“Horror films that draw on folklore are the scariest because they appeal to our deepest fears,” says Kate Dolan, director of samhain at 20 minutes. With her pumpkin tattooed on her arm, the young Irishwoman shook the Gérardmer Festival and won a Jury Prize by returning to the origins of the Halloween party. A grandmother, a mother and a daughter are at the center of a resolutely feminine story.
It mixes visceral horror and family drama around a mom, suddenly inhabited by a strange creature who can be either a vicious demon or a terrible mental illness. “Family is the most terrifying thing in the world”, declares the young heroine, which is confirmed by this chilling first feature film.
Between Celtic legends and reality
“I played on the ambiguity between Celtic legends rich in witchcraft and the madness of an unbalanced mother, insists the filmmaker. She transforms the daily life of peaceful suburbanites into a pure nightmare. The spectator quickly slips into the skin of the heroine trying to save her mother and escape malicious classmates. “The girl is living a truly terrifying form of Halloween, without disguises or spells, insists Kate Dolan. The fears she has to face are caused by those around her, which is the worst you can know, this moment when you are no longer safe among your own. » samhain is the stuff from which the bad dreams into which a very gifted director leads us are woven.