October Horror Movie Challenge: Starve Acre (2023)

 Something a little different tonight. I saw this one had Matt Smith (Doctor Who) and Morfydd Clark (Rings of Power) and it was British Folk Horror, so I thought it would be a good choice. Was it? Well, lets find out.

Starve Acre (2023)

This British folk horror film based on the novel by Andrew Michael Hurley. The story follows Richard (Smith) and Juliette (Clark), a troubled couple who move to Richard's childhood home on the Yorkshire moors. Their idyllic rural life quickly takes a sinister turn when their young son, Owen, begins to act strange. Well, stranger than usual. 

As Owen's condition worsens, Richard becomes convinced that a malevolent force is at work, tied to the land and its dark history.

While this is going on, Owen dies from an asthma attack, sending the couple into a deep mourning. 

Richard delves into local folklore, uncovering tales of a malevolent entity that haunts the area. The line between reality and the supernatural blurs as Richard and Juliette grapple with the terrifying truth about their son and the ancient evil that threatens to consume them. 

Staying with them is Juliette's sister Harriet, played by Gotham's Erin Richards. They are also visited by locals Gordon and his wife. Gordon had told Richard tales of the sprites that lived on the land and told them to Owen as well.

We learn that Richard's father believed in the ancient pagan spirits of the land and tried to sacrifice Richard to them, but failed. When Owen dies, they take him as the sacrifice.

It is a slow-burn folk horror piece, as most are really, and the true horrors don't come in until the end. It has some good tension and couple of good scares, but no monsters to speak of.

So I liked it. I like folk-horror, but not a great fit for this month's theme.

Featured Monster: Sprite??

While no monster is ever seen, the effects or at least the shadow of "Jack Grey" are felt. Was he/it doing all the whistling? Was he/it the rabbit? One thing is certain Richard and Juliette believe in him in the end. 

It DOES, however, work in the sense that British folkloric fae creatures used to be a lot darker and lot scarier than they are today or as depicted in the Monster Manual. If a sprite, or a group of them, could cause madness in people then they would seem more of a threat.

Sprites are often used in place of hobgoblins or other faeries*. The Monster Manual might draw very strict lines around these creatures, but folklore did not. 

*(Robin Goodfellow of "Midsummer's Night Dream" was called a Spite and a Hobgoblin.)

Maybe we need to make these creatures a bit darker in their outlooks and intent.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2024
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