So it's largely about morality? But what about literal supernatural belief? For example, plenty of people actually believe in ghosts (or fairies, or demons, or whatever). How do you feel about movies that draw on traditional beliefs in that sense?
It is largely about morality. Stories have to have some kind of conflict. The protagonist wins or loses in that story, largely due to their moral standing. The lying boy is killed. The good kids escape. Pure and noble profit, selfish and greedy gnash their teeth. Morals may not be intended, but through the arc of a storyline they are present.
Ghosts, creatures, etc. Yes, people have literal supernatural beliefs. If we look at folklore as a car, a belief in ghosts may be the car body, but it still needs wheels and an engine if it wants to go. Morality is a huge part of that. It creates the conflict and decides the winner. The moral may not be blatant, it may be inferred or extrapolated, but it's still there.
Here's an example of what I'm talking about.
I live in the Pacific NW. I've lived all over the NW, and one thing you can never get away from is Sasquatch. While a case could be made to say that Sasquatch is a folklore character, there are no real stories about Sasquatch. There are no lessons here with Sasquatch. What there is, is a lot of first and second hand accounts of Sasquatch sightings. Even in the Native American legends here, Sasquatch isn't a character. Not like Coyote or Raven. There are no tales like that about Sasquatch because Sasquatch carries no more morality than a bear, fish or bluejay.
Ghosts? Yes, ghosts carry morality. For the sake of brevity, I'm going to just keep typing ghosts, but I really mean all folklore type characters. Elves, faeiries, whatevers. An actual ghost story is going to have the ghost wanting something from the protagonist, driven by an emotional motivation. That creates a moral, whether intended to or not.
Typical Sasquatch story: I saw bigfoot when I was camping last summer. He walked right through our campsite.
Not very rich or interesting is it? A typical ghost story treats a ghost as an active, motivated participant that threatens or protects the protagonist in some way. Our lesson may be as simple as how not to piss off ghosts, but the lesson is there all the same.
"How do you feel about movies that draw from traditional belief"
Well, it depends. And really, it depends on how interesting or well done the movie is and how I feel about the creature. Not a fan of leprechauns, so Leprechaun never had much interest to me. Demons? So, to have a belief in demons you have to buy into the Christian belief system that created them. According to that, if a demon appears in front of you, you can kick it's ass by drawing on the strength and power of God. So, it's a non-event. If that doesn't work, then it's obvious the protagonist isn't holy enough. You've got a lesson.
If you buy into the existence of demons, you have to buy into how Christianity works. Ditto for djinn's and Islam, Jews and golems. If you don't, you're going to be beaten by those entities. If you do buy in, you can easily thwart them. Which is more interesting for a story? Would you rather watch a movie about a demon that plagues a family for generation due to a curse they can't break (because they're faith is poor, obvs) or a 3 minute movie where a demon appears and the protagonist says, "In the name of Jesus Christ I send you to the pit for eternity" and poof the demon is gone.
Normal plain ghosts? Ok, no religion necessary there. Usually a ghost is going to want something from the protagonist. Maybe they want to kill the protagonist for revenge, want the protagonist to return something, right a wrong, etc. There are lessons all over that. There are very few stories where the ghost is just a dick. The best I can think of is Poltergeist, and even that has several lessons attached to it. Don't disturb the resting place of the dead. Don't meddle with creatures you don't understand. Or to quote HP Lovecraft, don't raise up what you can't put down.
So, in short, for a movie or other story, I really have to buy into the concept for it to be interesting. If it's something I have no cultural familiarity with, that makes it a lot easier. The Dibbuk box movie was great. I was a fan of the asian horror coming out about 14 years ago. But a western ghost story? It may end up with me saying 'meh'. I don't think I'm alone here.
I guess what I mean is, what horror films (or books, or other media) which draw on folklore, or have a "folk" aesthetic, seem to work, in your opinion? For example, The Wicker Man is arguably the most famous example of "folk horror." Do you think it's a good movie? Do you think it uses the folk aesthetic effectively? Why or why not?
I would definitely argue against Wicker Man being 'arguably the most famous example of "folk horror"'. And I wouldn't say it worked at all. It has a folk aesthetic, sure. Never saw the Nicholas Cage version, could barely sit through the original.
Going to jump back to Dracula here. How many Wicker Man movies did Christopher Lee make? How many Dracula movies? Wicker Man draws on some odd ideas really only understood to some people from the UK who know celtic history. Dracula is understood by most people on the planet. Dracula's still culturally relevant, I'm not sure if Wicker Man ever was.
And Wicker Man is basically a re-telling of HP Lovecraft's Dagon or The Shadow Over Innsmouth, only retelling it with a different mythology involved.
How about Shyamalan's The Village? What US elementary school student didn't have to study all the crazy ass 18th century spook stories with headless horseman, witches, and eating blood in oatmeal? The Village plays on the old superstitions extremely well.
Folktales are being made and remade every day. Don't mind the emperor's new clothes, it's still the same emperor underneath. There's a new movie Mortal Engines. Tell me how that's not a re-imagining of the Erlking and the Wild Hunt?