Just when I thought I'd seen it all from Severin, they come through with an even more impressive box set I need to add to my collection! Directed by Kier-La Janisse, Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror has been getting incredible buzz during its recent festival screenings, and Severin and Kier-La have teamed up for All the Haunts Be Ours, a folk horror box set featuring 20 feature films, shorts, commentaries, and much more! Dive into all the details below and learn more at: https://severin-films.com/shop/folk-horror-box/
(LOS ANGELES, CA) "Hail Behemoth, Spirit Of The Dark!” On December 7th, Severin Films is digging up haunted soil to unearth a truly unprecedented box set – All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror. Curated and produced by acclaimed author and WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED: A HISTORY OF FOLK HORROR director Kier-La Janisse, this definitive collection – anchored by Janisse’s award-winning documentary – includes 20 feature films, 3 CDs, a 126-page book, 15+ hours of short films, featurettes and more. In addition to the box set, Severin will also offer standalone editions of both EYES OF FIRE and WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED.
The most comprehensive collection of its kind begins with the definitive genre documentary of our time, Kier-La Janisse’s award-winning WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED. From there, experience 19 of the best-known, least-known, rarely-seen and thought-lost classics of folk horror from around the world, all restored from the best available vault elements with Special Features that include short films, audio commentaries and exclusive featurettes. The ultimate genre exploration continues with the original WOODLANDS soundtrack by Jim Williams and a reading of the classic short story ‘The White People’ by actress Linda Hayden, as well as a 126-page illustrated book curated by Janisse and designed by Luke Insect featuring all-new writings by renowned film scholars, authors and historians. Limited to 4000 units.
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DISC 1:
WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED
Kier-La Janisse, USA, 2021192 mins | 1.85 | Color
English and Portuguese with English subtitles
Stereo
HD Digital MasterWOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED explores the folk horror phenomenon and its culturally specific manifestations in international horror, from its first wave in the 1970s to today.
Extras:
Video Introduction By Writer/Director/Producer Kier-La JanisseAnimating Folk Horror — A Conversation with Ashley Thorpe
Animator Ashley Thorpe discusses his processes and inspirations for the animated sequences he created for the film.Outtake: What is Folk Horror?
Expanded definitions of folk horror cut from the film’s introductory sequence.Outtake: Harvest Hymns — The Sounds and Signals of Folk Horror
Historians and Composers—including Marc Wilkinson, John Cameron, Jim Williams, Pentagram Home Video and more—weigh in on the sounds of folk horror from trad to electronica.Outtake: Terra Assombrada — Expressions of Folk Horror in Brazil
Filmmaker Dennison Ramalho and Scholars Carlos Primati and Laura Loguercio Cánepa discuss the impact of Brazilian folk literature and songs on folk horror.Folk Poetry
WITCHFINDER GENERAL star Ian Ogilvy and BLOOD ON SATAN’S CLAW’s Linda Hayden recite classic folk poems set to Super 8 footage.Trailer
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DISC 2:
EYES OF FIRE
Avery Crounse, USA, 198386 mins | 1.85:1 | Color
English Stereo
4K restoration from the original negativeThe seminal American folk horror film, unavailable on home video for decades, now debuts in a new 4K restoration. A rogue 18th century preacher and his followers make their way downriver to establish a new settlement beyond the western frontier and encounter a forest enchanted by strange spirits that will bring an apocalyptic madness upon them.
