[Editorial] 15 Wicked Horror Films About Witchcraft

Ever since I was a kid, I have been obsessed with witches. Viewings of The Craft (1996) in primary school and Practical Magic (1998) in my teen years pretty much shaped me as a person, and definitely had a lasting effect on my fashion sense and music taste. 

Many years, a shelf full of spell books, and a huge crystal collection later, I’m still as obsessed with the wonderful world of witches. And luckily, the horror genre is full of lots of amazing movies featuring witches. So, let’s dive into 15 excellent horror films about witches and witchcraft.

15) Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000)

I could have picked any of the movies in this series for this list, but the reason I’ve chosen the sequel, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, is because it features Wiccan Erica as well as the unseen malevolent force of the Blair Witch herself. Erica is a part of a tour group that wants to explore the woods of Burkittsville, Maryland to find out more about where the first film was set.

It’s Erica’s belief in the more peaceful side of witchcraft which lures her to the tour group, but she soon finds out that the Blair Witch and the seemingly cursed woods are far more real than she could have imagined.

14) The Wretched (2019)

A witch is lurking in the woods near the home of Ben and his father, and when their neighbour Abbie and her son, Dillon, seemingly awaken the witch, things start to get very scary for the local community. 

To begin with, it seems as though Abbie has been taken over by something else, and then Dillon disappears without a trace, with even his own father claiming he has no memory of him. Even though she loves to body swap, that doesn’t stop the creature design in The Wretched frombeing nice and creepy as she works her way through the children of the town.

13) We Have Always Lived in the Castle (2018)

Merricat may not be your typical witch, but she uses protective magic at every opportunity to keep herself, her sister Constance, and her uncle safe from the surrounding villagers. Ever since Constance was accused and then found innocent of poisoning most of her family, the sisters are heavily judged by those who live near them. 

Merricat uses spells and charms around the edge of the family property to keep outsiders at bay and to ensure that her sister remains safe. Merricat uses her own intuition and objects from the family home which she feels have power, rather than a traditional spell book, but she believes wholeheartedly in the power of her magic.

12) The Witches of Eastwick (1987)

Alexandra, Jane, and Sukie are three friends from the town of Eastwick who aren’t exactly thrilled about how their lives have turned out. While they are good friends, they don’t know they are witches, and accidentally summon a mysterious man, Daryl, to the town, who quickly seduces all three women. 

Soon the women discover their magical powers, and all three of them break up with Daryl, eventually teaming up as witches against him to get him out of their lives for good.

11) Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School (1988)

Minus the rest of the Scooby Gang, Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy take jobs at an all-girls school as gym teachers. While they’re hoping for a relaxing time, it turns out all the pupils at the school are daughters of famous monsters such as Dracula and the Wolf Man.

While Shaggy and Scooby get over their initial fear, it turns out an evil witch called Revolta wants to kidnap the monster girls and turn them into her slaves. Teaming up with her spider bats and a creature called the Grim Creeper, Revolta is an extremely creepy villain, but she’s no match for Scooby-Doo!

10) Hereditary (2018)

While we manage to get through most of Hereditary without it seeming particularly witchy, by the time we reach the end (and on repeat viewings) the witchy influence running through the entire film is clear to see. After Annie’s mother, Ellen, dies, she finds herself trying to figure out what her mother’s secretive life was really like.

And in the end, it turns out Ellen was the head of an ancient witch coven, who has a very specific plan for Annie and her children. Slowly the remaining coven members close in on Annie and her family, determined to carry out Ellen’s plan even after her death.

9) The Witch (2015)

In the 1600s, a family of English settlers are banished from their settlement and forced to start a new life near some remote woods. When the oldest child, Thomasin, is babysitting the youngest child, baby Samuel, he mysteriously disappears. The family think he may have been taken by an animal, but really he’s been snatched and killed by the witch who lives in the nearby woods. 

As the family tries to recover from their grief, things start to go even more wrong, and it seems as though they may be cursed. While Thomasin tries to prove that she isn’t destroying the family with witchcraft, it turns out witchcraft may be the path to happiness after all.

