Hagazussa (2017)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

Hagazussa (2017) – L. Feigelfeld

I checked this out because it was recommended by the Folk Horror Revival facebook group (and a few other websites).  And, yes, it certainly is folk horror.  Where the film succeeds is in the creation of atmosphere, often strange, occasionally eerie, sometimes breathtaking (those mountain views).  The setting is the Austrian Alps in the 15^th century. The film has four chapters with the first (Shadows) showing our protagonist Albrun (Aleksandra Cwen) as a young girl (Celina Peter) with her dying mother (Claudia Martini).  The mother has been accused of being a witch by the other villagers.  It is hard to know how her daughter feels about this or what she believes. Fast forward a couple of decades and Albrun is living in the same isolated cabin alone but for a newborn baby (with uncertain paternity). The chapters unfold slowly (Horn, then Blood, then Fire) and this viewer was on edge, believing occult happenings were just around the corner. But instead, first-time director Lukas Feigelfeld treats us to Albrun’s gradual break with reality. A village woman makes friends with Albrun but then betrays her.  Albrun begins to hear her dead mother’s voice from the woods.  She eats what must be a magic mushroom and feels the effects (cue Stan Brakhage). Things get worse from there and we sometimes take Albrun’s distorted perspective but also see things from an omniscient vantage point, showing her to be disturbed, spooked rather than spooky. Awful and weird things do happen but the film’s slow pace and “debunking” attitude tend to undercut any real folk horror thrills.