The Field Guide to Evil

Revealing the stories created to explain mankind's darkest fears, The Field Guide to Evil tasked each talented director with revealing a folktale that has captivated and frightened their homeland and interpreting it in their own unique style. Representing Austria are Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, who tell of an ancient demon that punishes those who engage in the cardinal sin of forbidden love. Agnieszka Smoczynska presents Poland's The Kindler and the Virgin, grotesquely illustrating a man's quest for power, while Calvin Reeder reveals America's cannibalistic humanoids known as Melonheads. India's Ashim Ahluwalia takes a black-and-white journey inside a palace of horrors, while British-born, Hungary-based Peter Strickland tells a fetishistic story of lust and envy in the style of a silent film made using 1960s Kodachrome film stock. Finally, there are twisted tales from the depths of Hell that feature a Christmas goblin from Greece's Yannis Veslemes, a mouse demon from Germany's Katrin Gebbe, and a devilish goat from Turkey's Can Evrenol. (Seattle International Film Festival)