10 Folk Horror Movies To Lead You Astray

If this film title makes you scream “No, not the bees!” then you’ve watched the wrong version. Although the Nick Cage performance from the 2006 remake is comedy gold, for the purpose of game changing folk horror, the 1973 original is what we’re going to cover here.

Directed by Robin Hardy, The Wicker Man follows the story of Sergeant Howie (played by Edward Woodward), who travels to the island of Summerisle after the reported disappearance of a young girl. When he arrives, the devoutly Christian Sergeant is disturbed to discover the island is home to a pagan community.

Like The Witch, there was a lot of research that went into creating the world of The Wicker Man. And these efforts are what give it a sickening brand of horror. In fact, the idea of burning a man in a human shaped structure made of woven twigs came from Julius Caesar’s accounts of the Gallic Wars. You couldn’t make it up.

“Righteous” Christian heroes being pitted against either pagan/satanic/just-plain-evil forces were a common theme amongst horror films of the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s. However, The Wicker Man did something to warp this trope and create a new folk horror staple.

For one of the first times in mainstream cinema, the Christian protagonist lost, and fell to the wicked pagan cult. Although we’re used to seeing this in modern horror, the idea was far more disturbing for audiences of the 1970s.

The image of Sergeant Howie burning alive in the wicker man represented good not being able to triumph over evil.