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Witches have been a staple of cinema almost since its inception. In 1898—just two years after the first movie screening in America—J. Stuart Blackton’s short film The Cavalier’s Dream introduced a witch who appeared on screen and cast a spell by tapping on a table.
Since then, our portrayals of witches have evolved significantly. While witches were central to films in the 1920s, it was in the late 1930s, with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and The Wizard of Oz, that the iconic image of the “movie witch” truly took shape.
Witches transcend genres; they are prevalent in horror but also appear in comedies, romances, superhero films, and family dramas. To explore the evolution of witches in cinema and enhance your Halloween watchlist—regardless of your affinity for horror—we’ve compiled a list of 25 essential witch-themed movies.
Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (1922)
Directed by Danish filmmaker Benjamin Christensen and produced by Sweden’s renowned Svensk Filmindustri, Häxan may not be the first film to explore witches and witchcraft, but it stands as one of the earliest and most significant cinematic achievements in the genre. Blending documentary-style narration with harrowing reenactments of medieval witch trials, Häxan shatters any assumption that a silent film from a century ago can’t be profoundly unsettling.
In a BBC interview, Ghostwatch writer Stephen Volk hailed Häxan as “the original faux documentary that inspired countless others,” suggesting it laid the groundwork for films like The Blair Witch Project. Volk isn’t alone in recognizing Häxan’s impact. The creators of Blair Witch paid homage by naming their production company Haxan Films.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Disney’s inaugural feature-length film is not only a cinematic triumph and an artistic and technical wonder—requiring 750 artists and nearly 2 million hand-drawn illustrations—but also a pivotal moment in occult cinema. Film historian Heather Greene notes that Snow White introduced two groundbreaking witch archetypes: the alluring “vamp witch,” later seen in films like Bell, Book and Candle and The Love Witch, and the first genuinely terrifying witch antagonist in movie history.
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Despite appearing for only 12 minutes in Victor Fleming’s adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s beloved novel, Margaret Hamilton redefined the portrayal of witches in popular culture. While the Wicked Witch’s black attire, pointed hat, and hooked nose were already linked to witches long before The Wizard of Oz, the film broke new ground by making her skin green—a departure from the traditional white, orange, yellow, or red hues used in earlier depictions.
In the introduction to the 1977 book The Making of The Wizard of Oz, Hamilton suggested that the green makeup might have been a technical solution rather than a creative choice. The color prevented a visual issue where black clothing against light skin created a disembodied effect. However, the toxic makeup caused Hamilton severe skin irritation and worsened serious burns she sustained during filming. Despite the challenges, her iconic performance left a lasting legacy, inspiring countless green-skinned witches in cartoons, costumes, and Halloween decorations.
I Married a Witch (1942)
French director René Clair and comedy legend Preston Sturges took creative liberties when adapting the 1941 novel The Passionate Witch. The original story, begun by Topper author Thorne Smith and finished posthumously by Norman Matson, featured a seductive witch who used both charm and dark magic to control the male protagonist, along with graphic scenes like an animal sacrifice. The film, however, took a lighter, more whimsical approach.
In her book Lights, Camera, Witchcraft, film historian Heather Greene notes that the original content of The Passionate Witch would have clashed with the Hays Code, a strict set of Hollywood guidelines that prohibited portraying evil as “presented alluringly.” Casting Veronica Lake, one of the most captivating figures of 1942, as a wicked sorceress would have been unthinkable under these rules.
To adapt the story, Clair and Sturges shifted the narrative perspective from the male protagonist to the witch herself. Veronica Lake plays a revived witch who develops feelings for a man descended from the ancestor who condemned her to death in the 17th century. This clever twist resulted in a timeless screwball comedy that later inspired the TV show Bewitched.
Woman Who Came Back (1945)
Witch-themed horror films were rare in the 1940s, making Woman Who Came Back particularly noteworthy. Film historian Kelly Robinson, in her commentary on Imprint’s 2024 Blu-ray release, highlights that many iconic American horror films of the time were either set abroad (The Wolf Man; I Walked with a Zombie) or featured immigrant characters as supernatural threats (Cat People; Weird Woman).
