The Best Witch Movies, from ‘Suspiria’ and ‘You Won’t Be Alone’ to ‘Häxan’ and ‘I Married a Witch’

27. “Halloweentown” (Duwayne Dunham, 1998)

Basically “Harry Potter” for homeschoolers, “Halloweentown” is a Disney Channel Original Movie that chronicles the coming-of-age adventure of Marnie (Kimberly J. Brown): a 13-year-old learning how to be a witch from her unpredictable grandmother (Debbie Reynolds) when an evil force threatens their spooky, holiday-themed home. —AF

26. “Into the Woods” (Rob Marshall, 2014)

Meryl Streep’s turn as The Witch in Rob Marshall’s adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway musical “Into the Woods” is nothing short of enchanting. Though no living person could best Bernadette Peters’ pitch-perfect delivery on “Last Midnight,” Streep’s take on “Stay with Me” combines the best of her “Mamma Mia!” vocal chops with her remarkable depths as an Academy Award-winning dramatic actor. —AF

25. “Hocus Pocus” (Kenny Ortega, 1993)

Kathy Najimy, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Bette Midler inject charismatic chaos into the unassuming plot of “Hocus Pocus”: an unpopular-at-the-time August-timed Disney release that’s since become one of its most beloved Halloween properties. What the Sanderson sisters lack in genuine menace, they make up for in flying vacuum cleaners, lucky rat tails, and undead ex-boyfriends. —AF

24. “I Married a Witch” (René Clair , 1942)

Stars Veronica Lake and Frederic March did not get along (to put it mildly) on the set of this René Clair-directed comedy, but audiences would never know it. An obvious inspiration for “Bewitched,” this not-quite-screwball comedy finds a witch’s curse coming back to haunt her when she encounters the descendant of the accusers who condemned her to be burned at the stake. The film is a lot airer and brisker than the description, offering Lake one of her few comedic roles and March one of his best romantic leading man turns. —MP

23. “Practical Magic” (Griffin Dunne, 1998)

“Any man who wins the heart of an Owens woman is bound to end up six feet under,” explains Stockard Channing’s bluntly hilarious aunt in “Practical Magic.” In this 1998 cult classic adaptation of Alice Hoffman’s novel, Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman star as sisters descended from a long line of witches who are afflicted with a curse turned truly timely rom-com premise. —AF

22. “The Witches of Eastwick” (George Miller, 1987)

George Miller’s cheeky adaptation of John Updike’s 1984 novel stars Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer as three unlucky-in-love friends who unknowingly invite the devil — Jack Nicholson at his career funniest — to their small suburban town. The result is a fairly standard “girl power” arc with just enough spooky charm to keep it shelf stable. —AF

21. “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937)

From the lyrical wickedness of “Mirror, mirror, on the wall…” to the haunting image of a beautiful maiden in a glass coffin, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” is quintessential fairytale magic with an antagonist just as classic. A combination of a haggard old witch and a vain ruler, The Evil Queen could only be beat by Maleficent (who we’re classifying as a dark fairy) for best Disney enchantress. —AF

20. “The Crucible” (Nicholas Hytner, 1996)

We’re including this despite the very clear lack of witchcraft in it—unless you count the mass hysteria that consumes 17th-century Salemites, as a group of mean girls convinces the town that their friends and neighbors are all secretly dancing with Satan in the woods every night. Called an “almost perfect screen adaptation” by Empire, Arthur Miller’s classic play comes to thrilling life via Daniel Day-Lewis, Winona Ryder, and Joan Allen, all of whom are at loggerheads but only one of whom will emerge coolly triumphant. —MP

19. “The Witches” (Nicolas Roeg, 1990)

Based on Roald Dahl’s fantasy book of the same name, director Nicolas Roeg’s “The Witches” imagines a secret society of children-hating sorceresses helmed by a characteristically brilliant Anjelica Huston. With bald heads, clawed hands, and hoof-like feet — hidden with wigs, gloves, and sensible footwear, of course — these titular terrors carry on a centuries-old legend with a style all their own. —AF

18. “The Lords of Salem” (Rob Zombie, 2013)

Rob Zombie’s take on witch films is typically sui generis, with a radio DJ (Sherie Moon Zombie) accidentally unleashing a demonic song on the female denizens of Salem. Turns out, the song dates from the 17th century and led to a reverend executing a coven of witches. And as we all know, those old Puritans left a long trail of destruction for their descendants. A bloody, rock ‘n’ roll movie ensues, filled with plenty of horror references (“Rosemary’s Baby” abounds) and the worst-case scenario unfolding at a concert. —MP

17. “Halloween III: Season of the Witch” (Tommy Lee Wallace, 1982)

