20 Horror Films Where Humans Are The Real Monsters

One of the lesser-seen entries in the British folk horror tradition, Daniel Kokotajlo’s BBC-made, BFI-distributed Starve Acre has all the tropes and hallmarks of a Wicker Man or Penda’s Fen, without the hype and plaudits.

A post-floppy quiff Matt Smith stars as university archaeology lecturer Richard, opposite Morfydd Clark as his wife Jules, as they return to Richard's deceased father's farm on the Yorkshire moors. The couple’s son takes a funny turn early on, and is in the ground by the second act, leaving the pair to grieve in their own ways. Jules by sinking into a deep depression, and Richard by attempting to excavate an opening into another world he believes his father found on their property.

Richard finds the bones of a hare-like animal, brings them in, and they grow into a sinister creature called Jack Grey, ensnaring first Jules and her motherly instincts, and then Richard himself. But though Jack is a beastly creature with dark intentions, there is far worse than him out on the moors, and we need look no further than the couple’s neighbours. The people of the surrounding farms and village, including Richard’s father’s old friend Gordon (Sean Gilder), know full well what the couple is getting themselves into when they arrive, and they actively encourage the chaos, seeking to bring forth whatever lies beyond the mystical entrance in the ground.