The Fire-Festivals of Cinema: how Frazer invented ‘folk horror’

Abstract

The article focuses on the relationship between folk horror cinema and ethno-anthropological literature. In particular, it focuses on the relationship between Frazer’s The Golden Bough and two ‘manifesto’ folk horror films, Robin Hardy’s The Wicker Man and Ari Aster’s Midsommar. Frazer’s classic is configured as a real ‘myth of the origins’ of the cinematic trend this article deals with. Based on what Fabio Dei expressed in his essay La discesa agli inferi, i.e. that the book had a concrete influence on the art of the twentieth century, the analysis will focus on the relationship between cinema and Frazer’s text, showing how it has not simply inspired the scenes of the films but has influenced on a deeper level, namely that of the ‘Weltanschauung’ communicated by the films at issue. On the other hand, this article suggests that folk horror should be put in attention by visual anthropologists for its capability of bringing into light the ‘archaism’ that seems to be still needed in modern and contemporary storytelling.