[Editorial] 11 Irish Horror Films To Watch This St Patrick’s Day

Owing to the dark folkloric tradition that permeates Irish culture, it is very little wonder that Ireland has produced some of the most nightmarish and creepiest horror movies of recent years. Ranging from sinister folk horror, to depictions of the most horrific aspects of Irish history as well as gruesome clowns, if you’re looking for an alternative way to celebrate this St Patrick’s Day, here are 11 Irish horrors to sink your teeth into.

The Devil’s Doorway (2018)

Directed by Aislinn Clarke

Drawing on the real life horrors of the Catholic run Magdalene Laundries, this 1960s set found footage horror is equal parts supernatural chiller and a heartbreaking depiction of the trauma that actual victims of these mother and baby homes were forced to endure. Lalor Roddy and Ciaran Flynn play two Irish priests who have undertaken the task of investigating a supposed miracle that has occurred in a laundry run by the ruthless mother superior played by Helena Bereen. The priests soon discover the nuns are hiding a secret that goes much much deeper than anything they have experienced previously. 

Caveat (2020)

Directed by Damian McCarthy

Damian McCarthy’s directorial debut sees amnesiac sufferer and drifter Isaac accept a job “babysitting”his client’s niece who suffers from poor mental health and lives alone in a decrepit old house, on an island, in the middle of a lake. Upon arrival, Isaac’s employer Moe insists he wears a chain and harness that prevents him from entering certain rooms of the house. The duration of his stay is plagued by eerie experiences, not helped by the sudden animation of a creepy mechanical rabbit. The crumbling house hides secrets in the walls and as Isaac soon discovers, he may not be a complete stranger to the property and its occupants as he initially thinks. This incredibly creepy contribution to the haunted house horror genre is full of twists and jump scares, expertly utilised to form a genuinely terrifying experience. 

You Are Not My Mother (2022)

Directed by Kate Dolan.

Heavily influenced by Irish folklore and tales of the faeries, You Are Not My Mother follows Char (played by Hazel Doupe) as she attempts to come to terms with her mother’s mental illness. When her mother Angela (Carolyn Bracken) returns after disappearing for a number of hours, Char must come face to face with the possibility that what has returned, isn’t necessarily her mother. Kate Dolan’s directorial feature length debut is a darkly sinister depiction of parental mental illness seen through the eyes of a child and is guaranteed to give viewers the shivers with some effective jump scares.

The Changeling (2021)

Directed by Marie Clare Cushinan and Ryan O’Neill.

Award winning horror short The Changeling is another strong contribution to the Irish folk horror genre. Opening on a couple and their young baby during the time of the great hunger in Ireland in 1879, soon the family begins to be taken over by their superstitious fears involving the lore of the changeling. An emotional exploration of postpartum mental illness at a time when such a condition wasn’t recognised,the stark setting of rural Ireland in 1879 contributes to the film’s disturbing and haunting atmosphere to the highest degree.

Citadel (2012)

Directed by Ciarán Foy

Centering on an agoraphobic father called Tommy played by Aneurin Barnard raising his baby after a gang of youths attack and murder his wife. Relying on his own experiences of being attacked, Irish director Ciarán Foy creates a claustrophobic and suffocating world in which Tommy exists whilst simultaneously discovering the dark origins of the “hoodie” gang that haunts his condemned block of flats. Despite being set in Glasgow, Scotland it's difficult not to relate the subtexts of Citadel back to its historical Irish roots, especially with the involvement of the local priest played by James Cosmo. 

A Dark Song (2016)

Directed by Liam Gavin

Starring Sightseers’ (2012) Steve Oram and The Curse of Audrey Earnshaw’s (2020) Catherine Walker, Liam Gavin’s A Dark Song tells the story of a desperate mother mourning the loss of her child to a ritualistic murder, as she turns to an occultist to help her exact revenge on the perpetrators. Depicting the arduous and the physical and psychological lengths she must go through to summon her guardian angel, Sophia is dragged to her wits end by occult “expert” Joseph. Deeply disturbing as well as completely harrowing, A Dark Song is a cautionary tale of grief and revenge, whilst also commentating on the abuse of women and children all in the name of a faith system or religion.

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The Hole In the Ground (2019)

Directed by Lee Cronin

Lee Cronin’s directorial debut The Hole In the Ground is a supernatural horror that also plays on the traditional folktale of changeling children. After moving to the Irish countryside, Sarah (Seána Kerslake) and her son Chris (James Quinn Markey) must readjust to a new environment, their house bordering a large forest that contains a sinkhole in the middle. After Sarah discovers Chris is missing from his bedroom one night, he suddenly reappears but he is not quite the same child as he was before. Showing aggression and abnormal strength, Sarah begins to suspect the faeries have swapped her child for a changeling. The central relationship of mother and child is again at the core of the horror of The Hole In the Ground, providing a narration on an Irish culture that hasn’t provided the most support for children and the people that birthed them.

The Cured (2017)

directed by David Freyne

Bringing new life to the zombie subgenre of horror is David Freyne’s The Cured. Set in inner city Dublin and starring Elliot Page, Sam Keeley and Tom Vaughn-Lawlor, The Cured follows Senan, a man who has been cured of his zombiism and is now attempting to readjust to life. Suffering from being outcast from society and struggling to return to his family unit, Senan is attracted to the ideals of Conor, the face of the Cured Alliance. The Cured explores what would happen if a zombie virus was provided a cure and how the personal lives of former zombies would be affected. Providing a commentary on society’s treatment of marginalised people in a community, The Cured is a fresh invigoration to the zombie genre that unfortunately sometimes feels a little stale.

The Lodgers (2017)

directed by Brian O’Malley

An Irish gothic horror filmed in one of Ireland’s most haunted locations, Loftus Hall in County Wexford, The Lodgers tells the dark and haunting tale of Anglo-Irish twins Rachel and Edward who inhabit a crumbling and dilapidated estate house and are imprisoned in the house by a generational curse. Each night they are terrorised by ghostly beings that prevent them from ever being able to leave the property permanently or invite guests into their home. With the arrival of a soldier into the local village, Rachel sees the opportunity to leave the house and begin a new life, but can she escape with her twin brother in tow or must she sever the supernatural bond that they have both clung onto for years in isolation. 

Stitches (2012)

directed by Conor McMahon

If horror comedy is more your preference, then clown centric horror Stitches starring Ross Noble as a homicidal children’s entertainer, brought back from the dead, is the movie for you. After  suffering a horrific yet accidental death whilst performing at a child’s birthday party, Stitches the clown is resurrected and is hellbent on exacting his revenge on the children that caused his untimely demise. Despite following the usual slasher guidelines of attacking teenagers at a house party, Stitches is anything but stereotypical in its depiction of a murderous clown. Featuring hilarious kill scenes carried out using the clown’s tools of the trade, Stitches is an ideal horror film to watch communally with friends over a few beers due to it’s laugh out loud moments. 

Boys From County Hell (2020)

directed by Chris Baugh.

Taking on the lore of vampires, Boys From County Hell is an all-out blood fest interspersed with the typical charming Irish humour. Set in the fictional Six Mile Hill, a rural Irish town in which Bram Stoker once passed through, basing his infamous Dracula novel on the local legend of Abhartach, a vampire who is buried underneath a cairn (a pile of stones) in a farmer’s field. The vampire is accidentally awakened and it is up to local boy Eugene, a descendant of the Chieftain Cathain, to lay him to rest once and for all. Based on an actual Irish legend of a blood sucking magician, Boys From County Hell is a gorey yet wholly entertaining vampire tale.

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