For centuries, even millenia, the Irish have marked the coming of the dark half of the year with festivities at the end of October. Samhain is a liminal time when the walls between the physical and the spiritual worlds are most porous. Bonfires are set for purification; food and drink are set out as offerings to the dead and pagan gods; others dressed up in costume and went from house to house, trading verses for food. Any similarity to North American festivals at this time of year may not be entirely coincidental.
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In this series, a partnership between VIFF and the Consulate General of Ireland, we pay tribute not only to the season, but to an exciting surge in remarkable Irish horror films we’ve witnessed in the last few years.
Talented new filmmakers like Aislinn Clarke (Fréwaka), Kate Dolan (You Are Not My Mother) and Damian McCarthy (Oddity) draw on genre conventions and folklore, but meld these traditions with fresh, often female perspectives to reflect on Ireland’s problematic history with sex, gender, and religion.
John Farrelly’s ghost story, An Taibhse, smartly inverts elements of Stephen King’s The Shining to a rural Irish setting shortly after the great famine of the 19th century.
Finally, we’re screening the Canadian premiere of a lost classic: The Outcasts (1982) is one of the first productions from the Irish Film Board, but hasn’t been seen widely in decades. Now restored, it’s fascinating to see how themes and tropes explored in Robert Wynne-Simmons’ film still fuel filmmakers like Clarke and Dolan today. Our screening of The Outcasts (Oct 30) includes a panel discussion on Irish horror, the dark power of folklore, tradition and disruption.
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You Are Not My Mother
One of the best horror films of recent years, from anywhere, Kate Dolan's film finds a chilling angle on a mother-daughter relationship.
An Taibhse (The Ghost)
A winter caretaker and his troubled teenage daughter take up residence in a remote country mansion in this harrowing mid-19th century Irish makeover of The Shining.
The Outcasts
One of earliest examples of "folk horror", The Outcasts (1982) draws on Irish mythology and folktales to eerie effect. Simple Maura is rumoured to have spent the night with the mythical fiddler Scarf Michael, with dire consequences for all... Screening followed by a panel discussion on Irish horror.