The 20 best modern witch horror movies (from folk horror & curses to covens & the occult)
Welcome to Knockout Horror. The witch has returned and we are jumping out of the fire and into the cauldron to look at The 20 Best Modern Witch Horror Movies (From Folk Horror & Curses to Covens & The Occult).
Table of Contents
20 Witch Themed Horror Movies That Actually Rock
We’re not talking about cartoonish figures on broomsticks, here. The modern horror witch is something far more terrifying. Witchcraft of the 2010s and onward is primal, sinister, and often lurking in the dark woods of folk horror. Hell, sometimes it’s even hiding within the walls of our own homes.
From satanic covens and ancient curses to folk tales brought to life, the genre is absolutely thriving with dark magic and some of the horror genres best films. We’ve put together a list of 20 essential films from the last decade or so. I am going against the grain here and not ranking these movies. Instead, I am grouping them by their witch related theme – Folk Horror & Ancient Curses, Covens & Satanic Rituals, The Solitary Witch & Occult Magic, and Witch-Adjacent & Monstrous Magic. Let’s count down the 20 best modern horror films about witches.
| Theme | Richie’s Must-Watch | Origin | The Vibe |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🌳 Folk | The Witch (2015) | USA | Primal, period-accurate dread. |
| 🌳 Folk | Impetigore (2019) | Indonesia | Visceral ancestral curses. |
| 🕯️ Coven | Hereditary (2018) | USA | Organized occult devastation. |
| 🕯️ Coven | The Blackcoat’s Daughter (2015) | USA | Atmospheric satanic isolation. |
| 🔮 Solitary | The Love Witch (2016) | USA | Technicolor retro satire. |
| 👻 Adjacent | The Wailing (2016) | South Korea | Complex shamanistic epic. |
| 👻 Adjacent | The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) | UK/USA | Fiendishly clever mystery. |
🌳 Folk Horror & Ancient Curses
This is the earthy, primal stuff. These are films where the horror isn’t just in the woods, it is the woods. We’re in isolated villages, bleak farmsteads, and misty peat bogs where “the old ways” never really left. This category is all about atmosphere, creeping dread, and curses that are as old as the soil itself. Prepare for slow-burn stories where ancient traditions demand a heavy price from those who wander too far from the path.
Gretel & Hansel (2020) – Dark Coming-of-Age and Arthouse Dread
- ⭐ IMDb Score: 5.4/10
- 🎬 Director: Oz Perkins
- 🧹 Sub-Genre: Arthouse Folk Horror
The Star of the Show: The stunning, dark-fairy-tale visuals.
The Knockout Verdict: Visually stunning and actually rather atmospheric.
Don’t immediately turn your nose up at PG-13 rated horror! Perkins frames this as a dark coming-of-age tale where Gretel is tempted by power. It’s a slow-burn art-house horror that’s more dread than jump scares.
Why It’s Here: It earns a spot for proving that even the most familiar fairy tales can be reclaimed by primal, sinister modern witchcraft.
The Synopsis
In a dark retelling of the classic fairy tale, a young girl and her brother are tempted by a witch’s power in the woods. It’s an atmospheric journey where the “old ways” of magic feel dangerously real.
Moloch (2022) – Peat Bogs and Dutch Legends
- ⭐ IMDb Score: 6.0/10
- 🎬 Director: Nico van den Brink
- 🧹 Sub-Genre: European Folk Horror
The Star of the Show: The local folklore demand for sacrifice.
The Knockout Verdict: A refreshing take on ancient international curses.
Like a lot of European horror, this Dutch gem went completely under the radar. It feels very refreshing thanks to the local folklore used in the plot. It leans into enjoyable themes of ancient witchcraft and ancestral dread.
Why It’s Here: It’s a great example of how folk horror thrives when it steps away from Western tropes and looks into regional peat bog legends.
The Synopsis
The story follows a woman living with her family at the edge of a peat bog. After her family is attacked by a stranger, she begins to suspect they are being haunted by something ancient and sinister. A local legend named Moloch who demands sacrifice.
Gwen (2018) – Snowdonia Shadows and Industrial Dread
- ⭐ IMDb Score: 5.9/10
- 🎬 Director: William McGregor
- 🧹 Sub-Genre: Realistic Folk Horror
The Star of the Show: The utterly stunning Welsh cinematography.
The Knockout Verdict: A measured and realistic take on persecution.
I’m biased because it’s filmed in my home country of Wales, but it’s genuinely fascinating. It explores the realistic persecution women faced back then under the guise of “witchcraft.” Check out our full review right here.
Why It’s Here: It belongs here for its sheer beauty and its commitment to a bleak, realistic atmosphere that shows how rumors can be as deadly as magic.
