[FrightFest Glasgow 2025]: The Last Sacrifice

A shadowy insular village in rural England hides a terrifying secret surrounding the mysterious murder of a local farmer, and when a stalwart of Scotland Yard is sent to investigate, he is sent on a wild goose chase whilst being purposefully misled with fabricated evidence from the suspicious community. It’s a tale as old as time in the subgenre of folk horror, however, this isn’t just the plot of a 1970s horror film, it’s the real life crime case from 1945 that inspired the horror classic The Wicker Man (1973).

Directed by Rupert Russell, The Last Sacrifice is a carefully crafted documentary that seeks to investigate the 1945 murder of Charles Walton, who was murdered in a manner that seemed to reflect a ritual killing, as well as the state of British counterculture during the late 1960s and early 1970s which, when combined, would become the catalyst in the oncoming boom of British – and later international – folk horror that would grace horror cinema for years to come. From The Wicker Man to Ari Aster’s Midsommar (2019), folk horror owes its tropes and clichés to the witches of Britain.

Opening with a 1940s style vintage information reel regarding standing stones, this footage is then cut with red filtered horror scenes, signalling the thematic oncoming sense of how a seemingly idyllic English countryside can hide horrifying secrets. Combining a vast array of talking heads including experts in witchcraft, folk historians and of course, cinema insiders, this is very well balanced with reel footage from the 1960s/70s of actual witchcraft practitioners and interviews of members of a community sharing their towns with witches, as well as true crime style reconstructions. The Last Sacrifice is a fantastic exploration of the history of English witchcraft, the counterculture of practicing witches that exploded in the late sixties, and how the media portrayal of witches changed from old hags, to an overt sexualisation of female practitioners due to the women’s sexual liberation movement of the time. 

The original root of the documentary regarding the seemingly occultist murder of  Charles Walton in 1945 does feel discarded at times as the film begins to explore infamous cases such as the Vampire of Highgate situation, yet it is referred back every now and then as theories are put in place as to the how and why of the murder. Despite this The Last Sacrifice is a visually compelling combination of true crime, societal examination of 1960s England and historical documentation of a well loved subgenre of horror, which makes for a highly competent practice in the art of storytelling.

4.5 Screams out of 5