Castle Vanian Halloween Special: Top 5 Witch & Witchcraft Movies

Although there are a lot of movies out there about witches and witchcraft, our top five were easy to pick out. We went into this category knowing exactly what we wanted to feature, which helped focus – didn’t stop us from trying out a few new movies and finding things like The Wicked (2013) that were excellent but not quite good enough to compete with the movies here.

So, which movies were so good we had them set in stone before we even started? Well...

Top 5 Witch & Witchcraft Movies

		5. Warlock (1989) Warlock is the battle between an unknown man known only as the Warlock and Redferene, the man who’s sworn revenge on him for murdering his wife. The movie centers around Kassandra but she’s basically just the poor shmuck who got caught in the crossfire. It hasn’t dated that badly, except for some cringeworthy special effects (especially when the Warlock starts flying.) The movie never delves too deeply into anyone’s backstory and, although it wraps things up nicely, it does leave a few unanswered questions, which is why it’s last on this list.  For more, click here. Wondra's Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ Jay's Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
		4. Season of the Witch (2011) This one was Jay’s pick. I hadn’t seen it until we started working on this list but, once I did, I couldn’t argue with his choice. It’s a slick movie about a couple of deserters from the Crusades trying to earn redemption by transporting a woman to a monastery to stand trial for witchcraft – and everything that goes wrong during and after that journey. Season of the Witch isn’t straight-up horror. It’s more in the realms of the Underworld series – lost of action, scares on the side – but that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. It has an excellent cast, and you can tell a lot of money was put into the sets/costumes, which makes it worth a watch, even if it’s not that scary.  For more, click here. Wondra's Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Jay's Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
		3. The Wicker Man (1973) The seminal British movie about paganism, The Wicker Man was always going to be on this list. It’s about a pious man being pitted against an island of pagans set to test resolve and, if you haven’t seen it, I’m jealous. You can never get that shock from the ending again, which is a freaking shame because it hits hard. We struggled with where because it’s, you know, a freaking musical and all… but settled on using it as this category’s Wild Card movie to avoid conflict. If you want a horror movie that actually gets paganism, you have to watch The Wicker Man. If you want a movie about a scary-looking witch that’s going to scare the pants off you, I supposed you’ve got to keep going.  For more, click here. Wondra's Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Jay's Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
		2. The Craft (1996) The Craft was my “I’ll fight you” movie. (There’s usually one.) At its heart, it’s a story about a new girl trying to fit in. Unfortunately for her, the right group of girls for her was also the wrong group of girls – which, really, was just high school in a nutshell, amiright? I was a tween witch when this movie came out so of course it spoke to me. My views on religion have changed over the years, maybe, but one thing hasn’t… now that I’m an old witch, I still love The Craft. It isn’t seat-of-your-pants horror, but it does have dark themes, great imagery, a few good jumps, and a good warning for all baby witches: don’t fuck around with love spells.  For more, click here. Wondra's Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Jay's Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
		1. The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) This isn’t just one of the best witch movies out there, it’s one of the best horror movies out there. The Autopsy of Jane Doe was released five years ago now and there’s been little since that I can say shocked me as much as this one, just for how freaking clever it is. The heart of the movie is a family-run funeral home/morgue that’s taken in the unidentified body of a woman, Jane Doe, whose appearance at a crime scene doesn’t make any sense. It builds at a perfect page, getting jumpier and creepier minute by minute, until the big reveal. The reveal is a massive shock, even though the whole autopsy has been giving you clues the whole way. When the clues all finally fit together and you realize what you’re actually dealing with, all hell breaks loose and The Autopsy of Jane Doe really takes it up a notch.  For more, click here. Wondra's Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Jay's Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

You should know how this goes by now: you’re welcome to argue with our choices – that’s what the comment box is for – otherwise, we’ll see you tomorrow for a new top 5 countdown.