The Synopsis
Set in 19th-century Snowdonia, Wales, during the Industrial Revolution. A young girl tries desperately to hold her home together amidst her mother’s mysterious illness and the village’s suggestions that the family is cursed. All while a ruthless mining company encroaches on their land and pressures them to sell.
Hagazussa: A Heathen’s Curse (2017) – Alpine Madness and Pagan Gloom
- ⭐ IMDb Score: 5.8/10
- 🎬 Director: Lukas Feigelfeld
- 🧹 Sub-Genre: Experimental Folk Horror
The Star of the Show: The unsettling, gloomy Alpine atmosphere.
The Knockout Verdict: An ultra slow-burn that is woefully depressing.
This Austrian-German film doesn’t make any effort to feel anything other than depressing. It’s an unsettling look at a woman outcast and branded a witch who slowly descends into madness. It won’t be for everyone, but it’s cool to see.
Why It’s Here: It’s a non-traditional folk-horror that leans heavily into the “spiritually corrosive” side of the genre.
The Synopsis
In a 15th-century Alpine village, an outcast woman branded as a witch slowly descends into a nightmare of madness fueled by pagan beliefs and cruel villagers.
You Won’t Be Alone (2022) – Shapeshifters and Macedonian Spirits
- ⭐ IMDb Score: 6.4/10
- 🎬 Director: Goran Stolevski
- 🧹 Sub-Genre: Body-Horror Folk Tale
The Star of the Show: The ancient, scarred spirit.
The Knockout Verdict: Brutal, strangely beautiful, and utterly unique.
An underrated gem just waiting to be discovered. It puts an entirely new spin on witches and shapeshifting. Director Goran Stolevski even dips his feet into body-horror and romance in this fantastic Macedonian collaboration.
Why It’s Here: It earns its place by being one of the most creative “witch” stories in decades, attempting to understand what it actually means to be human through magic.
The Synopsis
In 19th-century Macedonia, a young woman is transformed into a shapeshifting witch by an ancient spirit. She takes over the bodies of various people and animals to understand the human experience.
Impetigore (2019) – Black Magic and Indonesian Inheritances
- ⭐ IMDb Score: 6.6/10
- 🎬 Director: Joko Anwar
- 🧹 Sub-Genre: J-Horror adjacent Folk Horror
The Star of the Show: The village’s dark, violent curse.
The Knockout Verdict: One of the best modern horror movies from the East.
Joko Anwar is Indonesia’s best horror director. This is his biggest hit and it features seriously graphic scenes that are more than just a little unsettling. It’s a great, violent alternate take on witchcraft.
Why It’s Here: It’s essential viewing for anyone who wants to see the “witch and curse” trope handled with visceral, uncompromising energy.
The Synopsis
It follows a woman who travels back to her remote ancestral village to claim an inheritance. She soon learns the village has been cursed by a dark spell of black magic, and the villagers believe she is the key to breaking it, something which they plan to do in the most violent way possible.
The Witch (2015) – Puritans and the Modern Folk Revival
- ⭐ IMDb Score: 7.0/10
- 🎬 Director: Robert Eggers
- 🧹 Sub-Genre: Period Folk Horror
The Star of the Show: The goat named Black Phillip.
The Knockout Verdict: Haunting and extremely scary filmmaking.
The film that effectively relaunched folk-horror. It’s fantastic, tense enough to cut with a knife, and legitimately scary. It stands head and shoulders above most others in the genre. Full review here.
Why It’s Here: It belongs here as the standard-bearer for modern witch horror. It made earthy, primal dread popular again.
The Synopsis
In 17th-century New England, a puritanical family is banished from their village and forced to live at the edge of a dark wood. It isn’t long before their baby vanishes, their crops fail, and they begin to turn on each other, all while a very real coven, and a goat named Black Phillip, watch on
🕯️ Covens & Satanic Rituals
If you like your horror with a dash of paranoia, this one’s for you. Here, the witch isn’t a lonely outcast; she’s part of a powerful, organized club with a dark agenda. These films explore the terror of the coven – secret societies hiding in plain sight, schoolgirls with vicious ambitions, and families bound by demonic pacts that span generations. From ancient conspiracies to blood-soaked rituals, the threat here is organized, and you might just be the main ingredient in their next satanic ceremony.
Luz (2018) – Demonic Entities and 16mm Retro Vibes
- ⭐ IMDb Score: 5.5/10
- 🎬 Director: Tilman Singer
- 🧹 Sub-Genre: Experimental Arthouse
The Star of the Show: The demonic entity’s source.
