The ancient Celtic festival Samhain was rooted in the belief that ghosts of the dead would return to Earth on the night of October 31st, the last day of summer and the annual harvest.
Throughout the years, the celebration of Samhain would undergo many cultural shifts before becoming what it is today: Halloween.
Initially brought to the US by English settlers, but having featured limited practice due to Puritan New England rigidity, the celebration was popularised by 19th-century Irish immigrants who left following the Potato Famine.
Before it became one of America’s favourite consumerist holidays, All Hallows’ Eve was Irish. We’ve accordingly compiled the five Irish horror movies to watch this Halloween, if you want to challenge the American dominance in the genre.
The Hole in the Ground
Critically lauded as one of the best Irish independent horror films, Hole in the Ground is director Lee Cronin’s feature debut. Rooted in Irish folklore, the film bases itself on mythology of the changeling, a fairy child left in the place of a human child who was stolen by fairies, as it follows a woman who suspects her son’s bizarre behaviour to be due to a mysterious sinkhole in the ground. Starring Seána Kerslake and James Quinn Markey, The Hole in the Ground is an uncannily chilling exploration of mental illness and trusting your instincts.
You Are Not My Mother
While Hole in the Ground is set in the Irish countryside, Kate Dolan’s You Are Not My Mother moves its terror close to home, set in Dublin City Centre. Claustrophobic and troubling, Dolan’s debut features intense performances by Carolyn Bracken and Hazel Doupe as mother and daughter, respectively, housed on a suburban cul-de-sac. As her mother reappears after having gone missing, Char (played by Doupe) begins to realise that her mom might not be exactly the same as before. Deeply suffocating at times, You Are Not My Mother is a slow-burn folk-horror film which is rapidly becoming a classic in Irish horror.
Let the Wrong One In
Directed by Conor McMahon, Let the Wrong One In provides viewers with a horror-comedy about an alternate universe of a Dublin swarming with vampires. The film follows Matt (Karl Rice), whose drug addict brother Deco (Eoin Duffy) shows up on his doorstep one morning having been bitten by a vampire, as he navigates trying to help him. Also starring Anthony Head, a fellow vampire flic-alum from his days in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Let the Wrong One In is a sure-fire pick for those not too familiar with conventional horror.
Isolation
Considered to be one of the first classic Irish horror movies, Isolation stars John Lynch, Essie Davis, Ruth Negga and Sean Harris. Set on a failing farm in rural Ireland, the farmer played by Lynch employs a scientist to experiment with his cattle in an attempt to increase birth rates. These genetically modified creatures end up threatening the other animals and humans, in a sinister tale of the consequences of changing the course of nature. Featuring an unusual concept and grimy visceral style, Isolation is an interesting case study in the corpus of Irish horror films.
Grabbers
Grabbers, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012, takes place on a fictional island off the coast of Ireland, where a fishing community is threatened by bloodsucking, tentacled aliens. Starring an all-Irish ensemble cast, the film follows an alcoholic and a by-the-book Garda officer as they attempt to deal with the alien invasions. Once the pair realises that the aliens’ only weakness is alcohol, the island’s inhabitants decide to have a lock-in at the local pub. This outrageously Irish horror-comedy is perfect for a Halloween movie night if you’re up for a laugh with a side of gory CGI.