Extras:
Audio Commentary With Colin Dickey, Author of “Ghostland: An American History In Haunted Places”
The Secret Is In The Trees — “Nightmare USA” Author Stephen Thrower Interviews Avery Crounse
Crying Blue Sky
Alternate Longer Cut restored in 2K from Director's personal 35mm answer printPlus Bonus Short Films:
The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow (Sam Weiss, USA 1972)
Genre icon John Carradine narrates this atmospheric animated adaptation of Washington Irving’s classic story, newly scanned from 16mm for this release by educational film archive AV Geeks. Courtesy of Pyramid Films.Transformations (Barbara Hirschfeld, USA 1972)
A fascinating feminist experimental film shot on location in Vermont about a group of witches performing white magic. Courtesy of the Vermont Archive Movie Project (VAMP). vamp.vtiff.orgBackwoods (Ryan Mackfall, UK 2018)
A scholar drifts from his path and finds himself in a house he takes for deserted. Based on H.P. Lovecraft's “The Picture In The House.” Courtesy of Myskatonic Films.++++
DISC 3:
LEPTIRICA
Djordje Kadijevic, Serbia, 197365 mins | 1.33:1 | Color
Serbian mono with optional English subtitles
HD master from Public Service Media Radio Television of SerbiaBased loosely on by Milovan Glišić’s classic 1880 Serbian vampire story After Ninety Years – which preceded Bram Stoker’s Dracula by nearly two decades – Djordje Kadijevic’s adaptation is a subversive, darkly erotic take on Glišić’s pastoral tale of a group of rural villagers beset upon by the infamous vampire Sava Savanovic, who has taken up residence in their local flour mill.
Extras:
Radical Fairy Tales — Interview With Director Djordje Kadijevic
Plus bonus short films newly remastered in HD from archival film elements at Public Service Media Radio Television of Serbia:
Štićenik (Djordje Kadijevic,1973)
A terrified young man is being pursued by a mysterious man in black. He hides out in nearby mental hospital, but can he escape his fate?Diary Of An Inmate
An interview with Štićenik actor Milan MihailovicDevičanska Svirka (Djordje Kadijevic,1973)
A man travelling through the countryside is drawn to a strange castle, which is reputed by the locals to be haunted. There he meets a beguiling young woman who ensnares him in her world of secrets.Prisoner Of Song
An interview with Devičanska Svirka actor Goran Sultanovic++++
DISC 4:
WITCHHAMMER
Otakar Vávra, Czechoslovakia, 1970107 mins | 2:35:1 | Color
Czech mono with optional English subtitles
HD restored master supplied by the Czech Film CenterOtakar Vávra’s film about 17th century witch hunter Jindřich František Boblig and the horrors he visited on the small village of Velké Losiny has been called an Eastern European counterpart to Michael Reeves’ WITCHFINDER GENERAL and Michael Armstrong’s MARK OF THE DEVIL.
Extras:
Audio Commentary With Czech Film Historian And Curator Irena Kovarova
The Womb Of Woman Is The Gateway To Hell
A filmed appreciation by essayist and critic Kat Ellinger and film historian Michael Brooke. Courtesy of Second Run Films.The Projection Booth Podcast
The renowned film podcast’s episode on WITCHHAMMER, with host Mike White and guest critics Samm Deighan and Rahne Alexander.----
VIY
Konstantin Ershov, Georgiy Kropachyov, Soviet Union, 196776 mins / 1.33:1 / Color
Russian mono with optional English subtitles / English mono
HD restored master supplied by MosfilmBased on the classic novella by Nikolai Gogol, VIY remains the height of Soviet fantasy cinema. In 19th century Russia, a seminary student is forced to spend three nights with the corpse of a beautiful young witch. But when she rises from the dead to test his faith, it will summon a nightmare of fear, desire and the ultimate demonic mayhem.
Extras:
From The Woods To The Cosmos — John Leman Riley On The History Of Soviet Fantasy And Sci-Fi Film
Trailer
Plus Bonus Silent Short Films: Satan Exultant (1917), The Queen of Spades (1916) and The Portrait (1915)
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DISC 5:
LAKE OF THE DEAD
Kåre Bergstrøm, Norway, 195877 mins | 2.40:1 | B/W
Norwegian mono with optional English subtitles
Restored in 2K from the original negativeConsidered a classic of Norwegian cinema, a group of colleagues venture to a remote cabin to look for a missing friend and are spooked by an old legend: that the cabin had belonged to a man who killed his sister and her lover and then drowned himself in the lake. Since then, it is said that anyone who stays in the cabin will be driven to the same fate.
