The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Judy Garland became a major star playing a young farm girl from Kansas who is swept away by a tornado to a magical land where she comes between two polar-opposite witches and learns a timeless lesson: There’s no place like home.
The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
Three New England small-town women (Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer and Susan Sarandon) find out just how strong their magic is when they conjure up the devilish Jack Nicholson.
Practical Magic (1998)
Two witch sisters (Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman) in a close-minded New England town face prejudice and a curse that threatens to prevent them from ever finding lasting love.
Bell, Book and Candle (1958)
Kim Novak learns that casting love spells can be dangerous when she enchants her neighbor (James Stewart), but the spell backfires and she begins to fall in love.
Hocus Pocus (1993)
A young boy moves to Salem, where on Halloween he resurrects three witches (Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy) who lived there hundreds of years ago.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)
The film franchise began with the first book from J.K. Rowling that shows how the orphaned boy wizard learns his true identity when he enrolls in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Into the Woods (2014)
In this fractured fairy tale starring Anna Kendrick, James Corden, Emily Blunt and Meryl Streep, a witch challenges a childless baker and his wife to procure magical items from classic fairy tales to reverse a curse on their family.
The VVitch (2015)
In this horror breakout that marked the movie acting debut of young Anya Taylor-Joy, a devout New England family in the early 1600s is caught in a Puritan nightmare when their simple life begins to unravel and unholy forces take root.
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Pioneering the fake “found-footage” technique, this story of three film students who mysteriously vanish establishes the legend of a local Maryland witch.
Sleeping Beauty (1959)
The classic Disney animated film follows the folktale of a princess cursed to fall into a deep (deathlike) sleep but ultimately rescued by true love’s kiss.
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
When a young couple (Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes) move into a New York City apartment and she becomes pregnant, her paranoia over the safety of her unborn baby begins to spiral out of control.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Snow White features a big bad named one of the ten most unforgettable film villains by the American Film Institute: Snow White’s wicked stepmother, a scheming royal witch who will stop at nothing to destroy the lovable princess, purely out of vanity. Disney
Hereditary (2018)
Ari Aster’s supernatural freakout is one of the most shocking horror pictures of our time. Toni Collette delivers a performance comparable to Jack Nicholson in The Shining.
The Conjuring (2013)
Uniformly excellent performances (with Vera Farmiga and Lili Taylor doing much of the heaviest lifting) and crackling James Wan direction jumpstarted a wildly successful cinematic universe.
Suspiria (1977)
Somehow stunningly sumptuous and trashy at the same time, Dario Argento‘s gore-fest with a coven within a ballet academy is gobsmacking audio-visually, if lightweight thematically. It’s a genre staple.
Suspiria (2018)
Luca Guadagnino‘s wildly divisive remake starring Dakota Johnson and Tilda Swinton is far more dance-heavy than its predecessor (it certainly has time to be, with a full hour added to the runtime), with some seriously icky, even sexualized body horror.
The Witches(1990)
Anjelica Huston starred (and appeared to be having a grand time) in the first big-screen take on Roald Dahl’s fantasy about a wicked harem’s scheme to transform Earth’s children into mice.
The Witches (2020)
Anne Hathaway starred as the Grand High Witch in Robert Zemeckis’ update, an HBO Max Original that was even more faithful to the 1983 source material’s ending. The film received backlash for its depiction of disabilities.
Eve’s Bayou (1997)
Kasi Lemmons’ under-appreciated, Louisiana-set masterpiece sees a 10-year-old girl (Jurnee Smollett) uncover generations of family secrets. Roger Ebert named Eve’s Bayou the best picture of 1997 (the same year Titanic and L.A. Confidential came out).
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)
Charlize Theron chews scenery and is easily M.V.P. of Rupert Sanders’ hit fantasy action film co-starring Kristen Stewart and Chris Hemsworth. A lesser sequel followed.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
Tilda Swinton was a perfect blend of chilling, glam and camp in Disney’s hugely lucrative take on C.S. Lewis’ most famous story. Seriously, this feels like an acting flex.
Spirited Away (2002)
Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning masterpiece centers on a young girl transported into a world of spirits and sorcery. It’s one of the best animated movies ever.
Gretel & Hansel (2020)
Admirably atmospheric and well-acted if slow-paced and awkwardly woke, OzPerkins’ dark fantasy Brothers Grimm adaptation stars a frightening Alice Krige and the always-excellent young actress Sophia Lillis.
The Little Mermaid(1989)
Who could ever forget Ursula (voice of Pat Carroll) singing about “poor unfortunate souls,” tempting our conflicting heroine to take a walk on the wild side
Maleficent (2014)
No one really asked for a sympathetic backstory for one of Disney’s most deliciously vile antagonists, but Angelina Jolie is truly dynamite in the role, and the picture was a global smash. A lesser, surprisingly violent sequel followed.
The Craft (1996)
Andrew Fleming’s supernatural teen thriller stars Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell, Robin Tunney and Rachel True. It’s a bona fide cult classic. A maligned 2020 sequel failed to recapture the magic.