Fun fact: Michael Myers’ infamous “Halloween” franchise was originally intended to kick off with the slasher villain, before branching into themes totally unrelated to masked killers and screaming babysitters. “Halloween III: Season of the Witch” was the only installment to do that successfully and (though it’s almost disqualified by our prior “generic Pagan rituals have been excluded” rule) tells a witchcraft adjacent story about an evil Irish toymaker too ridiculous to omit. —AF

16. “The Tragedy of Macbeth” (Joel Coen, 2021)

Kathryn Hunter makes the most of her skills as a classical theater actor and contortionist as the unabashed scene-stealer in Joel Coen’s “The Tragedy of Macbeth.” Bringing purposeful strangeness to each of the notorious weird sisters, Hunter champions the best big screen take on Shakespeare’s soothsayers to date. —AF

15. “Suspiria” (Luca Guadagnino, 2018)

Luca Guadagnino beautifully dissects the brilliance of Dario Argento’s 1977 giallo in this not-quite-a-remake starring Dakota Johnson, Mia Goth, doubling Tilda Swintons, and more. A mesmeric collision of confrontational violence and heady considerations of humanity’s disregard for itself, this “Suspiria” stands as a singular rehashing of trauma. —AF

14. “The Wizard of Oz” (Victor Fleming, 1939)

“Are you a good witch or a bad witch?” Billie Burke’s Glinda asks Dorothy in the technicolor second act of Victor Fleming’s “Wizard of Oz.” Memorable for its black-versus-white magic dichotomy, the 1939 musical saw Margaret Hamilton bewitch audiences as the Wicked Witch of the West: a notoriously bitter flying monkey owner who will stop at nothing to avenge her late sister. —AF

13. “Pumpkinhead” (Stan Winston, 1989)

There’s no world in which a horror flick with the title “Pumpkinhead” didn’t become a slasher franchise. But just because Stan Winston’s directorial debut has three sequels (to which the filmmaker did not contribute) that doesn’t mean this terrifying and triumphant revenge epic has been given its due. Part “Pet Sematary,” part “Witches,” part “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” this fiendishly fun 1988 monster movie stars Lance Henriksen as a grieving father who uses dark magic to seek revenge when his son is killed in a dirt biking accident. Come for the promise of the “Aliens” actor in one of his most criminally underrated performances; stay for the campy practical effects that will freaking blow your gourd. —AF

12. “Witchfinder General” (Michael Reeves, 1968)

As any halfway-decent historian will tell you, the nightmarish reality of the witch trials was rooted in the social and political motivations of the accusers, not the so-called supernatural. Controversial for its brutality at the time, “Witchfinder General” chases an opportunistic witch hunter, played by none other than Vincent Price, as he terrorizes European towns: driving one family to the brink of insanity in the process. —AF

11. “The Love Witch” (Anna Biller, 2016)

Samantha Robinson channels ’60s style and timeless charm as Elaine Parks, aka “The Love Witch”: a romance-obsessed enchantress whose ex-lovers have a tendency to die inexplicable, sudden deaths. Revenge meets girlhood fantasy in this campy celebration of the ultra-feminine, harkening to the classic suspense work of Alfred Hitchcock and his legendary leading ladies. —AF

10. “The Craft” (Andrew Fleming, 1996)

Fairuza Balk puts Sabrina Spellman to shame with her performance as the spell-binding teen witch Nancy Downs: the menacing main attraction of Andrew Fleming’s “The Craft.” Robin Tunney’s new girl character falls in with a high school witch coven — rounded out by the sparkling talents of Neve Campbell and Rachel True — in this surprisingly sharp supernatural thriller from 1996. —AF

9. “Spirited Away” (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001)

Hayao Miyazaki’s first Best Animated Feature winner offers an “Alice in Wonderland”-like collision of oddities, from the cryptic intrigue of No-Face to the peculiarity of a curse that turns people into pigs. At its center is the greedy witch Yubaba: an instantly infamous antagonist whose ethereal power feels as spiritual as it does spooky. —AF

8. “Haxan” (Benjamin Christensen, 1922)

This four-part essay film was the most expensive Scandinavian silent film ever made, and it shows. Well, at least in parts. Some of the reenactments of medieval times and historical accusations of witchcraft are lavish in their scope and texture… other segments, including much of the beginning, feel like a 1920s version of a Ken Burns doc, with the camera trained on drawings and lithographs to represent a history of witchcraft and how these supernatural occurrences can be explained through modern medicine and psychology. Sometimes a wooden pointer, presumably attached to director Benjamin Christensen’s hand, protrudes into the frame to draw your eye to a particular detail of the drawing in question.

