Jaded found-footage horror tropes quickly give way to cleverly wrought escalating dread in this debut feature-length horror/thriller from writer/director Mark Sheridan.
While Crone Wood wears its folk horror heritage on its sleeve, credible performances, naturalistic set design and tangible tension rescue it from lazy facsimile.
Common to its sub-genre, the film revels in its presentation of believed-dead, pagan, pastoral rituals tied to fertility, death and rebirth, simultaneously tapping into the little-explored, darker recesses of Irish folklore and the allure of local legend - all minus the now utterly prosaic jump-scare technique.
Equal parts The Blair Witch Project, Kill List and The Wicker Man, with Crone Wood, Sheridan has not only crafted a very worthy addition to folk horror canon, but also one of the most important Irish horror films to date.
While Crone Wood wears its folk horror heritage on its sleeve, credible performances, naturalistic set design and tangible tension rescue it from lazy facsimile.
Common to its sub-genre, the film revels in its presentation of believed-dead, pagan, pastoral rituals tied to fertility, death and rebirth, simultaneously tapping into the little-explored, darker recesses of Irish folklore and the allure of local legend - all minus the now utterly prosaic jump-scare technique.
Equal parts The Blair Witch Project, Kill List and The Wicker Man, with Crone Wood, Sheridan has not only crafted a very worthy addition to folk horror canon, but also one of the most important Irish horror films to date.