Not all witch movies are one and the same. They became cult classics when they failed at the box office; they can be romantic, or they can be frightening, and the main witchy characters are not always evil fairy-tale villains.
Practical Magic 2 (2026) is a recent big-budget, Hollywood legacy sequel, but witchcraft in movies goes back to silent cinema, and it would stay in the imagination of audiences.
Perform the recipe from the spellbook correctly, and out of this bubbling cauldron you will be served these ten witch movies with scary covens, love potions, and sisterhood.
Häxan (1922)
‘Häxan’ (1922)Credit: Skandias Filmbyrå
Superstitions, possessions, and mental health. The origins of witchcraft and how women were persecuted by society are told in a blend of documentary and dramatized scenes in this Swedish-Danish silent film.
Director Benjamin Christensen, seen on-screen as the recurring Devil figure who visits several of the characters, takes you back in time to examine the fact and fiction of witches. One segment is on the witch detection method of pouring molten lead into water to “read” the solid shape it forms. Another segment drops you into a convent where nuns succumb to hysteria.
The oldest entry on this list, Häxan is eerie as it is tragic.
Bell, Book and Candle (1958)
‘Bell, Book and Candle’ (1958)Credit: Columbia Pictures
In the same year that Kim Novak and James Stewart starred in the Hitchcock classic Vertigo, the stars reunited for a romantic comedy.
Gillian (Novak) is a secret witch who runs a Greenwich Village storefront. Due to being dissatisfied with her life, she puts a love spell on her neighbor, Sheb (Stewart), and must reckon with the consequences.
Taking place during December, this is an off-beat Christmas movie with ravishing witchy visuals and a hilariously kooky supporting role for Elsa Lanchester (Bride of Frankenstein) as Gillian’s mischievous aunt.
The Queen of Black Magic (1981)
‘The Queen of Black Magic’ (1981)Credit: Mondo Macabro
Suzzanna, an Indonesian actress famous for her roles in the horror genre, stars in this cult classic as Murni, who is nearly killed by the men in her village after she is wrongfully accused of witchcraft.
When she is rescued by a true black magic practitioner, she becomes the witch she had been accused of to seek her revenge with gruesome punishments. The Queen of Black Magic becomes a moral lesson on not turning to hate, which can be infuriating due to how loathsome the men are.
But that doesn’t rip away the fun to be had. There are goofy moments (the dialogue you can expect, “Ghosts don’t go out in the afternoon!”) and skin-exploding effects that rival American horror movies of the ‘80s.
Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)
‘Kiki’s Delivery Service’ (1989)Credit: Toei Company
Kiki is a young girl and an inexperienced witch who happily begins her journey of independence by moving away from home when she turns thirteen. With her black cat Jiji, Kiki flies to a seaside city, where she makes new friends and cleverly puts her magic to productive use with a flying delivery service.
Based on the novel by Eiko Kadono, this is one of the many cozy movies that came out of Studio Ghibli, directed by the company’s co-founder and famous Japanese animator, Hayao Miyazaki. The imaginative city that Kiki relocates to feels like a dreamscape. The animal characters, even the ones who don’t speak, like Kiki’s cat, have personalities as colorful as the humans.
Yumi Arai’s “Rūju no Dengon” plays as the opening theme when Kiki first takes flight, and you can feel the freedom this young witch is experiencing. But coming-of-age is bittersweet, and the challenges that Kiki goes through reflect that.
Hocus Pocus (1993)
“But who lit the black flame candle?” Like a spell that just needed a little extra time to take effect, Hocus Pocus survived being a box-office flop by becoming a perennial movie on TV during October.
‘Hocus Pocus’ (1993)Credit: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
When a brother and sister accidentally resurrect the Sanderson Sisters, the siblings have to stop the three witches from stealing the souls of all the children in town. It has everything you could want: gorgeous autumn colors in ye olde Salem and Salem of the ‘90s, costume parties, a talking black cat, and the iconic trio.
Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy completely own their roles as the witches in all their diabolical motives and bumbling, comedic antics. Their cover of “I Put A Spell On You” is just one of many classic moments from a movie that, like the Sanderson Sisters, couldn’t stay dead.
The Craft (1996)
‘The Craft’ (1996)Credit: Sony Pictures Releasing
Four outcast girls form a coven to practice a mix of Wicca and witchcraft to harness powers that will grant them what they desire.
Actresses Neve Campbell, Rachel True, Robin Tunney, and Fairuza Balk are excellent in making their on-screen friendship seem like a celebration of misfits, until it falls apart from vanity or power-hungry ambition, turning their coven into the kind of high school clique that once bullied them.
The visually arresting ritual scenes are one reason why The Craft helped bring mainstream attention to neo-paganism for younger audiences who saw it.
Practical Magic (1998)
Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman are witch sisters Sally and Gillian Owens dealing with a family curse, partner abuse, and midnight margaritas.
‘Practical Magic’ (1998)Credit: Warner Bros.
Based on the novel by Alice Hoffman, Practical Magic captures an odd tonal mix of light and darkness to life, where there is joy and pain. Bullock and Kidman are a great duo, lifted up by supporting roles from Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing as their aunts. But really, everyone in the cast does a good job in filling out the world.
Once again, you have a witchy entry that didn’t have remarkable success at the box office, yet that didn’t stop it from finding the right audience over time. Every scene outside or inside the breathtaking Owens family house, with the whimsical score by Alan Silvestri that plays, gives you a movie that feels enchanted.
The Covenant (2006)
‘The Covenant’ (2006)Credit: Sony Pictures Releasing
Four friends are the descendants of the Sons of Ipswich, where in each generation, the line of male heirs has burgeoning powers that peak on their 18th birthday, but their ascension comes with the risk of their self-destruction.
A mix of The Lost Boys (1987) and The Craft, the gender swap in the witches in The Covenant is meant to give a dark fantasy, heterosexual teen romance, from the girlfriends or crushes the main leads have. But their close bond and the arrival of a pre-MCU Sebastian Stan conjure up accidental homoerotic tension that makes for a more interesting watch whenever the dialogue or special effects get cheesy.
The Love Witch (2016)
Elaine (Samantha Robinson) uses love potions on men that, unsurprisingly, go very wrong.
‘The Love Witch’ (2016)Credit: Oscilloscope Laboratories
The elegant beauty of Elaine is matched by the alluring sights of the retro set and costume design that was meticulously crafted by Anna Biller, who also produced, directed, wrote, edited, and scored The Love Witch.
The movie is a critique of gender roles, done with dark comedy and occult rituals for a feminist spin on 1960s horror. Biller and cinematographer M. David Mullen carefully evoke the look of Technicolor cinema by shooting on 35mm film that will make you forget this movie came out in 2016.
Suspiria (2018)
‘Suspiria’ (2018)Credit: Amazon Studios
The 1977 original is a classic, but this remake stands on its own by taking the same premise and splitting off into new, gnarly territory.
Set during the political unrest of Berlin in 1977, Suzy (Dakota Johnson) is welcomed into a dance academy run by a coven. When headmistress Madame Blanc (Tilda Swinton) takes a special interest in Suzy, it leads to surreal nightmares, broken limbs, and a bloodbath of a finale.
A box-office bomb when it was released, 2018’s Suspiria is an underrated remake that replaces the slim narrative, the vivid colors, and Goblin’s intense score from the original with the gloom of early winter, spellbinding music by Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, a heavier focus on the occult mythology, and three chameleon-like roles for Swinton.
Do you like your witch movies to be frightening or cozy?
