Poster for The Last Sacrifice

The Last Sacrifice: Glasgow FrightFest Review ★★★★☆

3 mins read

Rupert Russel’s The Last Sacrifice seeks to understand the terrifying origins of the folk horror genre, and the murder that inspired a generation of filmmakers.

Done in a documentary style, The Last Sacrifice pulls clips from 60’s and 70’s folk horror films such as The Blood on Satan’s Claw, whilst relating its narrative to the witch hysteria the UK was a host to during those decades.

The documentary is structured around the murder of Charles Walton, a 74-year-old farmer that died in 1945. The film begins by detailing the events leading up to the murder, whilst the rest of the film attempts to both answer and discover the root cause of the UK’s obsession with witchcraft.

Perhaps the most interesting choice director Rupert Russel made when putting the film together is to break down the history behind folk horror whilst relating it back to the most influential folk horror of them all, The Wicker Man.

When speaking about his reasoning behind making The Last Sacrifice, Russel stated that he wanted to understand why as a society “we keep returning to this story[the murder of Charles Walton].”

The Last Sacrifice doesn’t answer why the murder of Charles Walton is focused on, instead the film details its effects on the media at the time, including films and by extension, the news.

Interviews with film scholars, theorists and journalists are peppered throughout the film. Each interview serves a purpose as each individual breaks down theories of their own and how it all links back to the murder of Charles Walton.

Folk horror is a quintessential British genre, and The Last Sacrifice understands that very well. Russel points out how Britain’s dark history when it comes to witchcraft. The film explores much of the history with a great deal of care, but it’s all in the service of pointing out the birth of the folk horror genre.

If folk horror is your cup of tea, The Last Sacrifice is well worth your time. It thoroughly explores the history behind the genre, whilst also exploring its cultural impacts and lasting effects, and if you stay all the way till the end of the documentary, you’ll bare witness to the greatest epilogue of all time that somehow links everything detailed throughout the film back to The Teletubbies.

The trailer for The Last Sacrifice can be watched here

Featured Image Credit: Rupert Russel

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Deputy editor

Contact - deputyeditor@brignews.com

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