Every Halloween, loads of “best witchcraft movies” lists make the rounds. And each Halloween, you possibly can assure that these lists will most likely embody well-worn favorites corresponding to The Craft, The Witch, or Practical Magic.
While these films are nice in their very own proper, I’m doing one thing somewhat completely different for this text. Full disclosure: I’m a training Pagan, and witchy films are one thing of a non secular expertise for me. So this Halloween, sit down with this witch-approved record of unsung, underloved, and must-see witchcraft classics.
Why six, you ask? Just ask Iron Maiden.
VIY (1967; dir. Nikolai Gogol)
Available on Blu-ray; Streaming On Prime Video.
Based on a traditional Russian horror novella, VIY follows a younger seminary scholar, Khoma, as he’s headed again house along with his associates for trip. On the trek again, the lads search shelter in a girl’s barn, who fortunately obliges them. But no sooner is Khoma seduced by the girl than does he understand she’s a witch and bludgeons her to loss of life. (Rude!)
This is only the start of Khoma’s troubles. Upon killing the witch, he discovers her physique has remodeled into the daughter of a wealthy noble. As penance, he’s compelled to spend three nights alone – guaranteeing her secure passage into the afterlife. But is the witch actually useless? And is Khoma all that harmless? VIY is an esoteric, visually luxurious Soviet traditional, and a should for anybody thirsty for an occult psychological thrill trip.
Virgin Witch (1972; dir. Ray Austin)
Available on Plex.
Britain put out a wholesome glut of occult thrillers within the ‘60s and ‘70s. Some are cerebral spine tinglers with complex things to say about our culture. Others are satanic panic exploitation vehicles with plenty of nudity and nonsense witchcraft. Virgin Witch falls somewhere between the two extremes, which is why it’s such a compelling movie – it straddles the road of artwork and trash so properly, you possibly can’t assist however admire it.
It’s additionally a satisfying style of British witch movies. Focused on two ladies seduced into witchcraft by a satanic modeling agent, the film exemplifies among the hottest tropes, motifs, and themes of the style. At the identical time, it trades in sufficient tawdry scenes and naked flesh to offer you a style of primo Brit sleaze. An odd and unwieldy movie filled with questionable performances, it’s an important jumping-off level into the wild world of UK occult thrillers.
Season of the Witch (1974; dir. George Romero)
Available on Blu-ray; Streaming On Arrow and Tubi.
A bit-seen masterpiece from Night of the Living Dead maestro George Romero. Season of the Witch (additionally launched beneath the unlucky title Hungry Wives) follows a bored and uncared for housewife drawn into the world of witchcraft. The Seventies was the time of girls’s lib in America, and curiosity within the occult was at a historic excessive. Season of the Witch capitalizes on that cultural second to ship a fiery, feminist-friendly potboiler.
Released simply 4 years earlier than his landmark Dawn of the Dead, Season of the Witch represents Romero at his most cerebral. His model of suburban horror – aimed on the particular fears and vulnerabilities of American housewives – exhibits empathy from a director too usually pigeonholed as “the zombie guy.” One of my private favorites, and an important “how-to” in the event you’re within the craft. Plus – who doesn’t love a very good Donovan needle drop?
The Queen of Black Magic (1981; dir. Liliek Sudjio)
Available on DVD; Streaming on YouTube and Prime Video.
Murni – performed by beloved Indonesian actress Suzzanna – is accused of being a witch after an upper-class man takes her virginity and guarantees to keep together with her. He remarries, and when Murni confronts him on the ceremony, he accuses her of being a witch. The city believes him, and bands collectively to throw her off a cliff to her loss of life. But with the assistance of a darkish wizard and a e book of spells, Murni returns from the brink of loss of life as The Queen of Black Magic.
An completely unhinged and pleasant watch, this cult traditional was so beloved in Indonesia that it obtained a splashy remake in 2019. It’s straightforward to see why – Queen of Black Magic has one thing for everybody, from over-the-top gore to a satisfying revenge yarn the place each jerk will get what’s coming to them. Best described as I Spit On Your Grave with magic, Sudjio’s tripped-out bit of people horror is broadly obtainable on-line.
The Devonsville Terror (1983; dir. Ulli Lommel)
Available on region-free Blu-ray; Streaming on YouTube.
Halloween icon Donald Pleasance stars on this grounded however bone-chilling movie. In the late 1600s, a trio of girls are tried, convicted, and executed for witchcraft. Three hundred years later, Jenny, Chris, and Monica transfer to the distant, conservative city. Between them, the ladies educate faculty, examine the setting, and assist ladies escape their regressive lives with a radio present. You know – issues that go over so properly in conservative cities.
Soon, the ladies are stalked and harassed by the townsfolk. After one lady spurns a neighborhood man that forces himself on her, he accuses her of being a witch, and so they’re quickly attacked on all sides by the group of bloodthirsty spiritual zealots. But the spirits of the slain witches are nonetheless stressed – and so they simply could be on the ladies’s facet. Devonsville Terror is a gristly watch however doesn’t dwell within the fetishistic witch torture of flicks like Witchfinder General and its lesser imitators. Instead, it rightly showcases actual violence and its delayed, supernatural penalties.
Lords of Salem (2013; dir. Rob Zombie)
Available on Blu-ray; Streaming on Roku, Tubi, and Amazon Prime.
It feels bizarre to name a Rob Zombie movie “obscure,” however Lords of Salem is well his smallest and most unloved movie. Zombie shies away from the grindhouse gross-out antics that put him on the map with House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects. He directs Sheri Moon Zombie by a crazy descent into Satanic insanity, as a heavy steel DJ is pulled deep into the primal world of witchcraft by a coven of elder witches – performed by horror legends Judy Geeson, Patricia Quinn, and Dee Wallace.
Lords of Salem is Zombie at his most dreamic and cerebral. It’s a high-concept movie, stuffed to the brim with extra veiled metaphors and layered imagery than his earlier work. But don’t let that scare you away – it nonetheless manages to ship some gleeful gore and a ultimate sequence so insane it wants to be seen with your personal eyes. Plus, Salem manages to ship a full-throated protection of what our tradition deems evil and impure. In that sense? It’s Zombie’s most trustworthy movie.
There you may have it! Now you’re armed with six movies to carry with you deep into the witching hour. So solid your circles, name the spirits, and let the season of Samhain take you. Blessed be.
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