The CUBE Of Wyrding celebrates the dark side of the 'Gwlad Y Mythau A'r Chwedlau' ('Land Of Myth And Legend') with a double feature of singular and beautifully strange cult horror classics produced exclusively in Welsh, an ancient language befitting of folk horror.

Gwaed Ar y Sêr (Blood On The Stars) is both a terrific time capsule of mid-70s Wales and a playful, outlandish, and delightfully over-the-top horror film following a familiar folk horror trope: getting rid of outsiders.

O'r Ddaear Hen (From The Old Earth) is a slow-burn, thought-provoking tale of terror which, with echoes of The Blood On Satan's Claw (1971) before it, explores how indifference to the ancient rules of nature can unleash malevolent forces. A dark and unusual story ripe for rediscovery, its eerie atmosphere and disturbing climax lingers with you long after the lights come up.

Both films were directed by Wil Aaron, a true giant of Welsh-language media, both as a director and as a producer, and were commissioned and distributed by Bwrdd Ffilmiau Cymraeg (Welsh Film Board).

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They wanted fame. They got horror.

'These kids just want to sing their holiday songs that they've worked on for so long, and if they have to mine a football field and blow someone up real good, they're going to do it.'

Gwaed Ar y Sêr, a 1975 satirical, darkly hilarious folk horror-comedy that playfully blends Village Of The Damned with The Abominable Dr. Phibes, follows the deeply sinister choirmaster Shadrach Smith and his angelic-looking school choir as they launch a bizarre and bloody conspiracy to prevent (by any means necessary) visiting big-name celebrities from stealing the choir's spotlight at the annual village hall concert.

The shock effect of the celebrities' dispatch was more pronounced for local viewers at the time given the real-life personalities who appeared in the film, including folk singer Dafydd Iwan, radio DJ Hywel Gwynfryn, and rugby kicker Barry John.

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Long-lost, for decades the film remained a legendary piece of cult Welsh folk horror history. However, discovered in the archives and fully restored, it was finally translated into English for the first time in 2022 by Matchbox Cine (formerly of Bristol, now located in Glasgow) in collaboration with the Abertoir Film Festival, Wales' premier international horror film festival, traditionally held annually at the Aberystwyth Arts Centre.

Musician Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals) is a giant fan of this film and presented a rare US screening at the Silent Theater in Los Angeles in 2011.

'A little horror film with a lot of ambition.'
Eye For Film

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From the ancient soil, the old gods awake.

Aaron's 1981 O'r Ddaear Hen is widely celebrated as a landmark folk-horror film. When a routine dig in a Bangor council house garden unearths a grotesque, weather-worn stone head in the deep soil, ordinary life is fractured. Tormenting, visceral nightmares drive the family to rid the stone head from their home. Transported to a local university archaeologist, the relic awakens a dormant, blood-soaked myth of ancient ritual sacrifice and malicious visions, perhaps visitations, from an unearthly half-man, half-animal entity, leading to psychological terror and madness.

At only 46 minutes in length, this atmospheric, beautifully photographed foray into the realm of the Celtic pagan deities is short but impactful, with some genuinely disturbing imagery and an ominous undercurrent of disconcerting tension and dread running throughout.

The film's plot was closely adapted from the infamous real-life 'Hexham Heads' paranormal case of the 1970s, where two mysterious stone heads dug up in Northumberland allegedly caused poltergeist activity and sightings of a werewolf-like beast.

'Easy on the eyes, pleasing to the ears, chilling to the heart, 'From The Old Earth' is a delight.'
LordSlaw

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Both films hold historical significance for being two of the first horror films produced in the Welsh language.

In an infamous piece of Welsh cultural history, Bwrdd Ffilmiau Cymraeg made the decision to allow the entire school of Llanrug in Arfon to see Gwaed Ar Y Sêr, as its pupils had played the roles of Shadrach's minions. Many of them were at a very young age, with no previous experience of watching horror; thus, it became a source of legendary childhood nightmares.

Director Aaron said, 'The problem with Welsh films at that time was that everyone assumed they were the kind of thing that was shown in Sunday School. Did anyone consider that there might not be a little bit of sex and a little bit of fear in them?'

Much like Gwaed Ar Y Sêr, O'r Ddaear Hen was controversially screened to unsuspecting (and captive) primary school audiences across Wales in the years following its release, bequeathing hours of lost sleep and years of genuine trauma to an entire generation of young children. Aaron learned years later, through Facebook, how many Welsh children were absolutely destroyed by his movie.

Both films have been fully restored in 2K by Severin Films, with the support of Matchbox Cine, using original elements preserved in the Bwrdd Ffilmiau Cymraeg/Welsh Film Board collection at the National Library Of Wales Screen And Sound Archive, bringing these under-seen folk horror pieces to wider contemporary audiences.

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For more information:

Matchbox Cine: matchboxcine.com
Abertoir Film Festival: abertoir.co.uk
National Library Of Wales Screen And Sound Archive: library.wales/catalogues-searching/about-our-collections/screen-sound-archive
Severin Films: severinfilms.com

The CUBE Of Wyrding is the CUBE Microplex's ongoing transnational folk horror/urban wyrd/dark fantasy film series. It showcases the best in rural eerie, metropolitan fright, and occult fable cinema from around the world, including classics, lesser-known greats, intelligent trash and freaky oddities from the margins, and delves into the darker recesses of these genres. It additionally features silent films brought to life with spectacular live musical accompaniments, lively screen talks, and opportunities to immerse yourself in obscure horror soundtracks.

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Venue doors open 30 minutes before the advertised start time. All film screenings are ad-free and 18+ unless otherwise stated and start with no more than a 10-minute curated selection of trailers.

The CUBE is a membership venue; please remember to bring your card. You can join at the door for £1 (life membership). Attend six events and receive a free drink.