In an English village in the early 1700s, a young farmer named Ralph Gower uncovers a strange, deformed skull in his field. A visiting Judge (Patrick Wymark) dismisses it, but soon strange things start to happen. A young woman turns wild in the night, a man cuts off his own hand, and the village children, led by the eerie Angel Blake (Linda Hayden), begin to gather in the woods.
Haggard and cinematographer Dick Bush film the Oxfordshire countryside like a painting, all mist, mud and autumn light, which makes the evil feel like it is coming from the land itself. Linda Hayden is chilling as Angel, a teenager with an empty stare and total control over the other children.
Marc Wilkinson's score uses strange, folk-like music that gets under your skin. The film is at its best when it stays quiet and lets the dread creep through the village.
But it is also very uneven. The story jumps between characters, the ending feels rushed, and one long assault scene is extremely hard to watch. It is an important and atmospheric film, but not an easy or comfortable one.
