Fairies and goblins might not sound like the most terrifying creatures out there – but as anyone who’s seen The Hallow, Hellboy II or Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark will attest, the little blighters can be pests at best, and downright bloodthirsty menaces at worst. Enter director Jon Wright with a fresh entry in the goblin-horror canon with his new movie Unwelcome – one that brings him back to the creature-feature territory of his 2012 bloodsucking-aliens vs. Russell Tovey feature Grabbers. Check out an exclusive image from the new film:
This one stars Hannah John-Kamen (previously seen as Ghost in Ant-Man And The Wasp) and Douglas Booth as Maya and Jamie, a couple who decide to up sticks, escape from city life and head for the tranquility of rural Ireland after Jamie inherits a country house there. Unfortunately, their search for peace doesn’t quite go to plan – getting on the wrong side of some less-than-welcoming locals, and soon discovering there are malevolent, murderous goblins lurking in the ancient wood at the bottom of their garden.
The goblins in question are Redcaps, a piece of Anglo-Scottish folklore that Wright has combined here with his Irish heritage and an interest in mystical creatures passed down to him through generations. “My grandfather, who was an Irish farmer, believed in fairies,” Wright tells Empire. “He used to say that he’d tried to build a wall at the foot of his garden, but every morning when he got up, it had been knocked down. He believed it was being built on fairy land, so he couldn’t have it there. And I had a book of fairy tales, Grimm fairy tales, in my grandfather’s house, which I always used to read when I went to stay. I’ve always been fascinated by myths and legends, and the sort of primal way that they tap into human nature.”
Keep an eye out for the Unwelcome trailer landing soon, and see the film in UK cinemas in 2022.