plays out like a reimagining of The Wicker Man, although that film’s uptight male Christian copper has become a laid-back female vicar whose maternal status challenges the original’s patriarchal values.

Director William Brent Bell (best known for the insipid Orphan prequel Orphan: First Kill) can’t work up a proper head of suspense, no matter how many poppets made of human hair and twigs he hangs on trees...

Lord of Misrule can’t fully escape the trappings established by quintessential folk horror films like The Wicker Man, but Bell gives it his all to subvert many of the tropes and make it entertaining.

A competently made but creatively bankrupt horror film that fails to impress despite its intriguing premise.