Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970)
Director Jaromil Jires’ surreal horror fantasy Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (Czechoslovakia, 1970) is a wild trip that combines a teenage girl’s (Jaroslava Schallerová as Valerie) sexual awakening beginning on the first day of her first menstrual cycle with a vampire tale — but that is only a bare bones description. There is so much to this film and to spoil a single, fantastical frame of it is to do a disservice to first-time viewers. Those interested in the sociopolitical climate of the time should find plenty to read into with the film, while viewers whose interests lean more toward enjoying the splendidly strange — and often sensual — events unfolding as sheer entertainment will find a great deal at which to marvel.
To Fire You Come at Last (2023)
Writer/director Sean Hogan’s 43-minute horror short To Fire You Come at Last is a satisfyingly wicked slice of British folk horror. In 17th century rural England, Squire Marlow’s (Mark Carlisle) son has died, and the squire’s servant Pike (Richard Rowden), carpenter Holt (Harry Roebuck), and the heavily drinking Ransley (James Swanton) traverse a country road carrying the young man’s coffin to the church where his funeral will be held. The path is rumored to be unsafe at night, but as usual, the promise of money draws men to take chances. Unsavory secrets are revealed, violent tension surfaces, and those rumors were started for a reason. Paul Goodwin and Jim Hinson provide crisp black-and-white cinematography, and writer/director Sean Hogan builds intrigue and suspense wonderfully. Rich with dark humor and wicked reveals, To Fire You Come at Last is a fine slice of British fear fare.
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders and To Fire You Come at Last screened as part of Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival’s “Folk Horror: Lands of Cruelty: Beliefs of Terror” section. The festival took place in Bucheon, South Korea from June 29–July 9, 2023.
