I heard that "Crowhaven Farm" has the same vibe as DSHH. I haven't seen it, but while looking for info on how to track down a real copy of the full miniseries for DSHH, I heard about "Crowhaven Farm". It might be worth looking into for those of you who like the genre.
shareI saw The Witchees of Crowhaven Farm when I was a kid (early 70's) and it scared me to death! Had a chance to see it again about 15 years ago. It didn't really hold up that well. Kind of creepy, but the story is not really the same theme. The movie that best captures the same theme is Wickerman, a film from Britain from about 1973. Wickerman is REALLY creepy. Both stories are based (I would say) on a short story from the 1950's called The Lottery. You can pull the story up on the internet. This story caused a sensation when it was published. Even 50 years later it works.
shareLook for the made for Tv movie version of the Lottery. I read the short story and there was no reference to what the Lottery was in it
shareIt is funny. I just said on THE WICKER MAN board that it reminded me in some waya of HARVEST HOME; both are creepy and atmospheric, and (fortunately) lack monsters of cheap scares. let us hope the remake of WICKER MAN is half as good as the original. Maybe someone will remake HARVET HOME someday.
shareSee my reply to the original post... Shirley Jackson the author is making the point that if these rituals really were handed down in an unbroken tradition, it's possible that a lot of their meaning would be lost until the villagers are just going through the motions. That's why she doesn't explain the meaning of the Lottery. The villagers themselves have forgotten.
shareThese films weren't based on "The Lottery" although their popularity was probably helped by the notoriety of that story. Rather, Shirley Jackson drew on similar sources. The idea that something like this dates back to antiquity and is preserved exactly as it was hundreds of years ago, was first popularized in the late 1800s by the romantic neopagans (not like the neopagan movement of today but its ancestor -- an example would be the chapter in "The Wind in the Willows" where the animals meet a god like Pan -- the author was one of these early romantic pagan revivalists). Find out more about this by reading "The Triumph of the Moon" by Roland Hutton which is a really great book.
Shirley makes a point in "The Lottery" of saying that the ritual has lost a lot of its meaning down through the ages until now, in modern times, the villagers do this almost mindlessly, not knowing why, just that it's "always been done". They're just going through the motions. This is more realistic than saying the entire belief system was preserved. That's why the story is so bizarre -- she has removed almost all the context.
I've seen Crowhaven and DSHH, full version. I think they're a little different in that Crowhaven likes to rely on cheap looking special effects to tell the story of a woman who is experiencing de'ja vu regarding the witch trials. To me, it feels like many horror films from the 70's. Dark Secret stands alone b/c the film uses a lot of atmosphere to tell the story of a small village that clings to pagan beliefs.
Another element that makes Dark Secret stand out is the acting of Bette Davis. Being a huge fan of hers, this story literally evolves around her. Her character looms over Harvest Home and all its inhabitants.
Piece of advice...when you start your search for Dark, make sure you get the mini series. I found a VHS copy from eBay. This film is roughly 5 hrs long but worth it. The film takes its time but its a good piece of story-telling.