FESTIVAL
The Haunted Isles
folk horror and urban wyrd in the UK and Ireland
It isn't just houses that are haunted. Entire nations can be haunted as well. Horror films are to British cinema what the Western is to American film: an integral part of its identity, mythology, and culture. While the UK is famous for its gothic horror, with Frankenstein and Dracula looming large, another form of terror haunts its isles.
It wasn’t until 2003 that this subgenre was officially named Folk Horror. The term was first used by Piers Haggard in an interview about his 1971 cult classic The Blood on Satan’s Claw, the second film in the so-called “Unholy Trinity of Folk Horror,” alongside Witchfinder General and The Wicker Man. Common elements of Folk Horror include: a remote rural community, often on an isolated island or deep in the countryside; an eerie reverence for landscapes and the remnants of repressed pagan traditions, marked by bloody rituals, fierce battles, or witchcraft; ancient stone circles; the past bleeding into the present through ghostly apparitions; and an obsession with folklore, legends, and superstitions.
Folk Horror is also deeply tied to the counterculture of the 1960s, a period fascinated by the afterlife, pagan religions, and the occult. In Britain, this era gave rise to countless hours of television exploring folklore, from eerie documentaries to dark nostalgia pieces on unsolved mysteries and chilling events. This wave of so-called wyrd media embodied an existential unease that defined much of post-war British culture—perhaps best captured in Nigel Kneale’s Quatermass and the Pit. This collective fear reached its peak in the turbulent 1970s, a decade of political and social upheaval that shattered the hippie dream. The wyrd seeped into living rooms through A Ghost Story for Christmas, inspired surreal productions like Alan Clarke’s Penda’s Fen, and even left its mark on Doctor Who and the terrifying public information films of the time.
Though Folk Horror is most often associated with the 1970s, the genre has seen a resurgence in recent years, proving its lasting power with films like Ben Wheatley’s Kill List and Liam Gavin’s A Dark Song.
All screenings in this program will be preceded by an introduction.
In collaboration with
Thursday 13.03 19:00 LEDOUX Cart
The Haunted Isles : folk horror and urban wyrd in the UK and Ireland
Rendez-vous avec la peur
Night of the Demon
- Jacques Tourneur, UK 1957 ⁄ Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, Niall MacGinnis ⁄ B&W ⁄ 94' ⁄ ST - OND: FR - NL
+ INTRO
Thursday 13.03 21:00 LEDOUX Cart
The Haunted Isles : folk horror and urban wyrd in the UK and Ireland
The Devil Rides Out
- Terence Fisher, UK 1968 ⁄ Christopher Lee, Charles Gray, Nike Arrighi ⁄ color ⁄ 95' ⁄ ST - OND: FR
+ INTRO
Saturday 15.03 19:00 LEDOUX Cart
The Haunted Isles : folk horror and urban wyrd in the UK and Ireland
The Lair of the White Worm
- Ken Russell, UK 1988 ⁄ Amanda Donohoe, Hugh Grant, Catherine Oxenberg ⁄ color ⁄ 93' ⁄ ST - OND: FR
+ GUEST
Sunday 16.03 17:00 LEDOUX Cart
The Haunted Isles : folk horror and urban wyrd in the UK and Ireland
Le Grand Inquisiteur
Witchfinder General
- Michael Reeves, UK 1968 ⁄ Vincent Price, Ian Ogilvy, Rupert Davies ⁄ color ⁄ 86' ⁄ ST - OND: FR
+ INTRO
Tuesday 18.03 18:30 LEDOUX Cart
The Haunted Isles : folk horror and urban wyrd in the UK and Ireland
Arcadia
- Paul Wright, UK 2017 ⁄ B&W + color ⁄ 78' ⁄ V: EN ⁄ ST - OND: —
+ INTRO
Wednesday 19.03 21:30 LEDOUX Cart
The Haunted Isles : folk horror and urban wyrd in the UK and Ireland
A Dark Song
- Liam Gavin, UK 2016 ⁄ Catherine Walker, Steve Oram, Susan Loughnane ⁄ color ⁄ 100' ⁄ V: EN - FR - DE ⁄ ST - OND: —
+ INTRO
Thursday 20.03 18:30 LEDOUX Cart
The Haunted Isles : folk horror and urban wyrd in the UK and Ireland
Symptoms
- José Ramon Larraz, Belgium, UK 1974 ⁄ Angela Pleasence, Peter Vaughan, Lorna Heilbron ⁄ color ⁄ 91' ⁄ ST - OND: NL - FR
Friday 21.03 19:00 LEDOUX Cart
The Haunted Isles : folk horror and urban wyrd in the UK and Ireland
Quatermass and the Pit
- Roy Ward Baker, UK 1967 ⁄ James Donald, Andrew Keir, Barbara Shelley ⁄ color ⁄ 97' ⁄ ST - OND: FR
+ INTRO
Friday 21.03 21:00 LEDOUX Cart
The Haunted Isles : folk horror and urban wyrd in the UK and Ireland
The Stone Tape
- Peter Sasdy, UK 1972 ⁄ Michael Bryant, Jane Asher, Iain Cuthbertson ⁄ color ⁄ 90' ⁄ ST - OND: EN
+ INTRO
Saturday 22.03 21:15 LEDOUX Cart
The Haunted Isles : folk horror and urban wyrd in the UK and Ireland
Kill List
- Ben Wheatley, UK 2011 ⁄ Neil Maskell, Michael Smiley, MyAnna Buring ⁄ color ⁄ 95' ⁄ ST - OND: FR - NL
+ INTRO
Sunday 23.03 17:00 LEDOUX Cart
The Haunted Isles : folk horror and urban wyrd in the UK and Ireland
Le Cri du sorcier
The Shout
- Jerzy Skolimowski, UK 1979 ⁄ Alan Bates, Susannah York, John Hurt ⁄ color ⁄ 85' ⁄ ST - OND: FR - NL
CANCELLED Due to the illness of our projectionist, all of today's screenings have been cancelled. Refunds are available from the box office or you can make a request to: info@cinematek.be Our apologies for the inconvenience.
+ INTRO
Sunday 23.03 21:00 LEDOUX Cart
The Haunted Isles : folk horror and urban wyrd in the UK and Ireland
The Woman in Black
- Herbert Wise, UK 1989 ⁄ Adrian Rawlins, Bernard Hepton, David Daker ⁄ color ⁄ 102' ⁄ ST - OND: EN
CANCELLED Due to the illness of our projectionist, all of today's screenings have been cancelled. Refunds are available from the box office or you can make a request to: info@cinematek.be Our apologies for the inconvenience.
+ INTRO
Tuesday 25.03 19:00 LEDOUX Cart
The Haunted Isles : folk horror and urban wyrd in the UK and Ireland
Requiem for a Village
- David Gladwell, UK 1975 ⁄ Roger Burroughes ⁄ color ⁄ 68' ⁄ ST - OND: EN
+ INTRO
Tuesday 25.03 21:00 LEDOUX Cart
The Haunted Isles : folk horror and urban wyrd in the UK and Ireland
Penda’s Fen
- Alan Clarke, UK 1974 ⁄ Spencer Banks, John Atkinson, Georgine Anderson ⁄ color ⁄ 89' ⁄ ST - OND: EN
+ INTRO