9 Criminally Overlooked Folk Horror Gems That Deserve A Cult Following

Folk horror taps into ancient fears and forgotten rituals, blending folklore with dread in ways that burrow under your skin.

While classics like The Wicker Man get all the attention, plenty of equally chilling films remain hidden in the shadows.

Ready to uncover some terrifying treasures that horror fans somehow missed?

1. The Blood on Satan’s Claw

Picture a 17th-century English village where children start acting possessed after discovering a mysterious skull.

Director Piers Haggard crafted something genuinely unsettling here, watching innocence twist into evil through slow-burn terror.

What makes it stand out?

Instead of focusing on one victim, the demonic force spreads through multiple kids like a plague.

You’ll find yourself squirming as rational adults struggle against supernatural corruption taking over their community, one child at a time.

2. Wake Wood

Grief drives parents to unimaginable choices in this Irish chiller about a couple offered three extra days with their deceased daughter.

Sounds like a gift, right?

Well, ancient pagan rituals always come with strings attached, and these strings strangle.

Hammer Films returned from the dead themselves to produce this gem.

Watch as parental love collides with nature’s cruelest laws, creating moments that’ll haunt you long after credits roll.

3. The Hallow

When a conservationist family moves near an Irish forest, locals warn them about disturbing the woods.

Naturally, they ignore the advice, because who believes in fairies anymore?

Turns out, Irish folklore fairies aren’t the cute Disney type.

Director Corin Hardy delivers genuinely creepy creature designs that blend body horror with Celtic mythology.

Your next forest hike might feel different after watching this relentless nightmare unfold in the trees.

4. Apostle

Gareth Evans trades martial arts for atmospheric dread in this tale of a man infiltrating an island cult to rescue his sister.

Set in 1905, the community worships something far older and hungrier than any traditional god.

Dan Stevens delivers a haunted performance as secrets peel back like rotting skin.

Brutal violence erupts suddenly, reminding you that faith twisted by desperation creates monsters both human and otherwise.

5. November

Estonian director Rainer Sarnet delivers a visually stunning black-and-white fever dream rooted in Baltic mythology.

Villagers create kratts (magical servants built from farm tools and bones) while werewolves, plagues, and unrequited love swirl together.

Shot like a twisted fairy tale, every frame drips with haunting beauty.

You’ll witness poverty-stricken peasants bargaining with the Devil himself, blending dark humor with genuine supernatural menace in unforgettable ways.

6. Eyes of Fire

Before The Blair Witch Project, this 1983 oddity explored cursed American woodlands with hallucinogenic intensity.

Colonial settlers flee religious persecution, only to trespass on land protected by vengeful spirits with truly bizarre methods of haunting.

Director Avery Crounse creates dreamlike sequences that feel genuinely alien.

Faces emerge from trees, reality bends, and you’ll question what’s hallucination versus actual supernatural horror throughout this trippy frontier nightmare.

7. Hagazussa

Isolation breeds madness in 15th-century Alpine mountains, where a suspected witch endures brutal ostracism.

Director Lukas Feigelfeld strips away dialogue, letting oppressive silence and stunning cinematography tell this slow-burning tale of persecution.

Patience pays off here. Aleksandra Cwen’s haunting performance anchors increasingly disturbing imagery that blurs reality with psychological breakdown.

You’ll feel the cold seeping into your bones alongside the protagonist’s descending sanity.