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Roots, Rituals and Phantasmagoria
Wild landscapes, ancient folklore and the fantastical; from Starve Acre director Daniel Kokotajlo.
This mix of cinema and television all have the uncanny ability to haunt and unsettle me. And yet they also bring a wry smile to my face. Each one is enshrouded by a distinct atmosphere, and lures you in with its charm while warning you of its danger. It’s the duality found in dark fantasy and folk horror that fascinates me — a time or place that beckons you to immerse yourself in its beauty, even as you sense its sinister agenda. It’s an incredible mood – a devilish place you can’t help but want to enter; folk horror is the hang-out horror movie. All of these films craft worlds of wild landscapes, ancient folklore and the fantastical, drawing you in with their hypnotic rhythm, only to gently sink their fangs into you… And when they do, you’re sort of okay with it, because you’re finally at one with your true nature.
- Daniel Kokotajlo, filmmaker and season curator
Onibaba Onibaba
Period drama 1964 102 mins Director: Kaneto Shindo
Stylish, symbolic and erotically charged Japanese horror in which the fortunes of a murderous mother-and-daughter team are upended by a strangely masked samurai.
"Stunning use of landscape. Never have I wanted to get out of a place so much as in Onibaba. The attention to its marshland setting, and how the land itself drives the characters to extremes, will forever be etched in my mind."
Akenfield Akenfield
Drama 1975 98 mins Director: Peter Hall
Peter Hall’s extraordinary, long-unseen work of sublime poetic realism traces three generations of one Suffolk family and their lives in the farming industry.
"A lyrical, mythic film about the people and landscape of Suffolk. The painterly beauty of its landscape, seen through anamorphic lenses, is at odds with how the family is stuck there, endlessly working the land through multiple generations. Beautiful, melancholic, and a key visual reference for Starve Acre."
The White Reindeer The White Reindeer
Horror 1953 68 mins Director: Erik Blomberg
The wife of a reindeer herder acquires a potion to make her an irresistible object of desire, but at a terrible cost, in this extraordinary vampiric fairy-tale set amongst the starkly beautiful fells of Finnish Lapland.
"An atmospheric story of a frustrated newly-wed who seeks the help of a shaman and things go quickly awry. The film’s bold approach to tone, shifting from love story to horror, inspired my approach to tackling similar subject matter in Starve Acre. "
La Belle et la Bête La Belle et la Bête
Fantasy 1946 95 mins Director: Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau’s ravishingly restored 1946 film is a cinematic classic.
"Cocteau’s adaptation remains my definitive version for its gothic visuals and hypnotic soundscape. I’ve always connected to how Cocteau critiques the traditional concept of love, never far away from madness, dreams and surrealism — something I aspired to in adapting Starve Acre."
Lonely Water Lonely Water
1973 2 mins
Terrifying public information film presenting the horrific consequences of playing in or near rivers, ponds and other water hazards.
"A public information film for school kids that transcends its goal with its beautifully executed chilly mood, thanks in part to a creepy narration by Donald Pleasence. Subversive or ill-judged considering its target audience? Glad I didn’t see it when I was too young."
Night Tide Night Tide
Film noir 1961 85 mins Director: Curtis Harrington
Dennis Hopper is on shore leave when he falls for a woman who performs as a mermaid, in this cult classic from Curtis Harrington.
"A jazz-infused beach movie, a creepy noir, an exploration of delusions, and maybe a mermaid. This film helped me realise that atmosphere can be enriched by combining genre elements. Stars a young Dennis Hooper."
The Children of Eskdale The Children of Eskdale
Documentary 1973 55 mins Location: Whitby
Five siblings run free over fields, feed the farm animals, pine for a pony or spotty dog, and a school dance exactly illustrates the difference between girls and boys.
"A heartfelt documentary about a family in rural Yorkshire. A treasure for how it captures the place and time with so much care. Wonderful atmosphere and knitwear. A film I referenced when talking to almost every department in the production of Starve Acre."
Apostasy Apostasy
Drama 2018 95 mins Director: Dan Kokotajlo
A deeply religious family must decide whether to stick by their relation or abandon her, in this striking debut from Daniel Kokotajlo.
"Where it started for me. A personal story of a Jehovah’s Witness family dealing with the dogma of the religion. When rituals get in the way of roots. Under the surface, it’s about how far people go to defend their beliefs."
Starve Acre
Daniel Kokotajlo's wildly eerie and brilliantly unsettling folk horror is streaming from 21 October.