8 best horror films based on folklore to watch this November

The Ritual

Joe Barton wrote the screenplay and David Bruckner directed the 2017 British supernatural folk horror movie The Ritual. Rafe Spall, Arsher Ali, Robert James-Collier, and Sam Troughton play four friends who go trekking through an old-growth forest in Sweden and come into an ancient malevolent spirit. The movie is based on Adam Nevill’s 2011 novel of the same name. The Ritual was released by eOne in the UK on October 13 after having its international premiere on September 8 at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival.

The Medium (2021 film)

A 2021 Thai-South Korean mockumentary supernatural folk horror film, was co-written and produced by Na Hong-jin and directed by Banjong Pisanthanakun. It is a co-production of Showbox from South Korea and GDH 559 from Thailand. On July 11, 2021, the movie made its debut at the 25th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival. On July 14, 2021, it was released in theaters in South Korea. Despite not being nominated, it was chosen as Thailand’s entry for the 94th Academy Awards’ Best International Feature Film .

Hagazussa

In his feature directorial debut, Lukas Feigelfeld wrote and directed the 2017 German-Austrian horror film Hagazussa: A Heathen’s Curse, which was also produced by Feigelfeld and Simon Lubinski. Aleksandra Cwen plays Albrun, a goat-herder rejected by her peers who develops an uncomfortable association with a local villager in the film, which is set in a lonely mountain community in the 15th-century Alps. An international co-production between Germany and Austria, the movie had its world premiere on September 22, 2017, at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, and on May 17, 2018, it was released in Germany. Critics gave it favorable reviews.

The Wailing 

Kwak Do-won, Hwang Jung-min, and Chun Woo-hee star in the 2016 South Korean horror movie The Wailing, which was written and directed by Na Hong-jin. In order to preserve his daughter, a police officer in a small Korean community looks into a string of unexplained deaths and illnesses. The movie was a critical and financial triumph.

Lamb

LambIn 2021, Valdimar Jóhannsson directed the folk horror movie Lamb. He and Sjón co-wrote the screenplay. The story of the movie revolves around the birth of an unexplained human/sheep hybrid and the adoptive pair. Starring Noomi Rapace, the picture is an international co-production between Iceland, Sweden, and Poland and is Valdimar’s first full-length directing effort. Executive producers were Béla Tarr and Rapace. The movie debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021 and was released in Iceland on September 24, 2021. It was chosen as Iceland’s submission for the 94th Academy Awards’ Best International Feature Film category.

November

Based on Andrus Kivirähk’s 2000 novel Rehepapp ehk November (“Old Barny aka November”), Rainer Sarnet wrote and directed the 2017 fantasy horror drama film November.Although it was not nominated, the film has garnered international acclaim and was chosen as Estonia’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards.

Alucarda

Tina Romero, Claudio Brook, Susana Kamini, and David Silva star in Juan López Moctezuma’s 1977 English-language supernatural horror thriller Alucarda. Two adolescent orphan girls who live in a Catholic convent release a demonic spirit and get possessed in this sketchy version of Carmilla (1872).

The movie was made in Mexico, although it was filmed in English. It was published internationally under a number of other titles, such as Sisters of Satan and Innocents from Hell. The film’s themes of national tradition vs modernity, the conflicts between science and faith, and the shortcomings of both have drawn attention from cinema experts. The movie has been linked to nunsploitation because it shows nuns in supernatural, emotionally charged scenarios.

The Wicker Man

Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt, and Christopher Lee all starred in Robin Hardy’s 1973 British folk horror film The Wicker Man. Inspired by David Pinner’s 1967 novel Ritual, Anthony Shaffer wrote the script, while Paul Giovanni wrote the music for the movie.In order to find a missing girl, Sergeant Neil Howie, a police officer, travels to the remote Scottish island of Summerisle. As a devoted Christian, Howie is horrified to learn that the island’s residents have turned away from Christianity and are now practicing Celtic paganism.