAX which really allowed me to see the glorious depths of the darkness.
After the excitement of Nosferatu, I was really excited for the rest of the year ahead. The first horror festival of the year was Horror on Sea (which is running as I write) which, for me, was a mixed bag of films. A few were awful, but don’t want to name names as I always feel terrible being negative about indie films. Plus, it may just not be my taste and someone else may love it. But there were also some pretty good and some absolutely great films.
My favourites of the festival were The Mill Killers (2024) and Protein (2024), two Welsh movies that I think were just brilliant. Both perfectly captured the feeling of small Welsh towns and I will always love seeing Wales portrayed on film. I’d definitely recommend both – The Mill Killers is available to watch for free on Prime and you can rent Protein on Prime too.
Marginalia (2025) was an absolutely gloriously absurd movie, which I’d really love to see again. It doesn’t seem to have been released in the UK yet, but I’m hopeful for a physical media release.
The other new watches for the month were Books of Blood (2020),A Bay of Blood (1971), Room 6 (2006), Funeral Home/Cries in the Night (1980) and Swamp Thing (1982). I don’t recall any of them particularly standing out to me, as I didn’t rate or review any of them. But I’m always pushing myself to watch new-to-me movies, instead of rewatching, so I think that was pretty good going. I also watched Bottoms (2023) – not a horror movie, but I love queer movies and I’m definitely trying to watch more non-horror movies and push myself out of my comfort zone a little.
Talking of my comfort zone, though, I rewatched Hereditary (2018) and The Monster Squad (1987). Two movies I will always go back to for a dose of comfort and familiarity – just on opposite ends of the wholesome scale!
Podcasts
I put out two podcast episodes in January 2025, both with very different themes. For Horror Hyperfixations, I waxed lyrical about my love of Ghost Stories and talked to myself about my favourite play for over 3 hours. SPOILER – I ended up going to see Ghost Stories 4 times in 2025. Not that I’m obsessed, or anything…
And furthering my attempt to watch movies outside of the horror genre, I watched Transformers the Movie with my friend Kev for Speshul Features. I’ve never been a Transformers girlie, but the soundtrack slapped and there was a dinosaur robot. Sold!
Books
I go into most years with the goals of reading more, writing more, watching more, so reading Schrader’s Chord by Scott Leeds was a good start to inspire me to keep reading in 2025. When you’re late for work because you can’t put your book down, you know it’s good! (Spoiler: I didn’t read anywhere near enough last year, but at least I read!)
Rabbit Trap is an incredibly beautiful folk horror from Bryn Chainey and Spectrevision and I absolutely loved it. I still feel under its spell, even after it’s finished.
Set in Wales, Rabbit Trap follows a married couple who are recording an album in a remote house. Daphne is a musician, Darcy is a sound engineer and Darcy happens upon a neighbour, while out recording in nature. Credited as “the child”, the neighbour seems to be a genderless, ageless being who knows a lot about the area and the local folklore. The tiny, but perfect, cast of Dev Patel, Rosy McEwen and Jade Croot really grounded the fantastical story.
While it was filmed in Yorkshire, Rabbit Trap really captures the magic and beauty of Wales. The scenery, the language and the rich history of myths and legends. I felt very emotional hearing Welsh words and Welsh song in a film that’s been produced outside of Wales (by Spectrevision, no less!) And to hear “be there now in a minute” in a film that will be seen all around the world (starting at bloody Sundance!) was magical in itself.
Sound is so integral to this film and by a happy accident, I watched it with headphones on. The sound design is absolutely incredible and so engrossing. While the plot of film is entirely different, the soundscape reminded me a lot of In the Earth by Ben Wheatley – capturing something ancient, otherworldly and unknowable. For the first time in ages (I know, for shame!) I sat through the entirety of the credits at home, so I could bask in the sound for as long as possible. I really need to see Rabbit Trap on the big screen, not only for the visuals, but to appreciate the sound on huge speakers.
Rabbit Trap is just a glorious film and it’s especially impressive that this is Bryn Chainey’s debut feature. I truly hope that this gets a wide release so I can see it again and more people can experience a little bit of Welsh magic.
