11 Horror Movies About Witches and Witchcraft
What says Halloween in a bigger way than witches?
Okay, maybe pumpkins are firmly in the number one spot of things we associate with Halloween, but witches are right up there with them.
Witches, with their pointy black hats, black cats, flowing black cloaks, and broomsticks. But not all witches have pointy black hats, black cats, flowing black cloaks, or broomsticks, especially in horror stories. Sometimes witches look just like ordinary people.
No matter what they look like, witches can be good or evil, scary or funny.
The one thing all witches do have is power. Power to cause a lot of pain, suffering, and death. And they seem to hold grudges for a very long time.
The following eleven horror movies all have an element of witchcraft about them.
How many of these have you seen?
Contents
1. The Witch (2015)
“A New-England Folktale.”
The Witch is a supernatural horror movie.
In the 1630s, a family is banished from a Puritan colony in New England over a religious disagreement. They settle in a secluded area near a forest, but winter is coming and their crops are failing.
The unbaptised youngest child mysteriously disappears under the watch of the oldest girl and it turns out he’s been killed by a witch. The family members start to turn on one other until things get too far out of control and the family implodes.
Star Ratings
IMDB: 6.9 out of 10 | Amazon: 4.3 out of 5
2. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
“Everything you’ve heard is true.”
The Blair Witch Project is a found-footage supernatural horror movie.
In 1994, three film students head to Maryland to film a documentary about the legendary Blair Witch. They film the locals telling them about the legends of murders and disappearances in the area.
They camp in the woods and hear noises during the night that unsettle them. The next day, they can’t find their way back to their car so have to make camp again and they hear the same noises around them. The following morning, they find three stone cairns built around their tent and they start to panic as they realise they’re lost.
A year later, someone finds their equipment and footage.
Star Ratings
IMDB: 6.5 out of 10 | Amazon: 4.2 out of 5
3. Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990)
“From the depths of four twisted minds.”
Tales from the Darkside: The Movie is a comedy anthology horror movie.
Betty is a housewife/witch preparing a meal for a dinner party she’s throwing for her friends. The main meal is to be Timmy, the paperboy she’s taken and has chained up in her pantry.
To stop her from stuffing and roasting him, Timmy tells her three stories from a book she gave him called ‘Tales from the Darkside’.
Star Ratings
IMDB: 6.2 out of 10 | Amazon: 4.7 out of 5
4. Warlock (1989)
“He’s come from the past to destroy the future.”
Warlock is a supernatural fantasy horror movie.
In 1691, the Warlock, a son of Satan, is caught by a witch-hunter and sentenced to death. Satan opens a portal and the Warlock escapes to late 20th century Los Angeles, followed by the witch-hunter.
Satan orders the Warlock to gather the three pieces of the Grand Grimoire, a book which, if reassembled, can unmake Creation.
Star Ratings
IMDB: 6.2 out of 10 | Amazon: 4.6 out of 5
5. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)
“Classic Tale New Twist”
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is a dark fantasy horror movie.
Fifteen years after they escaped from the witch in the gingerbread house, Hansel and Gretel are famed witch hunters, somehow immune to spells and curses.
They arrive in the town of Augsburg to rescue the town’s missing children who are presumed to have been abducted by witches. They discover that the witches are preparing for the coming Blood Moon, where they plan to sacrifice the children to gain immunity to fire.
When they come across an abandoned cabin in the forest, they discover the truth about their own past and who they really are.
Star Ratings
IMDB: 6.1 out of 10 | Amazon: 4.6 out of 5
6. Pyewacket (2017)
“Be careful what you wish for. Someone might be listening.”
Pyewacket is a supernatural thriller horror movie.
Leah is fascinated by black magic and the occult. After Leah’s father dies, her mother moves them to a remote area for a fresh start which means Leah has to leave her friends and she’s not happy.
Leah has an argument with her mother and goes to the forest where she performs a ritual from one of her books, summoning the demon Pyewacket to kill her mother.
She soon changes her mind but it’s too late to stop what’s already started.
Star Ratings
IMDB: 5.8 out of 10 | Amazon: 4.0 out of 5
7. Superstition (1982)
“You’ll believe it just before you die…”
Superstition is a supernatural slasher horror movie.
An abandoned house on church property is the focal point of brutal murders and strange disappearances. The pond near the home was where a witch was executed in 1692 after being accused of the murder of a child. The church records say that when the witch died, the church erupted in flames.
Now, hundreds of years later, the witch continues to exact her revenge on anybody who comes near.
Star Ratings
IMDB: 5.7 out of 10 | Amazon: 4.2 out of 5
8. She Will (2021)
“Unleash the past.”
She Will is a psychological horror movie.
Veronica is a former movie star who goes to a healing retreat in rural Scotland with her young nurse. The place she’s staying is the site where many women were burnt as witches.
The women’s ashes and the land that holds them give Veronica the power to exact revenge within her dreams.
Star Ratings
IMDB: 5.4 out of 10 | Amazon: out of 5
9. Season of the Witch (2011)
“Not all souls can be saved.”
Season of the Witch is a supernatural action horror movie.
In the 14th century, two knights desert from the Crusades after witnessing a civilian massacre. They discover that the Black Death has devastated their homeland.
The church commands them to take a young woman, accused of being a witch, to a distant monastery so that the monks can determine if she truly is a witch and, if so, perform a ritual to remove her powers and stop the plague.
Star Ratings
IMDB: 5.4 out of 10 | Amazon: 4.4 out of 5
10. The Lords of Salem (2012)
“We’ve been waiting… we’ve always been waiting.”
The Lords of Salem is a supernatural horror movie.
Heidi is a recovering drug addict, working as a DJ in Salem, Massachusetts. She’s also a descendant of Reverend Hawthorne who, in the past, executed a group of women for witchcraft and worshipping Satan. Before she died, the leader of those women put a curse on the women of Salem and on Hawthorne’s descendants.
One evening, Heidi receives a strange wooden box containing an album by ‘The Lords’. She plays it at her apartment and has a vision of women sacrificing a child.
The record is played over the air the next day and it has a hallucinogenic effect on the women in Salem. Heidi has other experiences that she believes have to be nightmares, but her life soon spirals out of control.
The Lords of Salem is also available as a novel: The Lords of Salem (2013)
Star Ratings
IMDB: 5.2 out of 10 | Amazon: 4.2 out of 5
11. Don’t Knock Twice (2016)
“Pray she doesn’t answer”
Don’t Knock Twice is a supernatural horror movie.
Teenagers Chloe and Danny decide to test the urban legend that says if you knock twice on the witch’s door, the witch will come and get you. They knock twice on the door where a supposed witch, Mary Aminov, once lived and then they leave. Later Danny is dragged away and disappears.
The evil follows Chloe when she agrees to go and live with her estranged mother, Jess. When Jess tells Chloe about a dream she had of a woman slitting her own throat, Chloe tells her about the witch and the urban legend. Chloe believes the evil is Baba Yaga, a demonic witch from Slavic folklore.
Star Ratings
IMDB: 5.1 out of 10 | Amazon: 4.3 out of 5
Published: 17 October 2022
