Gruesome Gazette

The Lord of Misrule(Review)

You can clearly see the impact Wicker Man has had on folk horror films and it is very evident in Lord of Misrule. The subject gets explored of religion versus natural. And of course Ralph Ineson plays the sort of villian in this tale as he prominently features in these type of movies.

The plot is about how the disappearance of a minister’s daughter while at a harvest festival and as the minister searches for her daughter, she discovers dark secrets instead.

The residents of the town worship a being known as Gallygog who they sacrifice children to in exchange for prosperity. There is also a common refrain the resident say “All is as was”. There are a few unnerving moments throughout the film and some jumpscares. We watch the minister is her faith in God is slowly shaken as she learns more of the pagan faith of the town.

It leads to an ending of having to make a decision of sacrifice to gain back what is hers and serving a new God instead.

Even though it becomes clichéd a bit as it kind of feels like a repurposed Wicker Man especially with the masked townsfolk and missing child, it was still weird enough to be enjoyable to me. There is a theme of fear being used a means to control and once that spell is broken, then people get to be free again. The ending scene was ambiguous but that’s pretty much the norm with any folk horror. I would say check it out, you can find it streaming currently on Hulu.

If you already seen Lord of Misrule, what did you think of it? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Till next time, stay scared!
-Tha Thrilla-

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