Rabbit Trap had it’s European premiere at Grimmfest on 11th October and a UK release date has not yet been announced. Rabbit Trap is available to watch online in the US.
Foxhollow is the brilliant debut feature film from Tom Hughes of Ritual Video. Tom has directed, written, edited and starred in Foxhollow and this genuinely tense and scary found footage movie had me making little whimpers of fear!
Set in the South Wales Valleys, Foxhollow follows Tom, a struggling filmmaker that is hired to make a nature documentary by a local eccentric. But once the pair get deep into the woods, their film devolves into a desperate fight for survival. Found footage will always be scary to me, because I forget I’m watching a film. I watch a lot of vlogs, so my brain naturally goes into “let’s watch a nice vlog” mode. Add in the fact that I’m from the valleys and the accents made me feel right at home, and I’m totally immersed and scared for Tom’s survival. Even though he was playing a character and I’ve spoken to him since!
Tom Hughes
Tom does a brilliant job playing “himself” and Paul Black as Trapper Harding is an intimidating presence. Sarah-Louise Tyler and Andrew Lennon both give solid supporting roles, as the Foxhollow park ranger and investigator. Each character felt natural, with relatable dialogue and decisions made – which doesn’t often happen in found footage movies! A character who is skeptical from the off is a breath of fresh, non-infuriating air.
Shot on GoPros and a vlogging camera, the footage is believable and it doesn’t have that “shot on a good camera and made to look shitty in post” feeling. The whole film feels plausible and like fuck am I ever going into the woods in South Wales! It’s real, it’s relatable and it’s made with love and a DIY, punk rock attitude.
Paul Black
Tom’s shorts and music videos are also brilliant and if Foxhollow is anything to go by, Tom has a very bright future in film.
Foxhollow will be released on Halloween and Tom is currently crowd-funding for a physical release. If you’d like to support indie cinema and get yourself a cool AF limited edition DVD to boot, visit Foxhollow on Indiegogo. I’ve backed the crowfunder myself and can’t wait to get my hands on the DVD!
Tom is also planning a screening for local horror fans and cast and crew. Follow Ritual Video on Instagram for updates!
How beautiful is this Second Sight Films release of Caye Casas’ The Coffee Table?! 😍 This incredible, jam-packed blu-ray has some amazing extras (including a commentary from Zoe Rose Smith ) – pre-order from Monday 28th April 🙌🏻
MadS is intense, claustrophobic, un-nerving, gory and absolutely fucking brilliant.
The camera work in this film is insane – how anyone can make a film in one shot, amazes me. Yet alone one like this, with vehicles, practical sfx and a whole bunch of stuff I can’t get my head around. I am desperate for a directors commentary and special features on a shiny physical release.
The actors are incredible and to keep up that intensity of performance for an hour and 20 minutes, must have been utterly exhausting. I was gripped, invested and a little bit tired!
French horror films love to make us feel claustrophobic and tense and MadS has very similar vibes to Climax and the party/club scenes in Irreversible (both Gaspar Noé). It even had some parallels to Martyrs, which I loved. MadS made me feel that horrible sense of panic I get in a party, a loud,busy venue or a place I just don’t want to be. Fuck, French cinema is good.
I’m a sucker for a physical release, especially when they come in beautiful packaging and have a stack of special features. Second Sight have been producing the most incredible big box releases with new artwork, art cards, essay books and brand new extras. I’ve only managed to snag a few of the limited edition editions, as they sell out pretty quick, so if you’re a Cronenberg fan grab these! They’re out today, Monday 31st March, from the Second Sight website. Both movies are also available as standard edition bluray and 4K UHD disks – they don’t come with the book or art cards, but still have all the brilliant special features.
Of the Cronenberg movies I’ve seen, these aren’t my favourites. But, as with any good physical release, I appreciate so much more about them after watching through all of the special features. I always love well-curated extras and Second Sight may be the best distributor putting out releases at the moment. I’ll often upgrade my blurays to get new, or extra special features, because I just want to know as much as I can about what went into making each and every movie. Because special features make my heart sing, I thought I’d review the extras on these discs in case you love them as much as I do.
