The Last Sacrifice

Director: Rupert Russell
Writer: Rupert Russell
Editor: Alexander McNeil
Running time: 94 minutes
Year: 2024
Certificate: Not certified

On Valentine’s Day in 1945, Charles Walton, a 75-year-old farmer, was found murdered on the slopes of Meon Hill in Warwickshire, England. His body had been horribly mutilated by the man’s own pitchfork and bill hook. The sleepy village of Lower Quinton nearby had never experienced anything like it before, and the local police, feeling that they were in over their heads, quickly sought the help of the Metropolitan Police, who dispatched Chief Inspector Robert Fabian – a man who would later become a famous TV personality – to investigate. Over time, the case became the subject of outlandish theories involving witchcraft, black magic, Shamanism and ritualistic sacrifice, and it would heavily inspire the creation of the classic 1973 folk horror film The Wicker Man.

The Last Sacrifice is an unsettling true-crime documentary that delves into the above crime and also the perverse cultural undercurrents that shaped the folk-horror subgenre, right from its murderous beginnings to its modern-day resurrection with films such as Midsommer.

The makers claim that: “This is a documentary that gets under the skin of British polite society and exposes an island nation’s dark heart to reveal The Wicker Man is more fact than fiction.” Well, maybe…

I’ve been a fan of the folk horror subgenre for many years now, particularly those films made in the UK, which bring with them a tonality all of their own, one that’s hard to replicate. Films like Blood on Satan’s Claw, The Wicker Man, Witchfinder General, Darklands, Kill List, Night of the Eagle, Plague of the Zombies, Cry of the Banshee, Robin Redbreast, Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter and even the mostly disappointing A Field in England. And satisfyingly most of these are featured or mentioned in the documentary too.

While the murder that’s central to the documentary is indeed unsettling and ultra-violent, there’s no real proof that it was an actual ritual murder, although the fact that the body had some Natterjack toads pinned to the ground around it is a disturbing feature, but since the victim used to breed the rare species of amphibian it could equally have been a murder of revenge of some kind. There were rumours that the dead man was a witch himself, hence his affinity for toads. It was believed he’s used his powers to kill crops, hence why he was dispatched.

However, moving away from the film’s starting point; I have to say that the documentary as a whole is very engaging and fascinating and had my full attention. Extra points go to the film’s editor, Alexander McNeil, who really does a great job here, keeping things on track, but also managing to contribute to the film’s overall unsettling atmosphere. And, talking of atmosphere, the film’s score is suitably off-kilter and eerie and was composed by Mike Lindsay, co-founder and frontman of the British folktronica band Tunng.

The film is also good for fans of folk horror as it provides some examples of literature that I’m keen to check out (for example, The Devil’s Own), alongside some other films looking into the British witchcraft scene (for example, The Power of the Witch (1971) and Eye of the Devil), which I know is still thriving.

One of the most pertinent aspects of the film, which gave rise to the later stereotype of the unhelpful villager character in films like The Wicker Man and An American Werewolf in London is the fact that the villagers who Chief Inspector Robert Fabian approached for information, regarding the murder, were so unhelpful and seemed totally unmoved by the violent murder in their midst that Fabian got the sense that something was going on behind the scenes, but, unfortunately, he never found out what.

David Pinner’s weird book, ‘Ritual’, which The Wicker Man is based on has some similarities with the Walton case, especially when it comes to the locals’ reception to the unwanted attentions of the police.

The film wheels out an interesting array of knowledgeable or connected talking heads to emphasise certain points that the film’s narrative wants to make, which includes Jonathan Rigby (film expert), Geraldine Beskin (actor/witch) and Dave Thompson (actor/comedian), who provides a perplexing coda involving the Teletubbies!

There’s also reference made to the sexual revolution, the Highgate Cemetery vampire, Dracula, Beltane folk magic, May Day celebrations and people believing in the ‘old ways’; quite a heady cocktail, to be sure… Interestingly, there’s also mention of another murder victim, Anna Tenant, who was murdered in 1875 by a farm labourer in much the same way that poor old Mr Walton had been dispatched; pinned to the ground by a pitchfork through the face and throat slashed with a bill hook. Once again it was suspected that the victim was a witch, and apparently the only way to stop them is to drain their blood… However, I think that would stop anyone, to be fair!

Probably the creepiest element of the whole sad tale, at least for me, is the detective’s recollection of his encounter with a large black dog that was prowling around the murder site at night, a black dog that had also been seen at other such violent scenes throughout the ages. And this in turn has given rise to the legend of the black dog in folk lore as they are often associated with death, transformation and protection.

Award-winning writer, director and author, Rupert Russell (Freedom for the Wolf, Price Wars) has made a consistently engaging and fascinating documentary about an area of British history which largely remains hidden and wrapped in occult mystery. Definitely work a look.

Intermission Films are distributing the documentary and it’s currently doing its film festival rounds. Let’s hope it receives a decent DVD or Blu-ray release too at some point.