7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 5.0 | |
Overall | 5.0 |
WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED explores the folk horror phenomenon from its beginnings in a trilogy of films - Michael Reeves' Witchfinder General (1968), Piers Haggard's Blood on Satan's Claw (1971) and Robin Hardy's The Wicker Man (1973) - through its proliferation on British television in the 1970s and its culturally specific manifestations in American, Asian, Australian and European horror, to the genre's revival over the last decade. Touching on over 100 films and featuring over 50 interviewees, WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED investigates the many ways that we alternately celebrate, conceal and manipulate our own histories in an attempt to find spiritual resonance in our surroundings.
Starring: Kevin Kölsch, Dennis Widmyer, Piers Haggard, Abraham Castillo Flores, Adam ScovellDocumentary | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 5.0 |
Note: This film is available both as this standalone release and also as a part of All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror.
All the Haunts Be Ours advertises itself as "the most comprehensive collection of its kind", which may initially beg the question as to "kind
of
what?". But this release also comes with a front cover sobriquet
proclaiming it "a compendium of folk horror", which may then beg the next obvious question as to what exactly "folk horror" is. In that
regard, this set
begins with a fascinating and diverse documentary which has its own subtitle referencing folk horror, Woodlands Dark and Days
Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror, which provides a veritable glut of clips from international films which director (and this entire set's guiding
light) Kier-La Janisse has assembled to help define the genre, but perhaps the best answer is to simply echo a certain Supreme Court Justice
named
Potter Stewart who was trying to decide a case involving supposed pornography, and who famously opined, "I shall not today attempt further to
define
the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description, and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But
I
know it when I see it. . ."
Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer (often) in 1.78:1. As with any collection of film clips, this has a wide variety of both aspect ratios and image quality, but all of the contemporary interview segments are in 1.78:1. Those offer sharp, detail accountings of everything from facial features to fabrics, and many of the film clips look nicely detailed as well, though there is a much wider gamut of presentational qualities due to the sheer glut of offerings on display. The documentary also benefits immensely from animated interstitials by Ashley Thorpe, all of which have rich and precise detail, although some moments here are offered in an almost impressionistic, surreal way as if to subliminally suggest the psychological unraveling that often accompanies tales of folk horror.
Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror features an expressive DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 that has a nicely wide soundstage despite not being a true surround track. Both score (by Jim Williams, who also offered Janisse cues from A Field in England) and especially nicely evocative sound effects waft through the presentation and give things an appropriately atavistic feeling. All of the talking head material sounds fine, as should probably be expected, there are some variations in soundtrack quality in some of the film clips. Optional English subtitles are available.
If you've jumped in the veritable deep end and gotten All the Haunts Be Ours, this documentary will be absolutely indispensable. I'm personally convinced it's absolutely indispensable one way or the other, though, as it provides a really breathtaking global tour through an almost insanely wide variety of films. Technical merits are solid and the supplements very appealing. Highly recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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