A huge thanks to Second Sight and Aim Publicity for sending me some review discs!
A worried father attempts to uncover a controversial psychologist’s unconventional therapy techniques on his institutionalised wife, amidst a series of horrific murders that seem to be targeting those closest to him.
Special Features
A new 4K restoration approved by Director David Cronenberg
(UHD discs only) Dual format edition including both UHD and Blu-ray with main feature and bonus features on both discs
(UHD discs only) UHD presented in HDR with Dolby Vision
Limited edition features
Rigid slipcase with new artwork by Krishna Shenoi
120-page book with new essays by Jenn Adams, William Beard, Craig Ian Mann, Carolyn Mauricette, Shelagh Rowan-Legg, Amber T, Alexandra West and Scott Wilson
6 collectors’ art cards
New audio commentary by Martyn Conterio and Kat Ellinger and audio commentary by William Beard – I picked the audio commentary with Martyn and Kat, as it’s new for this release. I love conversational commentary tracks like this, as it’s like listening to a really cool podcast. Kat and Martyn had some really insightful conversations, discussing the psychology of the movie. I love hearing smart people talk about films!
Meet the Carveths: an interview with Actors Art Hindle & Cindy Hinds by Fangoria Editor Chris Alexander – This was such a lovely segment, Cindy and Art still have such a great rapport. The first part of the interview took place in a cinema screen, where they had bags of popcorn. Cindy sat politely, just holding the bag, whereas Art munched on popcorn and rustled throughout. I love him!
A lot of the features talked about working with Oliver Reed (which is to be expected!), who was infamous for drinking while working. I enjoyed hearing his exploits and they shared a story of how Reed was arrested and needed to be bailed out, during production. He also took a bottle of cognac that was gifted to Cindy’s mum and drank it on set. He was a talented actor, but he sounded like a nightmare to work with! Cindy and Art also visited some of the filming locations and talked about working with the children and Broodlings and how they all ate the fake blood, because it was so tasty.
Producing the Brood: an interview with Executive Producer Pierre David – “The biggest craziness of The Brood was around Oliver Reed – I had no idea what I was getting into”. Pierre shared his experience of the story Art shared, about Reed getting arrested. The night after being bailed out, he threw all of his pillows and blankets out the hotel window. Despite all the stories I’ve heard about Oliver Reed, Pierre said he was never hungover, was always on time and very funny and nice. It was interesting to hear a different side of working with Reed.
The Look of Rage: an interview with Cinematographer Mark Irwin (13 minutes) – I enjoyed hearing Mark talk about filming the birth scene. He said they had t-shirts made that said more “blood, more blood” because that was what Cronenberg would say. (I want a shirt like that, too!) The fake blood solidified on Samantha Eggar and she became a “candy apple”. It took an hour of trying to dissolve the fake blood with warm water, to free her. Irwin also shared his memories of working with Reed and said he would come back from lunch drunk. The child actors would be scared of him and he always smelled of scotch. How he ever gave such strong, memorable performances is beyond me!
Scoring the Brood: an interview with Composer Howard Shore (8 minutes) – Howard Shore shared lots of interesting stories between this feature and its counterpart on the Scanners release. Shore is one of the composers I forget how prolific they are. I love when directors and creatives work together over many decades, so it was great to hear how Shore and Cronenberg met. They’d grown up in the same neighbourhood and Cronenberg was the cool kid on a motorbike. Before they worked together, Shore would go to see his 16mm and 18mm films at underground film festivals in Toronto.
Character for Cronenberg: an interview with Actor Robert A Silverman (10 minutes) – Robert A Silverman isn’t a name or face I recognise but had a prolific acting career and appeared in many of David Cronenberg’s movies. Silverman was hit by a car at 31 – he was left unable to walk or talk and was severely brain damaged. After 3 years of exercises and sheer determination, he had a vision of what he wanted to do with his life and went to California. To then go on and earn 23 acting credits, is amazing!
