Let’s be honest, it’s a foregone conclusion. The Wicker Man wins hands down.

But what constitutes Folk Horror? Folk Horror simply would not exist without The Wicker Man that birthed an entire horror sub genre by setting horror within a religious conspiracy in rural communities - a symbiotic relationship between horror and a conflict of idealogies that leads to collective madness. I would argue that mythology sits at the heart of some of the best folk horror films where ancient gods must be appeased by sacrifice to guarantee local survival with a bountiful harvest, the grieving are granted their loved ones resurrection, religious persecution is rife, or people are spared an old testament threat when morality is questioned.

Still, it could be argued that the UK is not the only country to have evolved its own folklore traditions, religious persecutions, and collective madness, so welcome to that time of year where we look at another horror sub genre and sit down with the ancient gods and unearth some cursed gems that will make your eyes bleed. Just pray you don’t upset the locals.

Watch the Top 10 folk horror movies below.

In descending order of greatness:

10. KILL LIST

Ben Wheatley’s Kill List is a deceptive film that starts off as a cheap-looking British revenge thriller, and like most good folk horrors, descends into a different genre en route to hell.

Starring Neil Maskell and Michael Smiley, Kill List is an underated gem about two hit men take on a mysterious job that may or may not lead to their redemption, if they can live long enough. The final sacrificial scenes are strangely reminiscent of the infamous bohemian grove undercover documentary about George Bush’s membership of the skull and bones society’s worship of Moloch, the owl god, which no doubt influenced the director.

9. VIY [1967]

This obscure and beautifully shot early 1960’s fantasy horror was directed by Konstantin Ershov and based on russian folklore. It begins when a monk is summoned to keep a three night vigil of a local dead woman and the woman is revealed to be a witch who returns to life and invites the forces of hell to test his faith. Although not overtly similar to The Wicker Man, the main character has to endure a test of his faith, much like Edward Woodward, through the lens of russian folk tales.

8.The Witchfinder General [1968]

The Witchfinder General is the third in the unholy trinity of folk horror films first identified by genre scholar and author Adam Scovell.

Let’s not forget that according to early english religious belief systems, people really did believe that witches existed within society and were a threat from within. Women were maligned, drowned and burnt at the stake for practicing early medicines or denounced for not following strict moral codes laid down by the church and a patriacharal state. A collective madness which saw the introduction of witch finders in rural communities.

To be honest, I’ve always found this film a bit dour and boring in comparison to the superior Mark Of The Devil (also starring Vincent Price) which some of you may recognise as a Freudstein song. However, it’s Vincent Price’s villainous portrayal of the real life exploits of 17th-century witch-hunter Matthew Hopkins, that is worth the price of admission alone.

7. The Witch [2015]

The Witch was Robert Eggers breakout success which excelled at subtlety and confusion to obsfucate the viewer as a puritan family encounter a witch.

The film centres on Christian pilgrim settlers in 1630s New England as they seek to survive amid a new harsh and alien landscape where religious persecution is a threat from within. Anna Taylor Joy gives a pitch perfect performance, in her first big role, as a young girl who may or may not be a witch, in this atmospheric and psychological horor.

6. The Blair Witch Project [1999]

The Blair Witch Project is so infamous its almost too easy to dismiss it as just another 90’s horror film, but look closer and you’ll spot some of the tropes of folk horror, albeit an americanised version.

Local mythology tempts a group of teenager to dare to spend the night camping in the local woods where, rumour has is it, a witch still lurks in the lost village of Blair. They encounter pagan symbols tied to trees and something moving through the forest at night, and slowly descend into a collective madness.

The film’s low fi use of found footage catapaulted the film into the national consciousness and even created its own urban myths with a marketing campaign when the actors were listed as deceased on the internet and the found footage concept, first alluded to in Cannibal Holocaust, was reborn.

5. A Field In England [2013]

Ben Wheatley’s second entry into our top 10, A Field In England, is perhaps his most psychedelic period piece which literally take place in a field during the English Civil War. The folk horror trope of rural environments, religious persecution and a threat from within are all present but what makes this film so haunting is the creeping paranoia and terrifying performance from Reece Shearsmith.

This low budget black and white film is perhaps Wheatley’s most personal project with its focus on characters and dialogue as the characters slowly detach from reality due to shell-shock, religious beliefs, and some local magic mushrooms.

4. Midsommer [2019]

Midsommer is a direct descendent of The Wicker Man and is one of my favourite films directed by the talented, Ari Aster, who also made the harrowing Heriditary.

In many ways Midsommer is an inbred relative of The Wicker Man with a similar fish out of water tale that echoes the original when a group of teenagers travel to a Swedish mid-summer festival. It’s a modern take on the folk horror genre with a fictional swedish pagan mythology used to trap its victims in a cult as the festival slowly builds to a horrific, if somewhat predictable climax.

I particularly love the fact that the film, unlike most horror films, employs bright colours and comforting day time scenes to lure the viewer into safety, when horror resides in plain sight.

3. The Blood On Satan’s Claw

This often overlooked Hammer Horror classic, Blood On Satan’s Claw, is the second in the unholy trinity of folk horror films first identified by genre scholar and author Adam Scovell.

Blood On Satan’s claw is a Hammer Horror classic B movie with its creeping, mysterious atmosphere building to a crescendo as a teenage occult worship develops in Medieval England. The isolated rural setting and strange belief systems are ever present as timeless fears of teenagers and the corruption of youth from outside forces cause adults seek to fear and uproot the threat from within.

2. The Shout [1978]

The Shout is a relatively unknown British cult classic starrring John Hurt, Alan Bates and Susannah York. I would argue that this an unconventional folk horror which begins as a simple love triangle when a stranger enters a couples lives, hell bent on stealing the main protagonist’s wife, then descends into a meditation on magic and loss based on aboriginal folk lore.

The stranger, played by Alan Bates, who may or not be a magician, is a spellbinding presence who threatens the protagonist’s morality in a small rural village. His refusal to leave their home leads to a plot twist and finale that is incredibly subtle, quintisesentially english, and ahead of its time with the use of a unconventional narrative struture.

Madness or magic? Although there is no larger conspiracy at play on the part of the local village, the rural setting and heavy leanings towards psychological horror, magic and folklore, make this worthy of cannon.

1. The Wicker Man

It’s no surprise to find Robin Hardy’s debut film at the top of our list. This is the first in the unholy trinity of folk horror films first identified by genre scholar and author Adam Scovell. The Wicker Man was based on David Pinner's 1967 novel, Ritual, and its unpredictable climax is so memorable its like psychological lightning in a bottle.

The film perfectly sets out the first tropes of folk horror with its literal slow burning execution, when a Christian policeman (Edward Woodward) is sent to a remote rural community in the outer hebrides to investigate the disappearance of a local girl, when his faith is tested. He soon encounters pagan beliefs and meets Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee), an atypical villain who is neither fearsome nor dramatic, but an eloquently spoken and thoughful cult leader, concerned for the survival of his community.

The Wicker Man features a wonderful soundtrack composed by Paul Giovanni which was so convincingly conceived that the songs and lyrics are believable as traditional english folk songs about fertility and sacrifice. It’s a personal favourite.

The Wicker Man is so steeped in english folklore and psychological horror that it seems believable that somewhere out there a community of Summerisle pagans still exists, practicing ancient sacrifices to ward off bad harvests, famine and evil. It is a reminder of our recent past, our collective madness, that makes you question if society really has progressed past its prejudices and old belief systems. Are we really so enlightened?

Watch it and burn.