Folk horror has made a robust return to the spotlight in recent years in large part thanks to notable horror releases like Midsommar. Folk horror is also one of the more loosely categorized subgenres, save for a few common traits. The landscape is integral, especially aesthetically, and is usually set in rural or scenic countryside. Nature is a visual tool in creating atmosphere and mythos. Folk horror movies tend to be steeped in paganism or similar and feature sacrifice to appease the spirits or gods of the land. You’ll also often find a central conflict between old tradition and modernism stoking the flames of terror.
This week’s streaming picks dig into folk horror, spotlighting five lesser-seen movies from the subgenre.
Here’s where you can stream them right now.
The Blood on Satan’s Claw – Shudder
After strange bones are unearthed near a rural village in the 17th-century, the teens start developing odd patches of fur and falling under the sway of a mysterious force. Led by the seductive Angel Blake (Linda Hayden), the teens begin to turn on the town elders, and things take a turn for the deadly. The Blood on Satan’s Claw is a foundational folk horror film with strong Hammer vibes. It’s as gorgeous as it is spooky, and the Satanic shocker never shies away from pushing the envelope further. The viral nature of the devil-worshipping makes for a unique entry in folk horror, too. This one isn’t always so easy to come by on streaming as its more well-known counterparts Witchfinder General or The Wicker Man, so jump on it while it’s available.
Celia – AMC+, Shudder
Celia chronicles a young girl’s life in rural Australia in 1957 as she attends school, forges friendships, and covets a pet rabbit. It’s a coming-of-age story of an imaginative girl unable to process or understand the grown-up world easily, at least not without the help of folklore and children’s stories. Communism becomes a focal boiling point, fueling tensions and influencing the horror until an unforgettable finale. Fantasy meets realism in a haunting way.
Dark Waters – AMC+, Shudder, Tubi
A surreal atmospheric horror film that feels like a throwback to the earlier works of Lucio Fulci and Mario Bava, this dreamlike story follows a woman who travels to an isolated island to find out why her father funded a monastery there before he died. Director Mariano Baino’s first and only feature-length film, Dark Waters doesn’t always make much sense, but it’s visually stunning and weird. Occult horror meets folk horror meets cosmic horror here; the setting alone also makes this feel akin to something H.P. Lovecraft would’ve created.
November – Kanopy
Based on Andrus Kivirähk’s best-selling novel “Rehepapp,” November is a visually stunning deep-dive into Estonian folklore in the nineteenth century. It’s in a Pagan world where the dead return to dine with the living, werewolves exist, and farmers make Faustian bargains for help in the form of Kratts. At the center of it is a poor farmer’s daughter who falls in love with a fellow villager, who in turn loves someone above his class. The pangs of first love would be daunting enough in this strange world, but Paganism and Christianity clash, and the threat of the plague looms near. It’s a gorgeous dark fairy tale that drops you in the deep end of its folklore.
VIY – AMC+, Shudder, Tubi
A young priest is offered money to watch over the wake and pray for the soul of a witch in a remote village, which means he must spend three nights alone with her corpse. The issue is that he’s also the cause of her death, and his only defense against her wrath is his faith. It’s a moral conundrum, especially as each night he spends alone with the witch in her coffin grows increasingly more terrifying. It begins with minor supernatural occurrences and builds to an explosive, almost whimsical finale. It starts slow but stick with it- it’s worth the wild ride.