Cronenberg – The Early Years: an archival interview with David Cronenberg (13 minutes) – I loved hearing Cronenberg talk about his experience with film making. I didn’t know he had met some soft porn directors who asked could he make a movie for them. He filmed a few auditions, before sharing the Shivers screenplay with them. He talked about his experience making Shivers, which I’ve given myself a nudge to watch as I still haven’t seen it!
Anger Management: Cronenberg’s Brood and the Shapes of Cinematic Rage – a video essay by Leigh Singer (22 minutes) – Another lovely example of listening to clever people talk about film. I really love video essays like these, as they always include lots of things I’ve never considered. Leigh Singer said that Cronenberg’s movies discuss the evolution of the flesh vs annihilation of the flesh. I definitely need to watch more of his films, with this in mind. I really didn’t expect so much discussion of The Hulk in this essay, but it tracks as the big, green guy would probably be the first character people would think of as a depiction of rage on screen. De Palma’s Carrie was another movie discussed, which I think is one of the best “good for her” films. I always want to see female rage on the big screen!
A scientist recruits a drifter with extraordinary telepathic ability to hunt down an equally powerful ’scanner’ who, together with others of their kind, is hellbent on taking over the world.
Special features
New 4K restoration approved by Director David Cronenberg
(UHD discs only) Dual format edition including both UHD and Blu-ray with main feature and bonus features on both discs
(UHD discs only) UHD presented in HDR with Dolby Vision
Limited edition features
Rigid slipcase with new artwork by Krishna Shenoi
120-page book with new essays by Dr Xavier Aldana Reyes, Eugenio Ercolani and Gian Giacomo Petrone, Kurt Halfyard, Craig Ian Mann, Francesco Massaccesi, Jessica Scott, Emma Westwood and Heather Wixson
6 collectors’ art cards
New audio commentary by Caelum Vatnsdal and audio commentary by William Beard – I chose the commentary by Caelum, as the newer of the two tracks. I usually prefer a more production-focused commentary, to find out how everything was done, but again it was fascinating to hear about the wider impact of the film. Caelum is an author and clearly very knowledgeable about film. I enjoyed hearing about Cronenberg and the cast’s careers and thought it was a nice touch to highlight lots of their successes outside of Scanners. I didn’t know that Chris Walas had also worked on Gremlins – some of the art in the gallery was very Gremlins-esque!
My Art Keeps Me Sane: an interview with Actor Stephen Lack (24 minutes) – Lack seems like an interesting, charismatic chap but I did get a little put off when he used the phrase “as tired as a hooker in the back of a Chevy with a football team”. Eesh. But it was interesting to hear about his experiences with anxiety and channelling it into his art.
Method in his Madness: an interview with Actor Michael Ironside (30 minutes) – Ironside was great to listen to, especially his story about how he burned and scarred his eyes during the fire scenes because of the sclera lenses. Nightmare fuel. As well as the white sclera lenses, Ironside wore hand-painted lenses that Dustin Hoffman had worn in Little Big Man. For such an impactful performance, I was surprised to hear Ironside earned a fraction of the rest of the cast.
Bad Guy Dane: an interview with actor Lawrence Dane (5 minutes) – Lawrence says being the bad guy “isn’t rocket science”, that it’s always simple as everything is there on the page. He seems like a lovely man, even though it’s only a short feature. It’s nice to hear an actor say they do actually enjoy watching themselves back, as he said there’s always something that can be learned from your performance.
The Eye of Scanners: an interview with Cinematographer Mark Irwin (15 minutes) – It was funny to hear Irwin started in porn too – I wonder if that’s where him and Cronenberg met (he may have said, but I missed it if so!) Irwin talked about his early career, including making Funeral Home which I saw for the first time recently. He shared a story how one of the actresses complained she was given “raccoon eyes” and how he later gave her a plush raccoon as a gift. Excellent!