Extras:
Audio Commentary With Film Historians Jonathan Rigby And Kevin Lyons
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TILBURY
Viðar Víkingsson, Iceland, 198757 mins | 1.33:1 | Color
Icelandic mono with optional English subtitles
Restored in 2K from the original negative at the Film Museum of IcelandThis made-for-TV film shares the Icelandic lore of the Tilbury, a creature who could be summoned by women in times of financial hardship and starvation. But the gifts of the Tilbury come with their own brand of destruction. Set in 1940, during the British occupation, a country boy discovers his childhood sweetheart is having an affair with a British soldier, but suspects it could be one of the evil creatures.
Extras:
Audio Commentary With Director Viðar Víkingsson And Screenwriter Þórarinn Eldjárn, Moderated By Film Scholar Gudrun D. Whitehead
With Enough Tilbury Butter, Anything Is Good — Interview With Karl Ágúst Úlfsson
A Boy From The Country — Interview With Kristján Franklin Magnúss
White Spot In The Back Of The Head (Viðar Víkingsson, 1979)
This early student film from the director of TILBURY transposes the ghostly Icelandic legend of The Deacon of Dark River to 1970s France.“The Moon Fades, Death Rides”
Viðar Víkingsson discusses the folkloric origins of White Spot In The Back Of The Head++++
DISC 6:
THE DREAMING
Mario Andreacchio, Australia, 198890 mins | 1.85:1 | Color
English mono
Restored in 2K from best surviving 35mm positive printWhen a group of Indigenous activists attempt to repatriate ancestral artifacts found in a cave on Australia’s Kangaroo Island, one of them is shot evading police and taken to a local hospital. When the patient dies in her care, the doctor attending to her experiences strange visions relating to violent events from the past.
Extras:
Audio Commentary With Director Mario Andreacchio, Moderated By Film Historian Jarret Gahan
Trailer
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KADAICHA
James Bogle, Australia 198888 mins | 1.85:1 | Color
English mono
Mastered from only surviving broadcast quality video masterThough conceived as a commercial horror film, this tale of teens being condemned to death in their dreams by an Aboriginal magician as recompense for a housing development having been built on a sacred burial ground also serves as an admission of national guilt.
Extras:
Audio Commentary With Director James Bogle, Moderated By Veteran Film Journalist Michael Helms (Fatal Visions)
The Final Girl Of KADAICHA
An audio interview with actress Zoe Carides, conducted by film historian Jarret Gahan.Composing KADAICHA
An audio interview with composer Peter Westheimer, conducted by film historian Jarret Gahan.Behind The Scenes Of KADAICHA
Recently-unearthed footage of director James Bogle and the cast and crew in a typical day on set.Trailer
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DISC 7:
CELIA
Ann Turner, Australia, 1989103 mins | 1.85:1 | Color
English mono
Restored in 2K from 35mm original negativeIn 1950s Australia, after 9-year-old Celia hears the disturbing fairy tale of "The Hobyahs" in school, it colors her interpretation of real life conflicts such as her parents' struggling relationship, the threat of communism and the country's plague of rabbits. Ann Turner's award-winning film paints a disquieting picture of innocence trying to make sense of the harsh and complex world around her through escape into dark fantasy.
Extras:
CELIA And Me
A new interview with director Ann TurnerFrom Crawfords To CELIA
An interview with veteran editor Ken SallowsThe Rabbit In Australia
This short documentary produced by Australia’s national science agency CSIRO in 1979 traces the introduction of the European rabbit to Australia and subsequent attempts to control its population, which includes the rabbit cull of the 1950s that serves as the backdrop for Ann Turner’s CELIA.----
ALISON’S BIRTHDAY
Ian Coughlan, Australia, 198197 mins | 1.85:1 | Color
English mono
Restored in 2K from 16mm CRIGetting its first official release since the VHS era, this Australian paranormal cult is unearthed! During a Ouija board session with her teenaged friends, 16-year-old Alison gets a message from beyond the grave not to go home for her 19th birthday. Fast forward three years later to the week of her 19th: she gets a call from her mother that they're having a party to celebrate and they want her there... alone.
