Ashnikko’s folk horror fest

Cult gatherings, unhinged choreography, blue hair, and the obliteration of American female beauty standards… of course, it's another macabre music video from American singer songwriter, Ashnikko. 

Helmed by New-Land director Joanna Nordahl, this dark promo for the artist's latest track, Cheerleader, takes visual inspiration from the popular film genre of Scandinavian folk horror, with entrancing art direction that brings to mind movies like The Blair Witch Project and Ari Aster’s Midsommer. 

Shot deep in the dark woods of Älta mosse-Strålsjön nature reserve, Sweden, the film juxtaposes the all-American female ideal of the cheerleader, with dark, cultish imagery of uninhibited women acting out barbaric rituals, rejecting societal expectations through manic choreography, hypnotic lyrics and a smidge of human sacrifice.