SIDEWORLD: HAUNTED FORESTS OF ENGLAND
Reviewed by Tracy Nicholas
Hear an interview with the director in Episode 112 here
Haunted Forests of England, the first in George Popov’s planned Sideworld series, is a documentary told from a storyteller’s perspective. It is an academic exploration of folklore that
draws the viewer in to the stories by emotionally connecting to them through rich imagery, an unsettling score and compelling accounts of the supernatural activities in the forests of
England.
As the title suggests, the film focuses on three forested areas in England and the stories that are associated with them. There are a wide variety of different tales and the pacing of the film allows for shorter stories along with several deep dives into not only the folklore itself, but also speculation on why certain stories were associated with the three very different landscapes of the forests that were chosen.
The technical aspects of the film are masterfully executed. The cinematography evokes a sense of being somewhere not quite of this earth. The colors are muted and it feels like the sun just slipped behind a cloud that hadn’t been there a moment ago. Even the brighter colors seem sinister. The bright greens are that of moss and algae and the reds and yellows are those of fallen leaves, so that the most vibrant colors of the film suggest danger, death and decay. The score adds a disquieting uneasiness through a mix of ominous animal sounds, winds that seem to blow with anger and ill intent and voices that you can’t quite make out, all underscored with music that builds throughout each tale. As the stories are told, the actor’s delivery often transports you back in time hundreds of years to when the woods felt far wilder than they do today. The artwork interspersed with the images of the forests themselves feels like a hearkening back to a time when these stories were fresh cautionary tales about the dangers in the night.
The film is well laid out, starting in what feels like the oldest location, Wistman’s Woods, in a small patch of rocky forest that remains wild and impenetrable. Next it moves on to Cannock Chase which is far more populated and modern and the stories here reflect that. Here there are much more recent stories that are mostly set in the 1940s and later, although there are some with ties back to a much earlier and more brutal time. The film wraps up at Epping Forest, with many diverse tales of unexplainable things seen in those woods and the eerie atmosphere that draws people in, often to their demise. The only exception to this measured build of the stories is in the Cannock Chase section. Here the film slips into true crime and doesn’t seem to make any real ties between those stories and the folklore of the area. There is a depiction of a black eyed children story, but then the film veers off into a serial killer story with no connection ever made between the two. There are black panther sightings but then they seem to suggest
that there may actually be some breeding in the area. There are stories of UFOs, experiments on prisoners of war and sightings of spirits and strange beasts, but as a whole, this part does not feel as cohesive as the other two sections.
However, the film gets back on track in Epping Forest with the many stories that explore what the film refers to as “the most haunted forest in England”. There are multiple sightings of various horrifying spectres, strange phenomenon that defy nature and a malevolent pond that calls to the most vulnerable amongst us. The stories here are fast paced and compelling and the viewer is drawn along a cohesive narrative that ties together the various stories of the area quite nicely. There is an ideal mix of tragic endings, recounting of historical uses of the land and the mysterious forces in Epping Forest that make it seem as though this forest will never reveal all the secrets it contains. It is a satisfying end to an overall very enjoyable documentary and I await more films in the series with anticipation. I am left wanting to know more about the mysterious sideworld that exists just beyond the reach of scientific inquiry into the realm of the unexplained.
Reviewed by Tracy Nicholas
Hear an interview with the director in Episode 112 here
Haunted Forests of England, the first in George Popov’s planned Sideworld series, is a documentary told from a storyteller’s perspective. It is an academic exploration of folklore that
draws the viewer in to the stories by emotionally connecting to them through rich imagery, an unsettling score and compelling accounts of the supernatural activities in the forests of
England.
As the title suggests, the film focuses on three forested areas in England and the stories that are associated with them. There are a wide variety of different tales and the pacing of the film allows for shorter stories along with several deep dives into not only the folklore itself, but also speculation on why certain stories were associated with the three very different landscapes of the forests that were chosen.
The technical aspects of the film are masterfully executed. The cinematography evokes a sense of being somewhere not quite of this earth. The colors are muted and it feels like the sun just slipped behind a cloud that hadn’t been there a moment ago. Even the brighter colors seem sinister. The bright greens are that of moss and algae and the reds and yellows are those of fallen leaves, so that the most vibrant colors of the film suggest danger, death and decay. The score adds a disquieting uneasiness through a mix of ominous animal sounds, winds that seem to blow with anger and ill intent and voices that you can’t quite make out, all underscored with music that builds throughout each tale. As the stories are told, the actor’s delivery often transports you back in time hundreds of years to when the woods felt far wilder than they do today. The artwork interspersed with the images of the forests themselves feels like a hearkening back to a time when these stories were fresh cautionary tales about the dangers in the night.
The film is well laid out, starting in what feels like the oldest location, Wistman’s Woods, in a small patch of rocky forest that remains wild and impenetrable. Next it moves on to Cannock Chase which is far more populated and modern and the stories here reflect that. Here there are much more recent stories that are mostly set in the 1940s and later, although there are some with ties back to a much earlier and more brutal time. The film wraps up at Epping Forest, with many diverse tales of unexplainable things seen in those woods and the eerie atmosphere that draws people in, often to their demise. The only exception to this measured build of the stories is in the Cannock Chase section. Here the film slips into true crime and doesn’t seem to make any real ties between those stories and the folklore of the area. There is a depiction of a black eyed children story, but then the film veers off into a serial killer story with no connection ever made between the two. There are black panther sightings but then they seem to suggest
that there may actually be some breeding in the area. There are stories of UFOs, experiments on prisoners of war and sightings of spirits and strange beasts, but as a whole, this part does not feel as cohesive as the other two sections.
However, the film gets back on track in Epping Forest with the many stories that explore what the film refers to as “the most haunted forest in England”. There are multiple sightings of various horrifying spectres, strange phenomenon that defy nature and a malevolent pond that calls to the most vulnerable amongst us. The stories here are fast paced and compelling and the viewer is drawn along a cohesive narrative that ties together the various stories of the area quite nicely. There is an ideal mix of tragic endings, recounting of historical uses of the land and the mysterious forces in Epping Forest that make it seem as though this forest will never reveal all the secrets it contains. It is a satisfying end to an overall very enjoyable documentary and I await more films in the series with anticipation. I am left wanting to know more about the mysterious sideworld that exists just beyond the reach of scientific inquiry into the realm of the unexplained.