In 1945, the body of farm worker Charles Walton was found on the slopes of Meon Hill in the quiet English parish of Lower Quinton. Walton had been beaten with a stick and had a pitchfork driven through his neck; some reports also claim that a large cross had been carved into his chest. Despite the best efforts of one of Scotland Yard’s most famous detectives, Walton’s killer was never found, but the whispers of witchcraft that surrounded the case would help birth the British folk horror boom of the 1960s and 70s. The Last Sacrifice explores this story.
The Last Sacrifice Uses True Crime to Explore British Occult Anxiety
It’s fertile ground for a documentary, and director Rupert Russell harvests it feverishly in his new documentary, The Last Sacrifice. Using this “very English murder” as a jumping-off point, the doc embarks on an expansive exploration of 20th-century occultism in the UK, analyzing how the public’s fear of and fascination with it bled into the popular media of the era and what all this says about British identity and the issues therein.
Russell achieves this through a heady mix of talking-head interviews, archival footage, and a seemingly inexhaustible collection of folk horror clips, the latter of which are often layered under voiceover to highlight how echoes of the killing and the myths surrounding it found their way into these films, especially 1973’s The Wicker Man. It’s an engaging way to present the material, augmented by a fantastic score and an editing style that helps convey the frenzied atmosphere in the UK at the time.
Sensationalism vs. Humanity in Documenting Witchcraft
There are undoubtedly sensationalist presentation choices at play, but The Last Sacrifice seems to make a conscious effort to pull back and stay grounded when discussing real people, especially those who can no longer speak for themselves. The late Alex Sanders, a key figure in the Wicca scene in the 1960s, is a notable example. The documentary takes pains to demonstrate that Sanders was a normal man from a working-class background around footage of him performing ritual magic for the 1971 documentary Secret Rites, chipping away at fearful associations of witchcraft with a secretive elite.
One of Sanders’ initiates goes on to add levity to the affair when describing her experiences with the coven, setting up a fascinating contrast between the day-to-day reality of witchcraft in the UK and the heightened, hysterical portrayal of it on screen and in the tabloids, emphasized by the use of “fact” and “fiction” lower thirds.
Of course, this is all juxtaposed with the real, horrific murder of a seemingly harmless old man. The documentary occasionally seems to lose sight of that, spiraling away down tangents before snapping suddenly back to Walton. The material moves at a fast enough pace to carry you along with the current, but there may be moments when your head breaks surface to wonder how you got here from where you started.
A Cheeky Epilogue and a Dark Reflection on British Identity
That’s kind of the point, and Russell’s cheeky epilogue — surely the main thing people will talk about once seeing the doc — suggests he’s approaching the material with a knowing smile. It’s easy to look back on the witch mania of the 1960s and laugh, but Russel reminds us there’s a rotten human core.
Why The Last Sacrifice Is Essential Viewing for Folk Horror Fans
A must-watch for fans of British folk horror who want a deeper understanding of the cultural landscape that birthed them, The Last Sacrifice isn’t afraid to peel back the skin on British identity and reveal its dark heart. There’s a lot to unpack here — spoken and unspoken — about British identity anxiety, which may give you a newfound appreciation of The Wicker Man on your next rewatch.
The Last Sacrifice made its East Coast premiere at Brooklyn Horror Film Festival 2024.