Woman Who Came Back stands out as one of the few WWII-era horror films deeply rooted in American history and folklore. Set during Halloween and inspired by the Salem witch trials, it tells the story of a woman descended from a witch-hunter who believes she is haunted by a vengeful witch’s spirit. While not overly frightening, the film excels in creating a spooky ambiance, and its vintage children’s costumes are genuinely unsettling.
Bell, Book and Candle (1958)
In Bell, Book and Candle, the stunning Kim Novak plays Gil Holroyd, a witch who becomes enamored with mortal Shep Henderson, portrayed by James Stewart in his final romantic lead role. The film perpetuates a frustrating trope in witch lore—where a witch must relinquish her powers for love—but it also paved the way for the secret magical worlds seen in later franchises like Bewitched and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.
Modern audiences often interpret Bell, Book and Candle as an allegory for LGBTQ+ experiences in mid-20th century America. Adapted from John Van Druten’s 1950 play, whose work frequently explored queer themes during a time when such identities were heavily suppressed, the film resonates deeply with contemporary viewers.
Black Sunday (1960)
1960 was a landmark year for horror films, with releases like Eyes Without a Face in France, Jigoku in Japan, and Peeping Tom and Psycho in the U.S. Italy’s standout contribution was Mario Bava’s Black Sunday, hailed by the British Film Institute as “the true birth of Italian horror” and frequently ranked among the greatest horror films ever made.
The film explores a recurring theme in witch-centric cinema: a woman condemned as a witch who places a curse on the descendants of her executioners. Here, the Moldavian witch, portrayed by the iconic British scream queen Barbara Steele, has ample reason for vengeance. In the opening scene, she endures horrific torture and is sealed away for two centuries.
Despite being filmed in black and white, Black Sunday’s graphic violence led to its ban in the UK for years. Director Mario Bava later created other influential horror films, such as the anthology Black Sabbath and the slasher precursor Bay of Blood. However, Black Sunday remains his most acclaimed work, largely due to Steele’s electrifying dual roles as the vengeful witch and the innocent woman she plans to possess.
Burn, Witch, Burn (1962)
This gripping British horror film, known in the UK as Night of the Eagle, is a standout adaptation of Fritz Lieber’s novel Conjure Wife, previously filmed as Weird Woman in 1944 and later reimagined as Witches’ Brew in 1980. Scripted by I Am Legend author Richard Matheson and Twilight Zone writer Charles Beaumont, Burn, Witch, Burn is widely regarded as the best version of the story.
Often seen as a thematic follow-up to Jacques Tourneur’s Night of the Demon, the film follows a skeptical sociology professor whose life spirals into chaos when he suspects his wife’s witchcraft is behind his rapid rise at Hempnell Medical College. The U.S. release featured an extended voiceover by Paul Frees, a renowned voice actor known for his Orson Welles impressions. Frees also voiced the Ghost Host in Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion and brought Boo-Berry to life in General Mills’ monster cereal ads.
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Roman Polanski’s groundbreaking American debut tells the story of a young woman ensnared by a coven of sophisticated witches in a stylish New York City apartment. However, the film nearly took a different direction; B-movie legend William Castle (House on Haunted Hill; 13 Ghosts) initially acquired the rights to Ira Levin’s novel before its 1967 release, planning to direct it himself.
While Rosemary’s Baby achieved massive success, Castle believed it came with a dark cost. In his 1976 memoir Step Right Up! I’m Gonna Scare the Pants Off America, he recounted receiving up to 50 furious letters daily, some accusing him of “unleashing evil” and labeling him a “devotee of Satan.” He grew convinced the film was cursed: following its release, he suffered from kidney stones and uremic poisoning, composer Krzysztof Komeda died from a brain injury, and Polanski’s wife, Sharon Tate, was tragically murdered by the Manson Family.
Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
If Bedknobs and Broomsticks feels reminiscent of Mary Poppins, there’s a clear explanation. The project only began development after Walt Disney’s efforts to secure the rights to P. L. Travers’s Mary Poppins series stalled. Once Mary Poppins became a box office sensation, this film was fast-tracked into production.
Julie Andrews was initially in the running to play Eglantine Price, a novice witch who unwillingly becomes the guardian of three children evacuated from London during the Blitz in World War II. However, producers ultimately chose Angela Lansbury for the role, with David Tomlinson, Andrews’s co-star from Mary Poppins, cast as the charming fraudster Emelius Brown.
Don DaGradi, the screenwriter of Mary Poppins, directed Bedknobs and Broomsticks. (Both films also share music by the Sherman brothers.) Critics often compare Bedknobs and Broomsticks to Mary Poppins, but it stands out with Lansbury’s portrayal of a childless, middle-aged witch who rides a motorcycle and battles Nazis on a mail-order broomstick.
Suspiria (1977)
While 1970s American horror leaned into gritty realism, Italian director Dario Argento crafted Suspiria, a “psychedelic fairy tale” about an American ballet student who discovers her German dance academy is controlled by witches.
Argento and co-writer Daria Nicolodi drew inspiration from classic fairy tales and gothic art for Suspiria. However, the film’s striking visual style owes much to Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which influenced its bold use of color.
“We aimed to replicate the vibrant colors of classic Technicolor and Disney films,” Argento explained to Another Man magazine in 2018. “The bold, vivid hues from those movies left a lasting impression on me since childhood.” To achieve this, cinematographer Luciano Tovoli sourced a rare vintage Kodak film stock that mimicked Technicolor’s brilliance, requiring the team to shoot each scene in just a few takes.
The Worst Witch (1986)
The first television adaptation of Jill Murphy’s beloved children’s book series has never been a critical favorite. Murphy herself expressed dissatisfaction with the script, special effects, and even the costumes, which reportedly brought the young cast to tears.
Despite its flaws, the film boasts an impressive cast, including Tim Curry, Fairuza Balk, and Charlotte Rae. Curry’s rendition of “Anything Can Happen on Halloween,” paired with groundbreaking blue-screen effects, remains unforgettable. Thanks to annual broadcasts on HBO and later the Disney Channel, The Worst Witch became a Halloween tradition for many viewers.
Pumpkinhead (1988)
Pumpkinhead marks the sole directorial effort of special effects icon Stan Winston (The Terminator; Aliens). The film’s concept originates from a poem by Ed Justin, with film scholar Heather Greene linking its origins to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1852 tale “Feathertop,” where a witch creates a pumpkin-headed scarecrow to woo a townsperson’s daughter as an act of revenge.
In Pumpkinhead, the witch is reimagined as Haggis, the “old witch of the woods,” who summons a demonic creature at the request of a grieving father to avenge the accidental death of a local boy. Haggis embodies the eerie Appalachian granny witch archetype: feared and respected by the community, she is a terrifying yet essential figure in their rural society.
Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)
Despite its lighthearted tone and gentle protagonist, this Studio Ghibli classic about a kind-hearted young witch finding her way in a charming, midcentury European town played a pivotal role in saving the now-renowned animation studio.
As noted by film journalist and Ghibliotheque podcast co-host Jake Cunningham, Ghibli was struggling after the commercial failures of Grave of the Fireflies and My Neighbor Totoro in 1988—both now considered masterpieces. Kiki’s Delivery Service became the hit they needed, transformed from a short 80-minute project into a feature-length film under Hayao Miyazaki’s direction and specifically targeted at young female audiences.
The film became a massive success, revitalizing Studio Ghibli’s fortunes. In Japan, Kiki’s Delivery Service topped the domestic box office in 1989, surpassed only by Rain Man and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in overall earnings that year.