Extras:
Extended Interviews From NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD With Producer David Hannay And Cast Members Joanne Samuel And Belinda Giblin
The Devil Down Under — Satanic Panic In Australia From Rosaleen Norton To ALISON’S BIRTHDAY
A new video essay narrated by film scholar Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, based on her chapter of the same name from the book “Satanic Panic: Pop-Cultural Paranoia in the 1980s.”++++
DISC 8:
WILCZYCA
Marek Piestrak, Poland, 1983103 mins | 1.33:1 | Color
Polish mono with optional English subtitles
Restored in HD from original negative by WFDIF in WarsawA domestic hit in Poland on first release, Marek Piestrak’s stunning wintry werewolf film is a sexually-charged folktale that pits a 19th century Polish patriot against the ghost of his unfaithful wife, who haunts him from beyond the grave as a she-wolf.
Extras:
Unleashing The She-Wolf — An Interview With Director Marek Piestrak
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LOKIS: A MANUSCRIPT OF PROFESSOR WITTEMBACH
Janusz Majewski, Poland, 1970100 mins | 1:66:1 | Color
Polish mono with optional English subtitles
Restored in HD from original negative by WFDIF in WarsawA pastor and ethnographer visits a remote corner of 19th century Lithuania where folk customs associated with the area’s pagan past still have a hold on the population. There he finds himself the guest of a strange old family consisting of a sadistic Count and his mad mother, who—legend has it—was raped by a bear on her wedding night; the Count himself reputed to be the product of this bestial assault.
Extras:
Wild Country Of The Were-Bear — An Interview With Director Janusz Majewski
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DISC 9:
CLEARCUT
Ryszard Bugajski, Canada, 199198 mins | 2.35:1 | Color
English 5.1 / 2.0
Restored in 4K from 35mm answer printA white lawyer arrives to a remote area in Northern Ontario to defend Indigenous activists who are blocking a logging company’s clearcut of old growth on their land. A pacifist by nature, and perceiving himself as sympathetic to Indigenous concerns, he finds his values shaken when he is paired with an angry, rogue Indigenous activist named Arthur (Graham Greene) who insists on kidnapping the head of the logging company to take him deep into the forest—where he hopes to teach him the price of his destruction.
Extras:
Archival Video Introduction By Director Ryszard Bugajski
Courtesy of Maria MamonaAudio Commentary With Scholar And Anthropologist Shaawano Chad Uran (White Earth Anishinaabe)
Plus Bonus Short films:
The Ballad Of Crowfoot (Willie Dunn, 1968)
Often referred to as Canada’s first music video, Mi’kmaq/Scottish folk singer and activist Willie Dunn’s The Ballad Of Crowfoot is a powerful look at colonial betrayals, told through a striking montage of archival images and a ballad composed by Dunn himself about the legendary 19th-century Siksika (Blackfoot) chief who negotiated Treaty 7 on behalf of the Blackfoot Confederacy.Audio Commentary For The Ballad of Crowfoot With Kevin Howes And Lawrence Dunn, Co-Producers Of Creation Never Sleeps, Creation Never Dies: The Willie Dunn Anthology
You Are On Indian Land (Michael Kanentakeron Mitchell, 1969)
A landmark film that documents a 1969 protest by the Kanien’kéhaka (Mohawk) of Akwesasne, a territory that straddles the Canada–U.S. border. You Are On Indian Land screened extensively across the continent, helping to mobilize a new wave of Indigenous activism. It notably was shown at the 1970 occupation of Alcatraz.Consume (Mike Peterson, 2017)
Inspired by true events, residential school survivor Jacob Wematim (Julian Black Antelope) struggles to hang onto his land and Indigenous identity as his personal demons resurface and manifest in the form of the Wendigo spirit.++++
DISC 10:
IL DEMONIO
Brunello Rondi, Italy, 196398 mins | 1.85:1 | B/W
Italian mono with optional English subtitles
Restored from the original negative at RAI TV in RomeA stunning story of obsessive love, set in a rural Southern Italian village where Christianity has integrated many of the old superstitious beliefs. Daliah Lavi (THE WHIP AND THE BODY) plays Purif, who is distraught when her lover is betrothed to another. Her erratic behavior is interpreted as demonic possession—leading the villagers to turn against her with physical and sexual violence.