Mind Fragments: an interview with Composer Howard Shore (18 minutes) – This feature contained some of the same conversation from the feature on The Brood. Only this version was much longer and delved more into his history. Shore was was part of a programme in schools, where he took a computer-based test to find musical children. He scored high, so was asked if he wanted to play an instrument. I’ve never heard of programmes like that before. It’s incredible that The Brood was only the second film he had scored and the first time he had ever live recorded. It was great to hear his history and realise just how many of his scores I know and love – his score for The Silence of the Lambs is one of my favourites!
The Chaos of Scanners: an interview with Executive Producer Pierre David – I enjoyed hearing Pierre talk about the success of the film and his work on the Scanners sequels. I didn’t even know there were sequels! Pierre was very complimentary of Cronenberg and said it was a good collaborative environment, with no egos – “David has a huge ego, but knows how to manoeuvre in a way that doesn’t seem that way
Exploding Brains & Popping Veins: an interview with Makeup Effects Artist Stephan Dupuis – I was very excited to watch this feature – make-up and SFX extras are always my favourite. It was amazing to hear how they made the exploding head on such a small budget – even including leftover McDonald’s from lunch, in between layers of fake blood and gelatine.
Monster Kid: an interview with Makeup Effects Artist Chris Walas (22 minutes) – Sentences like “Dick Smith called me because Rick Baker had recommended me” blow my mind (pun not intended). It was fun to hear the about all the sfx tests and the panics the crew had. Initially THE scene was supposed to be just a close up of the head for the explosion, but then the sfx team needed to make a torso and hands for a wider shot. Walas cast his own hands for the model and had to make gold rings out of mortician’s wax.
Cronenberg’s Tech Babies: a video essay by Tim Coleman (14 minutes) – I enjoyed this essay and found myself connecting more with the movie and the Scanners, than I had done previously. Coleman discusses the Scanners’ place in society as “human trash” and compared their need to find community and support with the LGBT+ community. For me, this reminded me of the feeling of being neurodivergent and often feeling so othered to society at large. This had an emotional impact on me and I’ll definitely look more into the themes of being on the outside of society, as it was really interesting.
Visit Second Sight for The Brood and Scanners and more gorgeous limited edition releases.
Jasper is a young, opportunistic filmmaker yearning to climb the Hollywood ladder. Working as a lowly production assistant, he seizes his chance to be a ‘real’ director when he suggests to his cantankerous boss that the crew and actors from their upcoming horror film attend an actual séance in an old haunted house for research. They chose an abandoned children’s shelter closed for 70 years since the mysterious murders of five children in 1942, apparently discovered scared to death. Once the séance begins, the motley crew find themselves trapped and haunted by the children … and something possibly worse.
Scared to Death is SO much fun! When I saw Lin Shaye and Bill Moseley in the cast list, I immediately moved Scared to Death to the top of my FrightFest Glasgow watchlist.
This film is everything I wanted it to be. It was fun, silly and gory and I loved it. I was so pleased that Auntie Lin and Bill’s roles were far bigger than I expected. I feared they would be token cameos, but they both have really meaty roles and are fantastic, as always. The rest of the cast are great too – I enjoyed the character of The Grog, who I’m sure was inspired by Kane Hodder. It felt like a lovely little hat tip. The story was pretty predictable, but I feel like that’s the beauty of a fun horror like this. You’re know exactly what you’re getting and sometimes that’s just what you need. Blood, horror icons, some snacks and (ideally!) cats and a good time.
I can’t wait to see Scared to Death again and I’m sure it’ll be on Shudder or Prime soon 🤞🏻
UK, 1 hour 20 minutes, Directed by Jack Lawrence McHenry
It’s 1940 and war rages across Europe. Britain prepares for the coming invasion. But the war is a dull affair for Arthur Roundtree, a young man serving in the Home Guard. He dreams of action and adventure, but he remains stuck in a small, sleepy English village miles away from war due to a medical condition. However, when an extra-terrestrial creature crashes on the outskirts of the village, a training exercise suddenly turns into a deadly game of cat and mouse. Soon, Arthur and his companions realise they are fighting for their lives and to save the entire Galaxy!