The Witches (1990)
Adapted from Roald Dahl’s 1983 novel, The Witches was the final project Jim Henson completed before his passing in May 1990, just months after the film’s release. The story revolves around sinister witches plotting to transform the world’s children into mice using a magical potion. The film’s ending sparked controversy, as Henson and Dahl disagreed over its tone.
In Dahl’s original book, the protagonist remains a mouse, choosing to live out his days with his aging grandmother. Director Nicolas Roeg filmed this ending but also created an alternate, more uplifting conclusion where the boy regains his human form. Test audiences preferred the latter, which was ultimately used in the final cut. Dahl was furious, arguing that his version was both happy and more layered.
The Craft (1996)
A defining film of ’90s teen horror, The Craft also stands out as one of Hollywood’s earliest attempts to portray witchcraft authentically. To achieve this, the filmmakers enlisted Pat Devin, a Wiccan priestess and practicing witch, as a consultant. Even before her involvement, director Andrew Fleming and writer Peter Filardi aimed to depict modern witchcraft and pagan practices with accuracy in their script.
“I was thrilled that the initial script I read addressed magical ethics and the repercussions of misusing power,” Devin remarked in a 1998 interview. “It gave me hope for a quality film.”
While not all of Devin’s suggestions were adopted, several made it into the final cut, such as changing Nancy Downs’s fate from death to confinement in a mental institution. (An earlier draft had Nancy fatally impaled on a coat hook.) However, Devin occasionally guided the film away from realism, like advising the use of “Manon,” a fictional deity name, to prevent viewers from attempting real rituals inspired by the movie.
Eve’s Bayou (1997)
Set in 1962 Louisiana, Eve’s Bayou is a Southern gothic drama featuring an all-Black cast. It follows 10-year-old Eve Batiste, who, after discovering her father’s infidelity, seeks help from two local women rumored to be witches—potentially unleashing a curse with dire consequences.
Writer-director Kasi Lemmons avoided clichéd “witch doctor” stereotypes, opting instead for layered portrayals of root workers and conjure women. The film is among the few in American cinema to authentically depict hoodoo, a spiritual practice with West African origins, while also touching on elements of Haitian voodoo.
Eve’s Bayou is widely regarded as a modern classic. In 2018, the Library of Congress included Lemmons’s debut in its National Film Registry, acknowledging its “cultural, historical, and artistic significance to the nation’s cinematic legacy.”
Halloweentown (1998)
During the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Disney Channel delighted audiences with a series of family-friendly Halloween-themed original movies.
In October 1998, Halloweentown took center stage, telling the story of a 13-year-old girl who uncovers her magical heritage and ventures into a realm filled with vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and “a few very fine witches.” (Notably, Halloweentown premiered just a month after Scholastic released Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, introducing the world to a certain young wizard.)
Halloweentown aligns more with classic portal fantasies than traditional witch tales. However, its endearing, tween-focused storyline has cemented it as a cherished millennial favorite. The town of St. Helens, Oregon—where the film was shot—celebrates its legacy with an annual month-long Spirit of Halloweentown festival.
Originally developed for NBC in the early ’90s, Halloweentown was intended as a darker tale for older audiences. After moving to the Disney Channel, director Duwayne Dunham, known for his editing work on David Lynch’s Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, and Wild at Heart, reimagined it for a younger demographic.
Practical Magic (1998)
Despite grossing nearly $68 million worldwide by the end of its 1998 theatrical run, Practical Magic was considered a financial letdown, given its $75 million budget. Initially a critical and commercial misfire, the witch-themed romantic comedy has since gained a devoted fanbase, leading to a sequel announcement in June 2024.
While many factors can derail a film’s success, being cursed by a witch isn’t usually among them. Yet, as director Griffin Dunne revealed to Vulture in 2017, a “witch consultant” he hired allegedly cursed the movie, Dunne, and its producer after her suggestions were ignored.
She quickly filed a lawsuit against the studio and left Dunne a voicemail so terrifying that neither he nor Warner Bros.’ legal team could bring themselves to listen to it fully. This eerie event even inspired a line in the movie: “Curses only have power when you believe in them.” Despite this, Dunne struggled to dismiss the curse, eventually hiring someone to perform an exorcism for peace of mind.
