Horror movies that focus on Nordic folklore specialize in juxtaposing the foibles of the modern world with the ancient one, emphasizing the repercussions of morally ambiguous choices by framing them in a narrative that involves the fables, tall tales, and legends from Scandinavia, Finland, Iceland, and other Nordic countries.
Figures like Vættir, Nøkken, Trolls, Nisse, Huldra, and even Elves that emerge from cold, harsh, beautiful landscapes naturally lend themselves to fairytales, but they are often not the bucolic creatures seen in other cultures. These horror movies use Nordic folklore to innovate terror in a way that intertwines curiosity, history, and tradition.
10 Thale (2012)
When crime scene cleanup duo Elvis and Leo get called in to clean up the scene of a death, they never expect to find Thale, a human-Huldra hybrid with a cow's tail that can only communicate nonverbally. A tape left behind by her former captor outlines all the ways she's been experimented on, and soon military soldiers are trying to capture her.
The pair decide to try to help her by finding a way to integrate her into a cadre of her own fellow Huldra, but the task to help her reach the satyr-like creatures is difficult. Suspenseful, dramatic, and eerie, Thale is an engrossing movie that combines the heartwarming nature of E.T. with something more sinister.
9 Draug (2018)
Set in the 11th century, Draug has been marketed as an "epic Viking horror saga", and as such delivers some innovative thrills to fans of both Vikings and the folklore of their culture of conquerors. It begins with the king sending a hird (or royal rescue party) to find the whereabouts of a missing missionary thought abducted by bandits in Hälsingland.
The warriors find themselves deep in the land of pagan worship, one of the last bastions of people devoted to an ancient belief system. Where they expect to find bandits they find a sinister evil, and like Midsommar, the movie focuses on a disturbing Viking legend -- the draug, taken from the Old Norse word for a ghost with a body, or a member of the undead.
8 Sauna (2008)
A dark Finnish horror movie set in the 16th century at the conclusion of the Russo-Swedish War, Sauna follows two brothers who are given the task of delineating the border between Swedish-ruled Finland and the Tsardom of Russia. When they encounter a mysterious village, they find a sauna in the middle of a swamp and enter it in the hopes of washing away their sins.
With sometimes beautiful, sometimes gruesome cinematography, plenty of atmosphere, and a nonlinear storytelling format, Sauna is both thematically rich and narratively provocative. As bloody as it is cerebral, fans of both types of terror will enjoy this surreal historical recollection.
7 Trollhunter (2010)
When several university students decide to track down an infamous bear poacher, they end up encountering something even more deadly -- trolls. Soon the students are trying to capture footage of the elusive creatures straight out of Nordic folklore, and their quest takes them right into the path of a Jotnar, one of the largest mountain trolls in Old Norse mythology.
For fans of movies like The Blair Witch Project, the found footage style of this mockumentary will make the search for trolls appear all the more authentic. The special effects may not always be clean, but there's heart to this horror movie, and slightly blurry troll shots only add to the perceived realism.
6 Rare Exports (2010)
What viewers might take as a simple holiday movie is anything but. Examining the naughtiest version of the Santa Claus story, it follows a British research crew drilling in the Korvatunturi mountain range that upsets an ancient Saami graveyard. Something lurks in the mountain, and it's not the jolly patron of children's dreams and delights.
Rare Exports offers a sinister investigation of Joulupukki ("Yule Goat") straight out of Finnish folklore, a horned entity who takes a whip to children who misbehave and even places them in a cauldron to boil alive.
5 Clown (2014)
Hoping to make his son's birthday party a success, a loving father puts on an old clown costume to perform. Soon he cannot remove it, with everything from the wig to the nose becoming part of his body. Eventually, he learns the horrible truth about the "Clöyne", an Icelandic legend that lured children to caves with tricks and candy only to devour them. He desperately tries to stop himself from turning into the ancient creature before he eats his children.
Clown is based on Clöyne folklore, a fictional creature in Norse mythology, but its adherence to its fake tradition is commendable and authentic enough to make viewers think it's real. With its nose red and blistering from cold, its pale face due to lack of sunlight, and its single horn evoking a funny hat, it's not far-fetched to believe it inspired modern clowns today.
4 Ragnarok (2013)
Ragnarok (a cataclysmic event signifying the end of the world according to the gods of Norse mythology) provides the backdrop for this suspenseful horror movie set in Finnmark as an archaeologist follows the trail of Vikings in the Northern regions of Norway. His journey takes him to the vast expanse between Norway and Russia, leading to his expedition crew disturbing a slumbering threat.
Combining the thrill of an action-adventure movie with an effective creature feature, Ragnarok is an amalgamation of old and new, providing plenty of harrowing moments as well as Old Norse history.
3 The Ritual (2017)
After the death of their friend, four men decide to process their grief by taking a long hike in the Scandinavian wilderness. Eventually becoming lost in forests steeped in Old Norse legends, they learn of an ancient evil known as the Jötunn, a dangerous creature from Norse mythology that begins stalking their every move.
Blending traditions of Norse legend with slow-burn terror and a beguiling atmosphere, The Ritual is much more than a paint-by-numbers horror movie where victims get picked off one by one.
2 Absentia (2011)
Based on the Norwegian fairytale "The Three Billy Goats Gruff", Absentia begins with Tricia, a young woman trying to move on with her life after the disappearance of her husband seven years before. After her sister comes to stay with her, she begins encountering strange situations and hallucinations surrounding a tunnel that may hold the key to her husband's disappearance.
An updated take on the fairytale provides the intriguing subtext for this supernatural horror movie that provides unexpected and non-formulaic situations involving an ancient, evil entity lurking beneath the veils of reality.
1 Valley Of Shadows (2017)
Pin Parvati Pass, or the "Valley of Shadows" is the backdrop for this Nordic horror movie chronicling a young boy's journey into a mysterious forest in search of answers to a recent tragedy. After finding several sheep slaughtered on his farm and fearing it might signify a werewolf attack, he goes searching for signs of the beast despite his mother's warnings.
The boy's journey gets more perilous as time goes on, and after running out of food and losing his beloved dog Rapp, things begin to get dire. A chance encounter with what he suspects to be the monster is both illuminating and terrifying.
source https://screenrant.com/best-horror-nordic-scandinavian-folklore-mythology-movies/
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