Keep calm and kill aliens! England, 1940. The Home Guard are protecting the country and Nazis aren’t the only threat we need saving from. The Doom Busters is a super fun sci-fi comedy – think Dad’s Army meets Attack the Block.
I REALLY enjoyed this movie – the cast are brilliant, the script is funny and I found myself really rooting for the likeable characters. The costuming feels authentic and the beautiful countryside feels untouched by time. It’s nice to see how well a period piece can be done, with a really modest budget and a small cast and crew.
While Frightfest is most known for horror movies, it is a genre festival and showcases lots of great movies that don’t strictly fall into the horror genre. Saying that, The Doom Busters still features plenty of blood, on-screen deaths and monsters – human and otherwise!
I had great fun with this movie and would absolutely watch it again. I’ll pick up a physical copy, for sure!
Did you know the real-life 1945 witchcraft killing of Charles Walton was the terrifying event that inspired the classic shocker The Wicker Man? From filmmaker Rupert Russell comes an incredible documentary looking into the dark heart of Britain and finding a country in a deep and frightening identity crisis – with an almost national descent into madness reflected in the strand of cinema it produces. A brave, new exploration of how events within society can become mirrors of the times they occur in, this unsettling true-crime interrogation probes into the eerie, enigmatic cultural undercurrents that shaped the 1970s folk horror genre.
How are the Teletubbies and The Wicker Man linked? That’s a question I never thought I’d ask and definitely never thought I’d get an answer to! But brilliant new documentary, The Last Sacrifice, gave me a new favourite fun fact.
I love documentaries, especially when they talk about iconic horror movies. Throw in some occult mystery, true crime and incredible visuals and I’m absolutely sold. Director Rupert Russell has created a fascinating and gripping film about a part of British history and film history, that I had no idea about. We are such a strange little island, with (often) bizarre customs and I definitely want to learn more about the history of the occult in Britain.
I really appreciate how this documentary isn’t just static interviews. The opening vintage TV spot is both delightful and creepy. A mix of real, historical footage and film clips support the interviews and narration and the use of black and red, throughout, is just beautiful. The interviews are really interesting and are impressively lit and staged. It is exquisitely edited and features a fantastic original score from Mike Lindsay of the British folktronica band Tunng. This documentary is just so STYLISH. Can you tell I loved it?
I can’t recommend this documentary more. If you love The Wicker Man, true crime, folk horror, or are just interested in weird British history, I think you’ll really enjoy this film. I don’t have any information on a release date, as this was the UK premiere, but I’ll be definitely keeping my eyes peeled as I’m hoping for a physical release. I’ll keep you posted!
Director Rupert Russell and Clout PR have kindly shared this exclusive interview where Rupert reflects on the making of The Last Sacrifice. Thank you, Greg and Rupert!
Your film is having its UK premiere at this year’s FrightFest Glasgow event. Excited or what?
Indeed, suitably close to Summerisle, the fictional island in The Wicker Man.
What initially drew you to the project?
Embarrassingly, I had only watched The Wicker Man for the first time in 2022. I did not see it as a horror film. To me, it was a documentary of what living in Britain was like over the past several years. The madness of Summerisle was indistinguishable from the madness of the British Isles. That climatic scene on the mountaintop, where Srgt. Howie pleads for his life, begging them to see that ‘killing me won’t save your apples’, only to be met by the collective shrug his Lordship gives, ‘I know it will’, for me has been an almost daily experience.
I was telling a close friend all this when he stopped me and said, ‘well, you know there was a real murder this was all based on?’
It’s centered around the unsolved murder of Charles Walton in 1945, giving the documentary the feel of a true-crime investigation.
What is the background to the case?
Charles Walton was a 74-year-old farm labourer who, on Valentine Day, 1945, was discovered in a field in the Cotswolds with a pitchfork in his face and a bellhook buried in his throat. The scene was so grizzly that the Warwickshire police called Scotland Yard requesting help, and they sent none other than Britain’s most famous detective: Robert Fabian of the Yard. When he arrived, he described the murder as a ‘slaughterhouse horror’. But despite his own investigation, and years and years of further attempts by the local police, no one was ever charged with the crime.