Extras:
Audio Commentary By Film Historian Kat Ellinger
“The Kid From A Kibbutz” — Daliah Lavi And The Road To IL DEMONIO
A newly-commissioned video essay written and narrated by film historian Tim Lucas and edited by filmmaker and programmer Chris O’NeillOnce Upon A Time In Basilicata
Brunello Rondi biographer Alberto Pezzotta looks at IL DEMONIO and the themes that dominated the director’s eclectic career----
DARK WATERS
Mariano Baino, Russia/UK/Ukraine/Italy, 199389 minutes | 1.85:1 | Color
Italian stereo with optional English subtitles
Mastered in HD from the original negativeIn Mariano Baino’s groundbreaking debut, a young Englishwoman drawn to an island in the Black Sea in an attempt to discover her mysterious connection to a remote convent—a crumbling edifice that has been constructed over a labyrinth of Lovecraftian horrors.
Extras:
Audio Commentary With Writer/Director Mariano Baino
Deep Into The DARK WATERS
The cast and crew recall the making of DARK WATERS in this archival documentary featurette.++++
DISC 11:
A FIELD IN ENGLAND
Ben Wheatley, UK, 201290 mins | 2.35:1 | B/W
English 5.1 / 2.0
HD Digital MasterDuring the Civil War in 17th-Century England, a small group of deserters flee from a raging battle and are captured by an alchemist who forces them to help him find a hidden treasure. Crossing a vast mushroom circle, which provides their first meal, the group succumbs to the terrifying energies trapped inside the field.
Extras:
Audio Commentary With Director Ben Wheatley, Producer Andy Starke And Sound Editor Martin Pavey
Letterboxd Magic Hour Episode One: Kier-La Janisse X Ben Wheatley
Ben Wheatley talks folk horror with WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED director Kier-La Janisse in this special online interview conducted for the release of Wheatley’s IN THE EARTH.Please Hear Me — The Music of A FIELD IN ENGLAND
Composer Jim Williams and Ben Wheatley discuss the sounds and musical influences of A FIELD IN ENGLAND.Ben Wheatley In Conversation With Pete Tombs
A fascinating discussion between Wheatley and film historian/author (“Immoral Tales,” “Mondo Macabro”) Pete Tombs that gets deep into the DNA of A FIELD IN ENGLAND.Camera Tests
Trailer
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ANCHORESS
Chris Newby, UK, 1993108 mins | 1.66:1 | B/W
Mastered in HD by the British Film InstituteBased on the true story of Christine Carpenter, a 14th-century peasant who becomes transfixed by a statue of the Virgin Mary, and petitions to be walled into a cell attached to the church as a religious hermit. Alone in her cell she receives dark and sensual visions, while in the outside world, her defiant mother (played by musician Toyah Wilcox) is accused of witchcraft.