The Witch (2015)
Writer-director Robert Eggers labeled his debut film “A New-England Folktale,” though he acknowledges its closer ties to pre-Disney fairy tales than traditional folklore. “The key was realizing that in the early modern period, the real and fairy tale worlds were one and the same, except for the most educated minds,” Eggers explained to Indiewire in 2016. “Everyday life was steeped in the supernatural. Witches were as real as dirt, wind, excrement, and God.”
To infuse his story with authenticity, Eggers drew much of the dialogue from 17th-century witch trial records and the works of Puritan minister Cotton Mather, who documented detailed accounts of the Salem witch trials. The film follows a family exiled from their Puritan community for being overly devout, only to encounter a witch in the wilderness.
The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)
This chilling 2016 thriller marked the American debut of Trollhunter director André Øvredal and introduced a witch-centric performance unlike any other. The story revolves around a corpse found at a massacre site, handed over to a father-son coroner duo to determine her cause of death.
Given its inclusion on this list, it’s no secret: Jane Doe is—or was—a witch, and her body conceals dark secrets best left buried. Actress Olwen Kenny, chosen partly for her modeling background, plays the titular Jane.
Kenny’s yoga skills allowed her to stay motionless for extended takes and regulate her breathing. The role demanded her to lie naked and still on a cold table for up to 10 hours daily, unresponsive to the chaos unfolding around her. Considering the gruesome events in the morgue as Jane’s body is examined, this was no small feat.
The Love Witch (2016)
Anna Biller’s The Love Witch exemplifies the auteur theory, as she is credited as the film’s writer, producer, director, composer, production designer, art director, set decorator, costume designer, and editor.
While researching her visually stunning film about a glamorous witch who literally loves men to death, Anna Biller nearly embraced witchcraft herself. She revealed that she immersed herself so deeply in the subject that she “considered becoming an initiate.” Biller’s modern portrayal of witchcraft draws from various contemporary traditions, including the teachings of English occultist Alex Sanders, neo-pagan figures Stewart and Janet Farrar, and Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey.
Suspiria (2018)
Luca Guadagnino’s Suspiria is less a remake and more a companion piece to Dario Argento’s 1977 original. Clocking in nearly an hour longer, Guadagnino reimagines the story of a witch-run dance academy, altering a key plot point and delving deeper into the lore.
Guadagnino replaces the original’s vibrant color palette with muted earth tones. For fans of practical effects, the film delivers with its infamous dance-torture sequence and a blood-soaked finale. Whether loved or loathed, it offers some of the most visually arresting horror imagery and a fresh perspective on witchcraft in cinema.
The Fear Street trilogy (2021)
In 1998, ABC attempted to introduce Ghosts of Fear Street, a half-hour series based on R.L. Stine’s popular YA horror novels, into its TGIF lineup. However, the pilot failed to resonate with female audiences, and the show was canceled after its initial episode.
Netflix found far greater success in 2021 with the Fear Street trilogy, which reimagines key elements of Stine’s books for a fresh spin on witch tales and teen slashers. Released in quick succession after the pandemic derailed its theatrical plans, the trilogy follows a young lesbian couple who unwittingly awaken the spirit of a girl executed as a witch in 1666. The films’ popularity led Netflix to announce a fourth entry, Fear Street: Prom Queen, based on Stine’s 1992 novel.
You Won’t Be Alone (2022)
This film about a young witch raised in 19th-century Macedonia lacks a traditional lead actor because its protagonist is a shapeshifter. She inhabits the bodies of various individuals—a new mother, a young man, and a child—while grappling with human emotions like grief, fear, and love.
Writer-director Goran Stolevski grounded his story in Macedonian folklore about the Wolf Eater but added his own gruesome twist: to transform, the witch must stuff the entrails of her victims into a cavity in her chest. While its tone and pacing may not appeal to all, the film offers a unique, experimental take on horror.
