User reviews

Tom Lee Rutter's Bella in The Wych Elm is a film that combines the dreamlike visuals of the 1922 silent film Häxan, with the facts, as known, of a still unsolved murder mystery that occurred just outside of Birmingham during World War II. Without giving too much away, the body of a woman was found stuffed inside a tree in the early 1940s by a group of young boys. The film then goes on to trace the chain of events from the subsequent investigation to the sporadic emergence of nuggets of information over the years. However, the real power of Bella in the Wych Elm lies not in the telling of the tale but in the film's hypnotic and unsettling black and white imagery. Haunting occult visuals collide with panoramas of a harsh English countryside that recalls the folk Horror tales of films such as Blood On Satan's Claw and Witchfinder General. In common with the visuals, the soundtrack equally, both engages and unsettles the viewer. Check out this vignette of Midlands art horror.

I was so pleased to have seen this film on the 'big screen' at Horror-On-Sea. From the moment it started, I was enthralled by tale of an unsolved murder in the Midlands. Stunningly shot in black and white, this atmospheric film grips the viewer from start to finish. The 30mins or so literally flew by. The evocative voiceover relaxes the viewer and draws you into this sad tale. Stunning attention to detail in a film which, whilst a documentary, at times feels more like a fire side ghost story. If you get the opportunity, go and see it... or buy the dvd.