Midlands Review - Wild Hunt

midlandsmovies • December 15, 2019

Wild Hunt

Directed by Hendrik Harms

2019

Harms Way Studios

The annual decorating of the Christmas tree opens new creepy short Wild Hunt from Midlands director Hendrik Harms.

Two sisters (Tess Clarke as Maggie and Charlotte Wallis as Beatrice) bicker over who should top the tree with an angel but elder sister Maggie kindly allows her sibling to take the honours. However, the lovely gesture soon turns into a nightmare when Maggie awakes in the middle of the night to see her sister dragged away by a person unknown.

An intriguing opening, the mystery is set up and Harms further pushes away from Christmas tropes into a dark arena as Maggie meets a stranger at a candlelit table. Here she asks about the legend of Woden.

For those who don’t know, he’s historically linked to the origins of Santa and was worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons and Celts. Woden, the god of magic and healing rode across the sky on an eight-legged white horse and came to Earth in the form of Father Christmas, dispensing goodwill, luck, peace, of course presents.

Harms is aiming to mix two very different tones and although the Indiana Jones supernatural elements sometimes grate against the domestic settings, it’s mostly successful in giving yuletide tropes a new horror spin.

Maggie also explains that Woden wasn’t all fun and games. The legend says Woden uses young people as forest hunters and kidnaps more children as replacements if one dies.

Following the instructions of the mysterious woman, Maggie soon ends up in the Black Forest searching for the mythical entity to retrieve her sister. From the angelic decoration to Violet’s name – violets first blossomed when Gabriel told Mary of her impending birth as well as symbolising protection and connection – Harms’ little touches, both in the script and mise-en-scène demonstrates a thoughtfulness and depth in the short which was impressive.

A bit more attention could have been paid to the lighting though. Some sequences seemed slightly underlit but that said, the visuals are suitably cinematic and well composed by cinematographer Elliot Wallis. Ironically the moment Maggie finds Woden in the woods could have actually been darker which would have added a scary presence to the monster and his minions. Perhaps even a night-time shoot in the snow. Not easy to arrange granted.

Geena Dinnis provides some great make-up on Woden but the monster required a little better sound mixing as the fantastic voice is undercut by some poor syncing.

Back to the story, Maggie is then hunted herself, hiding behind tress and branches in the woods and I won’t spoil any ending here there’s a bit of black comedy as the two sisters cross paths in an emotional conclusion.

There’s plenty to recommend about Wild Hunt though. The narrative strands hang together like an exquisite set of fairy lights. And the mix of old and new traditions are an excellent addition to the fable being told. Bringing Christmas back to its tribal roots, Wild Hunt is a very successful and sinister short. And this frightful festive film has all the necessary trimmings which makes it a hugely satisfying dark delight.

Michael Sales

By midlandsmovies April 26, 2025
Up! (1976) Dir. Russ Meyer  Well, bi-Adolf Hitler BDSM is not something (a) I thought I’d ever see 5 minutes into a movie and (b) ever expected to write in my lifetime to be fair but this spicy start is pretty standard for the work of exploitation filmmaker Russ Meyer. Up! is a kind of r*pe-revenge softcore p*rn film (there’s gonna be a fair bit of self-censorship in this review so apologies in advance), the type Meyer is known for. I’d describe the plot in more detail but it’s mostly a convoluted and incoherent mess of double-crossing, murder, violence and lots and lots of humping. In short, a man called Adolph gets murdered and a woman investigates (kinda) the circumstances but as she does so, a group of locals blackmail, attack and screw each other with the murder mystery barely mentioned throughout. With so little narrative, it could be argued if it’s essentially p*rn? To be fair, not far off. It’s about extreme as you can go without simply making a s*x film. Is that a…no, it’s a belly button hole. Bookending the film (and also seen at various points throughout) is a Greek Chorus - simply a busty fully nude woman of course - who delivers dialogue like “Pummelling the scrotum with joyous supplication” and other such poeticisms. This artistic flourish is mostly pointless - the actress herself saying the words were tough to learn because it was utter nonsense. On a technical level, the editing is surprisingly well done and the 4k image is frankly fantastic. Someone somewhere must be putting together a post-modern take about the beautiful landscapes and cinematography of Meyer’s * ahem * output. But it definitely does have a kitsch artistry. It has certainly provided plenty of cinematic influence though. Elements of Tarantino grindhouse sensibilities are on show - Meyers likes bosoms as much as Quents likes feet - and there’s even a leather gimp early on. I can also see how its had an impact on Ti West X’s with a focus on sexuality and the body as well, more obviously, Anna Biller’s feminist-twist The Love Witch (2016). Suffice to say it’s not for the weak of heart. I think in this day and age you can’t go into this completely blind to its style, period and context though. It's an X-rated Carry On style that was bad taste then and it’s bad taste now. It revels in its sleaziness without a single hint of shame or apology. Simply saying 'deal with it'. The main negative though is the absence of plot - if the film can even be looked at like that - which is barely present. This is a shame as the whole thing could do with a bit more coherence rather than endless shagging. But it’s far from titillation, it’s mostly clowning - albeit a very adult version of it. More saucy than sexy. Trying to review this through modern sensibilities is almost impossible. It’s as offensive can be from the first scene through to the final credits - heck even this 4k menu is simply one of the film's many s*x scenes. But there are some progressive themes as it doesn’t shy from confronting sexual freedom, bisexuality, gay sex, BDSM and consensual exploration. There's moments of comedy thrown in and I enjoyed a frankly hilarious 5-minute monologue explaining the culprit’s intentions, which was a ludicrous way to deliver a slasher-style ending. I suppose the main thing about Up! (and Meyers’ work overall) is there’s a sort of love it or loathe it quality about the whole shebang. But it’s so unlike anything being made today - for good or bad - that it’s never anything other than unpredictably fascinating. More explicit than most Meyers films - in fact more than any film - it’s a lewd, rude and crude (s)exploration with a satirical edge and campy enjoyment bouncing from every frame. ★★★ 3 / 5 Michael Sales Severin Films releases Russ Meyers' UP! (1976) and MOTORPSYCHO (1965) on 28 April 2025 in newly restored and scanned 4k with hours of new and archival Special Features https://severinfilms.co.uk/
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