Spooky season's in full swing and it's the most potent and powerful time to cast spells, craft altars, and worship at the steps if the supernatural. Witches have been portrayed a dozen different ways in movies over the past century, from cackling meanies to Satan's loyal concubines to crusading champions for good vibes and natural balance. But whatever version manifests on screen, there's sure to be scintillating sorcery abound.
Witches can be macabre and ghoulish or striking symbols of female power and autonomy. We've sifted through decades of crone-centric cinema to bring you the BEST Witch movies ever made. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll probably even shriek over this best o' the hex, with witches taking the spotlight as either the helpful, hopeful heroine or the shadowy manipulating mistress of the dark.
10. The Love Witch (2016)
Where to Watch: Peacock, Kanopy, or rentable on most platforms.
Writer/director Anna Biller's vibrant, retro-freak out, The Love Witch, whisks us back to a Technicolor 60s-style for a pulpy, satirical look at sexual hierarchy. Samantha Robinson's predatory priestess, Elaine, presides over this vintage visual homage as a witch on the prowl for a replacement for her late husband. Using magic to make men fall desperately in love with her, Elaine leaves a trail of bodies in her wake as The Love Witch exposes how deep men's fear of women and their sexuality can run.
9. Eve’s Bayou (1997)
Where to Watch: FuboTV, Starz, or rentable on most platforms.
Kasi Lemmons' (Harriet) first feature film was Eve's Bayou, starring a young Jurnee Smollett as a 10-year-old girl, Eve, living in 1960s Louisiana. Increasingly troubled by her father's (Samuel L. Jackson) infidelities and abusive behaviors, Eve seeks answers, and possible solutions, from a local Hoodoo practitioner (Debbi Morgan). Eve's Bayou is a muggy and marvelous story of love, hate, and sorrow set amongst a sinister Southern gothic backdrop.
8. The Witches (1990)
Where to Watch: Rentable on Amazon and most platforms.
Produced by Jim Henson, and based on the book by Roald Dahl, The Witches (which was remade by Robert Zemeckis in 2020) developed a strong cult following over the past three decades as a delightfully wicked children's horror movie, featuring a twisted comic edge and scary imagery that left a mark on a whole generation. Anjelica Huston headlined this tale of grotesque witches who hide in plain sight as regular looking citizens, leaving it all up to a boy and his grandmother to save the day after they discover a plot by the Grand High Witch to destroy all the children in England. The Witches is diabolical family fun.
7. The Craft (1996)
Where to Watch: Hulu, rentable on Amazon and most platforms.
The Craft did for witches what 1987's The Lost Boys did for vampire movies, bringing the lore and legacy into the realm of teen outcasts, freshening the brew for a new flock of fans. When four misfit high-schoolers -- Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell, and Rachel True -- start tampering with witchcraft it's an immediate boon for their confidence and social standing. But darker urges and desires work to tear the quartet apart in this game-changing pop-culture goth-a-thon. The Craft is must-watch for a-witch-ionados.
6. Practical Magic (1998)
Where to Watch: Hulu, rentable on Amazon and most platforms.
Based on Alice Hoffman's 1995 novel, and helmed by actor/director Griffin Dunne, Practical Magic boasts an all-star cast top-lined by Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. As sisters Sally and Gillian, descendants of powerful witches, Bullock and Kidman make magic on screen in this dramedy about inexperienced spellcasters accidentally giving rise to an evil spirit that threatens their family's entire legacy. Despite the stars involved, Practical Magic didn't find an audience right away but has since, over the past 25 years, garnered adoration and acclaim. Goran Visnjic (who you can see in the new Hellraiser), Stockard Channing, Dianne Wiest, and Aidan Quinn co-star.
5. Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)
Where to Watch: Max, or rentable on most platforms.
Miyazaki's Kiki’s Delivery Service, adapted from the 1985 novel by Eiko Kadono, is a gorgeous, heartwarming Studio Ghibli movie about a young witch trying to find her place in the world. Kiki, a child witch, moves to a new town with her cat, Jiji, for her mandatory year of independent life, facing the challenges of life by supporting herself with an air courier business. This is a charming coming-of-age fable about overcoming self-doubt and recognizing one's own worth
4. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Where to Watch: Paramount+, Freevee, or rentable on most platforms.
From charming to chaotic, The Blair Witch Project cleaned up at the box office and jump-started the "found footage" phenomenon in horror movies. The terror was left up to the audience to imagine as three filmmakers headed into the woods to research a local legend, only to get lost, starved, and cruelly toyed with by unseen forces. Largely improvised by the three-leads, who filmed the movie themselves and barely interacted with directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez during actual production (they'd be left basic notes each morning leading them to scenes and sets they'd never encountered(. The Blair Witch Project happened at a time in the internet's infancy, leaving most to wonder if this was actually real or not. Which only added to the fright.
3. Suspiria (1977)
Where to Watch: Tubi, Kanopy, or rentable at Alamo On Demand.
Dario Argento's Suspiria is a paragon of paranoia. An atrocity exhibit of off-kilter camera work, devilish design, and crazed colors crashing over loosely-tethered plot. the story of a ballet student who unravels a conspiracy involving a cabal of witches, Surpiria is like walking through a nightmare at times as Argento proves masterful at creating an environment and a world that is uniquely its own thing. The gruesome, convoluted killings, the garish color palate, the freaked-out sound (including a haunting score by Goblin), Suspiria is a hellish hallmark.
2. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Where to Watch: Max, or rentable on most platforms.
This landmark musical, adapted from L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, may have had a funnily flimsy interpretation of witches, but it imprinted a indelible iconography on the public. A witch's template, if you will. The black dress and hat, the cackle, the green skin, the broomstick, these costumes (and decor) can still be found in Halloween shops today (or as one of the three masks in Halloween III: Season of the Witch). The Wizard of Oz may not be a full-fledged "witch" movie, but the Wicked Witch of the West is one of the most famous movie villains of all time, marking her territory amongst the Draculas, Wolfmen, and so on.
1. The Witch (2015)
Where to Watch: Max, Kanopy, DirecTV, or rentable on most platforms.
The sheer scariness of Robert Eggers' unrelenting, unnerving tale, The Witch -- which only involves a small wooden house and the nearby woods -- is a prime example of just how impactful horror can be when it's composed and precise. Actress Anya Taylor-Joy became an instant star as Tomasin, the oldest daughter of a 17th Century family that gets targeted by a nearby coven of witches after the father's strict religious beliefs get them all exiled from their New England colony. The Witch, as wicked as it is, winds up being a tense and thought-provoking argument for living deliciously (when the alternative is being shunned by a crazed, misogynist society). It's one of the best A24 movies to date.
Read IGN's review of The Witch here.
Upcoming Witch Movies
For those looking to watch some more witchy movies, there are a couple recently released and coming soon that are worth keeping on your radar. Heir of the Witch is a film that recently released this year, and coming soon will be Wicked Part 1. The cinematic adaptation of this broadway hit is set to release on November 27, 2024.
Looking for more movie suggestions like this? Take a look at our guide to the best horror movies on Netflix and top halloween movies to watch.
source https://www.ign.com/articles/best-witch-movies