Top 10 Must-Watch Folk Horror Movies

Watch Myths Turn Into Nightmares

There's something strangely eerie about the way rituals can be presented. And these movies did exactly the same as they turned their plot into pieces of folk horror based on wacky and inherently evil rituals. If you want to have a go at deep psychological terror, you should try these titles.

The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971)

One of the "Unholy Trinity" of original folk horror films, this movie is a perfect, grimy encapsulation of the genre. In a 17th-century village, a farmer unearths a strange, furred skull. Soon after, the children of the village begin forming a demonic, pagan cult, growing strange patches of fur and committing ritualistic murders to restore their buried god. It's a deeply unsettling and influential classic.

Apostle (2018)

From the director of The Raid, this is a brutal, grimy, and full-pulp take on the genre. Dan Stevens plays a man who travels to a remote Welsh island to rescue his sister from a mysterious cult. He finds a community that has enslaved a nature goddess, and the film descends into a bloody, visceral nightmare of torture, ritual, and supernatural revenge.

Witchfinder General (1968)

The second of the "Unholy Trinity," this film is a dark, cynical, and brutally historical take. Vincent Price gives a terrifyingly realistic performance as Matthew Hopkins, a sadistic witch-hunter who travels through the English countryside during the Civil War, exploiting paranoia and superstition to torture and execute "witches" for profit. The horror here is man-made, showing how the "old ways" can be used as a weapon of fear.

The Witch (2015)

The film that launched the modern folk horror revival. Robert Eggers' stunning debut is a "New England Folktale" that is less a story about witches and more a story about a 17th-century Puritan family unraveling from religious paranoia and the very real presence of evil in the woods. With its period-perfect dialogue and suffocating atmosphere, it's a terrifying masterpiece that asks: what happens when your faith isn't enough to save you?

Midsommar (2019)

If The Witch was the somber revival, Midsommar was the sun-drenched, technicolor nightmare that brought folk horror to the mainstream. A group of American grad students travels to a remote Swedish commune for their midsummer festival. They find a beautiful, idyllic community that slowly, and with terrifying smiles, reveals the horrific sacrificial ritual at its center. It’s a masterful, bright, and deeply disturbing film about grief, community, and a breakup.

The Wicker Man (1973)

This is not just a movie; it is the foundational text. A devoutly Christian police sergeant, Neil Howie, travels to the remote Scottish island of Summerisle to investigate the disappearance of a young girl. He finds a charming, idyllic pagan community that denies the girl ever existed. Howie's rigid, modern morality clashes with the island's "old ways" in a slow-burn investigation that leads to the most shocking, influential, and perfect ending in all of horror history. It is the undisputed king.

The Ritual (2017)

This film blends folk horror with a fantastic creature feature. Four friends hiking in the Swedish wilderness in memory of their deceased friend make the mistake of taking a shortcut through an ancient, unmarked forest. They soon realize they are being hunted, not just by a creature, but by a reclusive cult that worships it as a god. The atmosphere is suffocating, and the creature design is an all-time great.

Children of the Corn (1984)

Based on a Stephen King story, this is quintessential '80s folk horror. A couple driving through Nebraska stumbles upon a seemingly abandoned town populated only by children. They soon discover the kids are a cult who, on their 19th birthday, must be sacrificed to a bloodthirsty entity living in the cornfields: "He Who Walks Behind the Rows." It's a campy classic, but its imagery of a murderous, isolated, pagan-like cult of children is pure, iconic folk horror.

Kill List (2011)

To say too much about Kill List is to spoil its genius. The film starts as a gritty, tense British crime thriller about two hitmen taking on a new, mysterious contract. But as they descend into the work, the film slowly and horrifyingly transforms, pulling the rug out from under the audience and revealing that the "job" is part of something far older, stranger, and more terrifying. Its final 20 minutes are a shocking, modern folk horror masterpiece.

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

While it's famous for popularizing the "found footage" genre, The Blair Witch Project is a folk horror film at its core. Three student filmmakers hike into the Black Hills of Maryland to investigate a local legend—the Blair Witch. The terror comes not from a visible monster, but from the folklore itself, the isolation of the woods, and the terrifying handmade stick figures that suggest an ancient, ritualistic evil is closing in.