The Knockout Verdict: Genuinely bizarre German experimental film.
The witch stuff is more implied than explicitly stated here. It’s shot on 16mm which lends it just a hint of the pretentious, but fans of truly experimental, retro-feeling movies are going to love it.
Why It’s Here: It’s unlike anything else on this list, using a routine police station interview as a gateway into a bizarre haunting.
The Synopsis
A cab driver is brought to a police station for a routine interview. It soon becomes clear that a demonic entity has followed her there, leading to a genuinely bizarre experience.
The Blackcoat’s Daughter (2015) – Boarding Schools and Satanic Dread
- ⭐ IMDb Score: 5.9/10
- 🎬 Director: Oz Perkins
- 🧹 Sub-Genre: Satanic Occult Horror
The Star of the Show: The winter break isolation.
The Knockout Verdict: Atmospheric, dread-filled, and legitimately shocking.
Oz Perkins is loves witches, apparently. This film builds to a shocking, satanic-witchcraft laced ending that reflects on themes of loneliness and the desire to be accepted by something dark.
Why It’s Here: It’s a perfect example of modern “slow-burn” occult horror that prioritizes isolation and psychological dread over flashiness.
The Synopsis
How about a second appearance from director Ozgood Perkins? I bet you didn’t realise he was so prolific when it came to witch themed films. Two young women are left stranded at their Catholic boarding school over winter break. As an ominous evil closes in, a third woman with a dark past makes her way towards the school.
Witching & Bitching (2013) – Jewel Thieves and Basque Covens
- ⭐ IMDb Score: 6.3/10
- 🎬 Director: Álex de la Iglesia
- 🧹 Sub-Genre: Horror Comedy
The Star of the Show: The multi-generational coven.
The Knockout Verdict: Wild, high-energy, and completely over-the-top.
Witchcraft doesn’t often make for great horror comedy, but this wild Spanish film knocks it out of the park. It’s a bloody, hilarious battle for survival that covers an entire town of witches.
Why It’s Here: It proves that covens can be a source of high-octane fun and slapstick horror without losing their menacing edge.
The Synopsis
A group of jewel thieves end up in a remote Basque village inhabited by a terrifying, multi-generational coven of witches, leading to a bloody and hilarious battle for survival.
Anything for Jackson (2020) – Bereaved Satanists and Reverse Exorcisms
- ⭐ IMDb Score: 6.3/10
- 🎬 Director: Justin G. Dyck
- 🧹 Sub-Genre: Satanic Ritual Horror
The Star of the Show: The “reverse exorcism” plan.
The Knockout Verdict: Legitimately fun with fantastic ritualistic themes.
Not a traditional witchcraft movie, but it turns the dark arts into a doorway for damnation. An elderly couple kidnaps a woman to put their dead grandson’s spirit into her unborn child. Naturally, all hell breaks loose.
Why It’s Here: It’s a fantastic Canadian horror that uses occultism and satanic ritualism to create a unique, terrifyingly fun experience.
The Synopsis
I’d actually completely forgotten about this movie until discussing this list with my fiancee. A bereaved, elderly Satanist couple kidnap a pregnant woman. Their plan isn’t to harm her, but to perform a “reverse exorcism” to put the spirit of their dead grandson, Jackson, into her unborn child. Naturally, they open a door they can’t close, and all hell (quite literally) breaks loose. This is another one you can grab on Shudder and is legitimately fun.
Suspiria (2018) – Berlin Academies and Matriarchal Witches
- ⭐ IMDb Score: 6.7/10
- 🎬 Director: Luca Guadagnino
- 🧹 Sub-Genre: Arthouse Coven Horror
The Star of the Show: The bone-crunching dance choreography.
The Knockout Verdict: A polarising but stylish departure from the original.
Taking on a classic is no small task. Guadagnino did a very nice job thanks to a great cast and a score by Thom Yorke. It departs from the original’s story while keeping the theme of ancient witches fighting for control.
Why It’s Here: It’s a perfect choice for coven-themed horror that trades the original’s primary colors for a wintery, ritualistic dread.
The Synopsis
An American woman joins a prestigious Berlin dance academy, only to discover the matrons who run the school are actually a coven of powerful witches fighting for control.
Hereditary (2018) – Family Grief and Organized Satanism
- ⭐ IMDb Score: 7.3/10
- 🎬 Director: Ari Aster
- 🧹 Sub-Genre: Occult Drama
The Star of the Show: Toni Collette.
The Knockout Verdict: One of the best coven films ever made.
It ticks so many boxes for satanism, witchcraft, and the occult. After the matriarch dies, the family disintegrates, and we find the terrible events are linked to a strange group of people their grandmother knew.