What fascinated you about the case?
The fascination for me wasn’t who did it, but who do we believe did it, and why? Mysteries are mirrors, they are reflections of ourselves. In the case of an unsolved murder, we project our paranoid fears and fantasies onto the face of the imagined killer. The theories that griped Britain were, therefore, really theories about the British themselves. And the theories that emerged contained many novel features we hadn’t seen before in fact or fiction. In particular, the theory that the source of danger was not the perennial outsider – the Nosferatu figure invading the city walls – but rather the otherwise ‘normal’ insider. The enemy within.
The rural setting and superstitious fears surrounding Walton’s death mirror the isolation and community rituals in films like The Wicker Man. How did these parallels shape your storytelling?
The parallels between fact and fiction was what excited me creatively about the film. I began the project by watching documentaries made of real witches in the 1960s, filled with a Mondo-esque mixture of exploitation and theatrics. On talking to real witches, some of whom appeared in the films, I discovered that despite the ‘hype’ they were in fact accurate portrayals of what was happening at the time. And, on the face of it, more outrageous and shocking than the Hammer and Tigon witchcraft films at the time. This spoke to the heat of the story, how fact and fantasy had become intertwined and often indistinguishable.
Furthermore, the conspiracies around the Walton murder informed the tropes of the folk horror films that were made at the time, and we now just take them for granted as the staple beats of the genre. But these did not come from the imaginations of screenwriters, but rather policeman and sleuth academics trying to make sense of a bizarre ‘ritual’ murder in rural Britain.
The role of the tabloid media seemed to play a big part in fueling the public’s fascination with ritual sacrifice and the occult in post-war Britain. Do you think this impeded the murder investigation?
No. There was a delayed reaction, mostly spurned on by the chief inspector of the case, Robert Fabian of the Yard, whose memories, after he retired, brought the occult aspects to the public’s attention. In his 1945 police report, Fabian is quite explicit that the hinderance to the investigation were the local villagers themselves. He complained about their ‘secretive’ nature and refusal to fully cooperate with the police investigation. Fabian was convened that in a town of less than 500 people, the killer’s identity would have been widely known. Nobody seemed to care that there might be a demented killer terrorising the vulnerable. Unless, of course, they knew who the murderer was – and why the murder was committed.
What do you think is the enduring legacy of the Charles Walton murder, both in real-life folklore and its continuing influence on the horror film genre?
The folk horror movies of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s are the result of a collision of cultural forces. They’re an incoherent mishmash of all sorts of weird and wonderful things that were happening in Britain at the time. Authors, screenwriters and director joined the dots between the Walton murder, the rise of Wicca, the counterculture, the hippie movement, women’s liberation, the sexual revolution, class war and so much more. They all kind of swirled together in a technicolor vortex around the figure of the witch. This figure became a kind of organising metaphor for all that was being torn up and a warning of the new world that might be around the corner.
How would you compare the British folk horror films of the ‘60s and early ‘70s to the American ones that came later?
The British films all feature a member of the new professional class – a teacher, doctor, or policeman – who goes to a strange English village. They’re the victim of a conspiracy between the peasantry and an aristocrat who commands their loyalty through pagan gods or voodoo magic. They are paranoid tales of a reactionary counter-revolution, where Atlee’s new social democracy will be rolled back to a feudal time.
In contrast, the American films are about going somewhere foreign and are led by naive tourists, such as An American Werewolf in London or Midsommar. They encounter not a class conflict, but a cult: an ideology taken to a dangerous extreme. When you consider that the Americas are the place we dumped our own religious nutters in the 17th and 18th centuries, their fears may well be quite rational.
What is your favourite folk horror movie?
I was ignorant of the genre when I started making the film and it was a true joy to take a compressed crash course. My favourites would be Panda’s Fen, The Plague of the Zombies, Twins of Evil, and Demons of the Mind.
Finally, what’s next for you?
I have two fiction horror films that are in development, and another film archive doc.
Sam Munster 