George James Fraser’s ‘Salt & Iron’ is a short and sweet glimpse into an eerie coven of lake witches who like to seduce and feed on their prey.

A lazy fisherman, (William Decoff) is sipping beers as he waits to catch some fish. Whilst waiting, our fisherman hears a mysterious female voice laughing nearby. He ignores it initially but it doesn’t go away so he gets up to investigate. He runs and finds a beautiful young woman in a white robe watching him, and she beckons him to follow her as she runs off into the woods. Tempting no?

What follows is very eerie, carnal and bizarre. No spoilers of course, but if you’ve seen Ari Aster’s recent film “Midsommar”, or any of the Wickerman films, Salt & Iron may feel familiar in some ways.

There are some visually lovely moments throughout, with the sun shining through the trees; but also some confusing ones too. Occasionally the lighting is inconsistent and some moments are a lot darker than others. It is nice to see more horror being set during the day time though!

What stands out the most here is the soundtrack and sound effects. There are some fantastic music choices here, and the audio mixing of the forest and flowing creek are excellent. There is a particularly cute banjo sting during the intro to express that our fisherman is in the south of the USA.

Whilst they have no lines, the women playing the ‘witches’ are wonderful too (Marissa Joy & Desiree Amber). They embody this weird, unspeaking threat that you are slightly scared of and slightly turned on by.

Salt & Iron is a compact and fun little piece; a delight for those who enjoy the more hedonistic side of horror. It is safe to say that Fraser and company must have had a lot of fun filming this one!