The Paranormal Horror Movie Hidden Gem You Can Catch On Hulu
If you're in the mood for some horror that's off the beaten path, you should check out The Field Guide to Evil, an anthology horror film that's available to stream on Hulu as part of the streaming service's impressive collection of fright-filled anthologies, including Into the Dark, Monsterland, and Books of Blood. An international anthology from production company Legion M, The Field Guide to Evil collects short films from eight filmmakers, each based on a folk tale from the filmmaker's home country.
The chapters in the anthology are as follows: Austria's The Sinful Women of Höllfall, from Austria's Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, directors of the disturbing 2019 horror hit The Lodge, which is also available on Hulu; Turkey's Haunted By Al Karisi, The Childbirth Djinn, from Baskin's Can Evernol; Poland's The Kindler and the Virgin, from The Lure's Agnieszka Smoczynska; America's Beware the Melonheads, from The Rambler's Calvin Lee Reeder; Greece's Whatever Happened To Panagas The Pagan?, from Norway's Yannis Veslemes; India's The Palace of Horrors, from Miss Lovely's Ashim Ahluwalia; Germany's Nocturnal Breath, from Pelican Blood's Katrin Gebbe; and Hungary's Cobbler's Lot, from In Fabric's Peter Strickland.
Each installment is about 15 minutes long and draws a straight line from mythology to modern horror. Some chapters are better than others, but each one has something worthwhile about it.
The Field Guide to Evil is international horror at its finest
The movie premiered at the SXSW festival in 2018, and got mostly positive notices from reviewers, who praised its global scope. It has a 70% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. "It's a devilishly clever setup, presenting fear as a truly global idea, albeit one with specific cultural origins and manifestations: some religious, others familial, others still linked to the unexplainable," Cut Print Film's Isaac Feldberg writes. "What scares us, the anthology posits, will always be informed by our national origins, our countries' collective cultural memories, the tall tales that our ancestors passed down to us as cautiously as family heirlooms."
Your pick for best installment is up to you, of course, but many critics have singled out The Sinful Women of Höllfall. The film is light on dialogue and long on brooding, scary atmosphere. It is particularly notable, as well, for its gorgeous cinematography. It tells the story of two women whose love for each other is deemed sinful by their oppressive, demon-fearing community. It's the first film in the anthology, for good reason — it'll hook you in and keep you watching to see if the other chapters are as good. They mostly aren't, but they're still good, with highlights including the disturbing and allegorical Whatever Happened To Panagas The Pagan?, a story about a goblin that surely is not what you might imagine it is, and Cobbler's Lot, which is a fun tribute to German Expressionist horror films of the silent era.
If you're a horror fan who wants to take a quick trip all around the world to see what's scary in many different cultures, this film is highly recommended.