Why It’s Here: It’s a quintessential modern masterpiece that reveals the terrifying organization behind its central, tragic curse. Full review here.
The Synopsis
A family matriarch passes away, leaving her daughter’s family to face a series of increasingly disturbing events linked to the occult legacy of their ancestors.
🔮 The Solitary Witch & Occult Magic
Sometimes, the most terrifying magic is deeply personal. This category is for the girl who wants to go it alone, the heavy weight of a family legacy, and the occult dabbler who probably should have left that dusty old book on the shelf. These films explore the danger of the individual path; ranging from dark coming-of-age stories about discovering (or inheriting) a frightening new power, to sharp satires on the cost of desire. These are intimate, unsettling tales about what happens when you conjure something in the silence of your own home that you can no longer control.
Pyewacket (2017) – Angst-Ridden Teens and Summoned Spirits
- ⭐ IMDb Score: 5.8/10
- 🎬 Director: Adam MacDonald
- 🧹 Sub-Genre: Indie Occult Horror
The Star of the Show: The ancient witch Pyewacket.
The Knockout Verdict: A creepy, well-liked indie chiller.
This utilizes the remote setting and character vulnerability perfectly. An angst-ridden girl summons a demon to kill her mother, only to sense something sinister lurking in their home. It’s actually quite creepy in parts!
Why It’s Here: It’s a fantastic Canadian indie that brings a teen-centric, solitary focus to the dark world of summoning. Check out the review.
The Synopsis
An angst-ridden teenage girl, furious with her mother and feeling displaced after moving to a remote house, unwisely performs an occult ritual in the woods to summon a demon known as Pyewacket to kill her. Naturally, she soon begins to regret her decision as she senses something sinister lurking in the shadows of their home.
Hellbender (2021) – Metal Music and Generations of Witches
- ⭐ IMDb Score: 5.8/10
- 🎬 Directors: Zelda Adams, Toby Poser, John Adams
- 🧹 Sub-Genre: Arthouse DIY Horror
The Star of the Show: The generational lineage of power.
The Knockout Verdict: A fantastic, grimy DIY indie gem.
A lonely girl and her mother live isolated in the woods, but there’s far more to her mother’s “rare illness” than she thought. It’s a generations-old dark secret. Arthouse, grimy, and definitely underrated.
Why It’s Here: It acts as a brilliant coming-of-age movie about inheriting power, proving that indie filmmaking can still produce great occult cinema.
The Synopsis
This, similar to Pyewacket, is another movie that places the focus on an isolated teen. Both are great options when it comes to movies about solitary witches. It acts as something of a coming-of-age movie as much as it does a horror. It even starts off in a similar way to the aforementioned movie as it follows a lonely teenage girl and her mother who live an isolated life in the woods.
Her mother claims she has a rare illness, but the girl soon discovers that there is far more to her condition than she initially though. Her mother is hiding the family’s dark secret: they are part of a generations-old lineage of witches.
The Love Witch (2016) – Technicolor Satire and Seductive Potions
- ⭐ IMDb Score: 6.2/10
- 🎬 Director: Anna Biller
- 🧹 Sub-Genre: Arthouse Horror Satire
The Star of the Show: The lush, 1960s Technicolor style.
The Knockout Verdict: An absolutely gorgeous, razor-sharp satire.
Despite being made in 2016, it is a complete throwback to flared pants and bee-hives. It’s about a witch using spells to seduce men, but her magic works a bit too well. One of the most unique and cool movies on this list.
Why It’s Here: It earns its spot for its unrivaled visual style and its brilliant, biting modern commentary on love and narcissism.
The Synopsis
A beautiful young witch named Elaine moves to a new town hellbent on finding a man to love her. She uses spells and potions to seduce them, but her magic works just a little too well, leaving a string of pathetic, lovelorn victims in her wake.
👻 Witch-Adjacent & Monstrous Magic
This is our category for the films that blur the lines, and honestly, they’re some of the most creative. While these might not feature witches in the traditional Western sense, the “witch” here is a child-eating, skin-stealing monster, or a long-dead spirit whose magic is so powerful it poisons the present. These are films where witchcraft is the primal source of the horror – the cause of a plague, the key to a possession, or the power behind a terrifying entity. It’s ancient magic at its most monstrous and unpredictable.
The Wailing (2016) – Shamanism, Zombies, and Goksung Chaos
- ⭐ IMDb Score: 7.4/10
- 🎬 Director: Na Hong-jin
- 🧹 Sub-Genre: Regional Folk Shamanism
The Star of the Show: The complex regional folklore chaos.
The Knockout Verdict: One of the best horror films of the century.