Extras:
Lockdown 1329
A new video essay by ANCHORESS director Chris Newby that explores parallels between COVID lockdown in the UK and Christine Carpenter’s experience as an anchoress, featuring outtakes from the film.A Short Trip To Shere
ANCHORESS director Chris Newby documents the location of the real Christine Carpenter’s anchoress cell at St. James’ Church in Shere, England.++++
DISC 12:
PENDA’S FEN
Alan Clarke, UK, 197490 mins | 1:33:1 | Color
English mono
Mastered in HD by the British Film InstituteAlan Clarke (SCUM) directs David Rudkin’s epic tale of myth and identity whereby a sanctimonious vicar’s son has a spiritual and sexual awakening after being visited by a series of angels, gargoyles, and the ghosts of Edward Elgar and a long-dead pagan king. PENDA’S FEN is the most magical of all British folk horror films, what scholar Sukhdev Sandhu called “a lasting vision of heresy and pastoral horror.”
Extras:
Audio Commentary By James Machin And Matthew Harle, Editors Of The Book “Of Mud & Flame: The Penda’s Fen Sourcebook”
The Landscape Of Feelings — The Road To PENDA’S FEN
A documentary on the making of Rudkin and Clarke's groundbreaking drama, featuring interviews with writer David Rudkin and producer David Rose, as well as contributions from Clarke collaborators such as writer David Yallop, actor Sean Chapman and playwright David Leland. Courtesy of the British Film Institute.
Plus bonus short film:
The Pledge (Digby Rumsey, 1981)
Based on the short story by early 20th century fantasy writer Lord Dunsany, The Pledge concerns a group of highwaymen who make a pact to save the soul of their hanged partner. A dark, luscious film co-edited by an uncredited Peter Greenaway and featuring music by Michael Nyman. Courtesy of the British Film Institute.
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James MacTaggart, UK, 197076 mins| 1:33:1 | B/W
English mono
Mastered from BBC protection tape master, the only surviving elementVeteran British chiller writer John Bowen penned this legendarily terrifying BBC teleplay, now considered a precursor to THE WICKER MAN. Nora Palmer moves to a quiet village in England after a break-up. The locals are warm enough at first, but their sinister intentions are gradually revealed. Is Nora paranoid or is she the center of a wicked pagan plot of indescribable horror?
Extras:
Audio Commentary With William Fowler And Vic Pratt, Curators And Authors Of “The Bodies Beneath: The Flipside of British Film & Television”
Interview With John Bowen
The celebrated writer discusses his career and the origins of ROBIN REDBREAST. Courtesy of the British Film Institute.Plus bonus short film:
The Sermon (Dean Puckett, 2018)
In an isolated church community in the English countryside, a powerful hate preacher prepares to deliver a sermon to his flock, but his daughter has a secret that could destroy them all.
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WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED
ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK
Composed by Jim Williams-----
THE WHITE PEOPLE
By Arthur Machen
Read by Linda Hayden
Music by Timothy Fife and Missionary WorkArthur Machen’s hugely influential short story, first published in 1904, in which a discussion between two men on the nature of evil leads to the revelation of a mysterious Green Book—the diary of a young girl, in which she describes her initiation into a secret world of folklore and magic. Here the story is brought vividly to life with an incredible reading by Linda Hayden (BLOOD ON SATAN’S CLAW) and a remarkable original score.
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ALL THE HAUNTS BE OURS — 126+ Page Book
Curated by Kier-La Janisse, this beautifully-illustrated book designed by Luke Insect features new writing by Andy Paciorek, Stephen Volk, Mitch Horowitz, Dawn Keetley, Sarah Chavez, Stephen R. Bissette and Dejan Ognjanović alongside a selection of illuminating archival pieces and a breakdown of all the films in the set.
After spending more than 10 years as a consultant in the tech and entertainment industry, Jonathan James launched Daily Dead in 2010 to share his interest in horror and sci-fi. Since then, it has grown into an online magazine with a staff of writers that provide daily news, reviews, interviews, and special features.
As the Editor-in-Chief of Daily Dead, Jonathan is responsible for bringing the latest horror news to millions of readers from around the world. He is also consulted with as an expert on zombies in entertainment and pop culture, providing analyses of the zombie sub-genre to newspapers, radio stations, and convention attendees.
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