8) Pumpkinhead (1988)

After a horrible accident claims the life of his son, Ed Harley turns to local witch Haggis in the hopes that she will be able to save his child. While she says she is unable to wake him from the dead, she is able to offer Ed a little revenge by raising the creature Pumpkinhead to hunt down those responsible for his son’s death. 

After giving Ed instructions on where to find Pumpkinhead’s body, she performs a ritual which brings the creature to life and sets him on his revenge mission.

7) Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

When you’ve just moved home, the last thing you need is creepy neighbours who are intent on getting you pregnant with the antichrist, but that’s exactly what happens to poor Rosemary when she moves into the Bramford building. 

It turns out her neighbours are all witches who worship the Devil, performing a ritual which sees Rosemary get impregnated without her knowledge. Not only do the witches try to control Rosemary’s entire pregnancy, but when she gives birth they steal the baby, telling her it died in childbirth, so they can raise it for their own evil purposes.

6) The Fear Street Trilogy (2021)

Shadyside has a terrible reputation, with many blaming the high crime rate and raising body count on a curse Sarah Fier placed on the town when she was executed for witchcraft in 1666. Over the years several serial killers have sprung up, claiming the lives of many Shadesiders in the process. 

Through the trilogy of Fear Street films, we learn the full extent of Sarah Fier’s curse and even head back to the year 1666 to see the circumstances surrounding Sarah’s death and find out the truth about why she was sentenced to die.

5) Hocus Pocus (1993)

In 1693, the three Sanderson sisters are tried and killed as witches after murdering Emily Binx and turning her older brother, Thackeray, into a cat. While the town manages to live in peace for centuries, it is said if a virgin lights the black flame candle the witches will return. Not believing in Halloween or local curses, new kid to Salem, Max, lights the candle to prove a point and accidentally resurrects the sisters. 

The sisters only have one night to drain the life of a child to ensure their resurrection is permanent, so it’s a race against time for Max, his little sister, and his new friend Allison to rid Salem of the witches once again.

4) Scooby-Doo! and the Witch’s Ghost (1999)

More Scooby-Doo, but this time we get some nice Wiccan representation, as well as an evil witch’s ghost. The Scooby Gang head to the town of Oakhaven and end up encountering the ghost of Sarah Ravencroft, a vengeful witch. Her ancestor, Ben Ravencroft, claims Sarah was a peaceful Wiccan, and the ghost can’t be her.

Local band, The Hex Girls, also have a witch in their midst, with lead singer and guitarist Thorn practising Wicca just like her mother did. When it turns out Sarah Ravencroft might be a bad witch, after all, it’s Thorn and her Wiccan powers that come to the rescue!

3) Sleepy Hollow (1999)

As well as the Headless Horseman going around cutting people’s heads off, there are also more than a few witches living in the town of Sleepy Hollow. First of all, there’s Katrina, a white witch who casts protective spells over those she loves. There’s also the Crone Witch, who lives in the woods, and is very powerful. 

Finally, there’s Lady Van Tassel, Katrina’s stepmother who is using her magic to get her revenge on the town and raise the Headless Horseman from the grave to do her bidding.

2) Practical Magic (1998)

Men may not be able to fall in love with an Owens woman without meeting an untimely death, but that never stopped me wishing I had witch aunts who invited me to live with them in their giant house and fed me chocolate cake for breakfast. Sisters Sally and Gillian live with their two aunts after their parents die, and all four women are amazing natural witches. 

While Sally shies away from her magical ability whenever life gets hard, the aunts try their best to pass their witchy powers onto their niece and her daughters. From casting love spells, making magical pancake syrup, or whipping up some of the best midnight margaritas out there, the Owens women definitely know how to have a magically good time.

1) The Craft (1996)

They may go to a Catholic high school, but that doesn’t stop Nancy, Bonnie, and Rochelle from practising witchcraft in their spare time and looking for a fourth witch to complete their coven. So when the naturally-gifted Sarah moves to town, she seems like the perfect fit for their magical circle. 

While things go well at first, the other three girls soon find themselves drunk on Sarah’s powerful influence. Sarah has to learn to use her newly discovered witchy powers to take on the people who were once her best friends. The outfits, the quotes, the soundtrack, and playing ‘light as a feather, stiff as a board’ all make this movie the perfect cosy evening movie if you need a little more magic in your life.

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