This masterfully blends zombies, demons, and folk shamanism with a powerful ‘witch’ at the center. It’s complex, fascinating, and will probably demand a second watch. A completely different and refreshing take on the subject.
Why It’s Here: It represents the “monstrous magic” category perfectly, using regional South Korean shamanism to craft an epic mystery. Featured on our mystery list too!
The Synopsis
A policeman investigates a series of brutal murders connected to a mysterious disease in a small village. Somehow, it all seems to have some link to the arrival of a mysterious Japanese stranger but in what way?
The Wretched (2019) – Slip-Skin Witches and Neighborhood Suspicions
- ⭐ IMDb Score: 5.8/10
- 🎬 Directors: Drew T. Pierce, Brett Pierce
- 🧹 Sub-Genre: Creature Feature
The Star of the Show: The ancient child-eating witch.
The Knockout Verdict: A modern Fright Night-style creature feature.
While I didn’t exactly praise it in my review, I know it is very well liked. It approaches the whole witch subject from a completely different angle—a child-eating, “slip-skin” creature. Light, fun, and very watchable.
Why It’s Here: It earns its spot for those looking for something more entertainment-focused and “creature feature” adjacent. Check out the review.
The Synopsis
How about an entirely more modern approach to the whole witch thing? The Wretched follows a rebellious teenage boy who, after being sent to live with his father for the summer, begins to suspect that his new neighbour isn’t quite who she seems. He soon discovers that an ancient, child-eating, “slip-skin” witch may have something to do with it.
The Cursed (2021) – Roma Curses and Silver Teeth
- ⭐ IMDb Score: 6.2/10
- 🎬 Director: Sean Ellis
- 🧹 Sub-Genre: Gothic Folk Horror
The Star of the Show: Kelly Reilly and the silver-fanged plague.
The Knockout Verdict: A body-horror plague rooted in dark magic.
While technically about a werewolf, the witch element is central. It treats the curse like a dark magic plague, rooted in the dying breath of a massacred Roma clan. It brings the themes together in a way that doesn’t feel silly.
Why It’s Here: It’s a masterclass in gothic atmosphere that shows how a single witch’s curse can poison an entire lineage.
The Synopsis
In 19th-century France, a landowner slaughters a Roma clan. Using their dying breath to curse the land, they unleash a body-horror plague rooted in dark magic.
The Autopsy of Jane-Doe (2016) – Body-in-a-Box and Ritual Torture
- ⭐ IMDb Score: 6.8/10
- 🎬 Director: André Øvredal
- 🧹 Sub-Genre: Mystery Chiller
The Star of the Show: The fiendishly clever mystery.
The Knockout Verdict: Ostensibly about a witch, but focuses on the mystery.
An absolutely amazing horror movie that approaches the traditional horror topic in a clever way. It makes for legitimately fantastic scares that I won’t spoil here. Check out our full review.
Why It’s Here: It wraps up the list by showing that sometimes the unidentified and “examined” body holds a terrifying ritual history.
The Synopsis
A father-and-son coroner team receive the body of an unidentified woman found at a grisly crime scene. As they begin the autopsy, they find that her body has no external signs of trauma, but her insides are ravaged, revealing a history of ritualistic torture. They soon realise they aren’t just examining a body; they’ve unleashed something far more horrifying than they ever could have imagined.
Thanks for Reading
The modern horror witch is far more than cartoonish figures on broomsticks. From the isolated Alpine madness of Hagazussa to the Technicolor satire of The Love Witch, the genre is absolutely thriving. Pick a theme, grab your salt circle, and have a great Halloween!
🧹 Quick Picks: The Best Modern Witch Movies
The Definitive Folk Horror: The Witch (2015)
The film that effectively relaunched the genre. It is earthy, terrifying, and deeply rooted in the “old ways.” If you only watch one modern witch movie, this is it. It captures puritanical dread with a cold, sharp precision.
The Best Occult Nightmare: Hereditary (2018)
A stunning exploration of a coven pulling the strings of a grieving family. It is visceral, emotionally devastating, and essential viewing for fans of the dark arts. It turns familial trauma into an organized satanic ritual.
The Most Visually Unique: The Love Witch (2016)
Shot in lush Technicolor, this is a gorgeous throwback to 60s visuals with a razor-sharp modern feminist subtext. There is truly nothing else like it—it’s a stylized, saturated dream of seductive magic.
The Best Mystery Hybrid: The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)
A brilliant “body-in-a-box” mystery that slowly reveals a horrifying history of ritualistic torture. It’s claustrophobic and fiendishly clever, proving that witchcraft can haunt even the most clinical settings.
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