Alas, the Ken Burns zoom was still not technically possible. (To suggest the film that follows is, at least to some degree, a work of scholarship, Christensen appears in close-up in the opening credits, an effect which comes across more like Tommy Wiseau’s poster for “The Room” than anything professorial.) There’s plenty here to satisfy the ghoulish, however, and for cinephiles the film is particularly striking for the way it makes horror iconography from centuries past connect to the frights we’ve received from the movies: a few tweaks to the demon in the image above and you have the creature in “Sputnik.” —CB

7. “Eve’s Bayou” (Kasi Lemmons, 1997)

A delicious and luscious Southern Gothic tale, Kasi Lemmons “Eve’s Bayou” tells the story of the young Eve (Jurnee Smollett), whose relationship with her wealthy Louisiana family crumbles when she discovers evidence of her father’s infidelity. Their family gets caught in a conflict between Eve’s Hoodo practicioner aunt Mozelle (Debbi Morgan) and fortune teller and possible witch Elzora (the legendary Diahann Carroll), who Eve eventually turns to for vengeance. The film leaves it ambigious if Elzora’s powers are real, but the film’s own magic touch isn’t in doubt. —WC

6. “Rosemary’s Baby” (Roman Polanski, 1968)

Unsettling from the moment Mia Farrow starts singing over those haunting opening credits, Roman Polanski’s masterpiece digs its claws into you and leaves as ghastly a mark as it does on Rosemary herself. Evil isn’t an unknowable entity in this still-timely tale of a woman being gaslit by her husband and neighbors; it’s the Satanist next door. Pregnancy is stressful enough when there isn’t a coven of witches chanting in the night, and it’s made doubly distressing by poor Rosemary’s suspicions that they’ve made a pact with Lucifer involving her unborn child. So cerebral in its approach to psychological horror that it deserves a PhD, “Rosemary’s Baby” has only grown more uncomfortable with time — and not just because we know more about Polanski now than we did 55 years ago. —MN

5. “You Won’t Be Alone” (Goran Stolevski, 2022)

You won’t be alone. It’s a hell of a sentence — and an even better title — entirely dependent on the type of the isolation proposed. Said of a dark basement à la “Barbarian,” it’s a terrifying thing to hear. Said of your dying day, it might seem important, even spiritually essential.

Writer/director Goran Stolevski spins that intriguing duality into a stunning supernatural vision for his directorial debut, following a young witch named Navena on a sensual and sorrowful odyssey through 19th-century Macedonia. When “Wolf-Eateress” Maria (a slick but still crushing Anamaria Marinca) comes to collect on an old curse, she turns the 16-year-old Navena into a witch, intending to keep her as a companion. Enthralled by the beauty of life, however, the hyper-sheltered Navena (played in order by Leontina Bainović, Noomi Rapace, Carloto Cotta, and Alice Englert) soon sets out on her own, basking and wilting under the bright light of humanity’s warmth. As Nevena pursues acceptance and Maria pursues Nevena, the film whispers with menace and mercy, “You won’t be alone.” —AF

Read IndieWire’s guide to The Best Horror Movies of 2022. 

4. “The Blair Witch Project” (Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, 1999)

Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez’s indie darling popularized the found footage genre with its suspenseful, bare-bones investigation into local legend. The 1999 flick follows three documentary filmmakers as they venture further into the dark woods of a Maryland town in pursuit of a witch connected to the deaths of local children. —AF

3. “Suspiria” (Dario Argento, 1977)

No filmmaker has captured the dark, light, menace, and mystery of witchcraft in a single frame like Dario Argento. whose hugely celebrated “Suspiria” reigned supreme as one of the definitive best movies about witches for nearly 40 years. The technicolor shadows of a German dance school haunt a young American ballerina, played by a transfixing Jessica Harper, in this mood-first meditation on occult terror. —AF

2. “Kiki’s Delivery Service” (Hayao Miyazaki, 1989)

There are two basic types of witch movies. In one corner, you have the scary witches, the witches of fairytales and nightmares and folklore. On the opposite end, there are the cute witches; the witches who use their powers for good and whose magical abilities are the cause for hijinks and comedy. The best cute witch film, by far, is Hayao Miyazaki’s “Kiki’s Delivery Service,” a delightful comfort watch and one of the legendary director’s most beloved movies.

Centering itself around the titular trainee witch as she leaves home for the big city, the film takes the form of several vignettes as she establishes a delivery business, makes friends, and struggles to adjust to her new surroundings. A sweet story about growing up and becoming a more complete person, “Kiki’s Delivery Service” is one of the most grounded and realistic witch films around, although seeing Kiki soar over the sea with her broomstick will make you want to try and fly yourself. —WC

1. “The Witch” (Robert Eggers, 2015)

Set in early 17th century New England, Robert Eggers’ feature directorial debut pits paranoia against the supernatural via an unforgiving family drama anchored in the harsh stakes of Puritan faith. When a baby is snatched from the arms of his older sister Thomasin — a dazzling early-career Anya-Taylor Joy — the children’s grieving parents seek retribution. —AF