An examination of witchcraft in modern folk horror films

Legends, tales, and rumors that shape human history and folklore are crucial components of fear. Despite geographic variations, folklore shares common fears and oddities. Witchcraft and magic, enduring since ancient times and embedded in popular culture, are pivotal elements of folklore. Folklore has been explored in cinema from its early days. The term "Folk Horror," used by Mark Gatiss in 2010's A History of Horror, gained official status and outlined a genre that intertwines folklore and witchcraft, particularly noted in British Cinema. Robert Eggers' The Witch (2015) is claimed to have revived folk horror in the 21st century. Modern productions are believed to adapt folk horror elements in novel ways influenced by contemporary society. This study examines folk horror films from the last decade that centralize witchcraft, including The Witch (2015), The Wailing (2016), Gretel & Hansel (2020), Hellbender (2021), and You Won't Be Alone (2022). These films were analyzed through an interpretive genre film criticism approach. Elements of the folk horror chain, the history of witchcraft, the relationship between witchcraft and women, and the creation of fear in films have been analyzed in the context of film studies. Given that folk horror cinema is a relatively new field and studies in this area, particularly on a national level, are limited, this thesis is considered to be pioneering in the national context.