The Best Folk Horror Movies

When the darkness of the trees closes in and the sounds of wildlife drown out human noise, we’re reminded that we haven’t climbed as far up the food chain as we’d like to think. Enter folk horror, a subgenre that explores the terror of the lush, green landscape, the mountainside, the wild and primal places unmarred by the creep of civilization.

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30 Hagazussa, 2017

The dark legend of the young woman Albrun and her struggle to preserve her own sanity, and tries to explore the fine line between ancient magic, faith and madness at a time when pagan beliefs in witches and nature spirits spread fear and terror in the minds of the rural population.

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29 The Queen of Black Magic (Ratu Ilmu Hitam), 2019

A family travels to the distant, rural orphanage where the father was raised to pay their respects to the facility’s gravely ill director. But his and his best friends’ homecoming turns into a terrifying supernatural ordeal that threatens their and their families’ lives: someone is using dark magic to avenge evil deeds, long-buried but not forgotten. Stamboel’s film is a reimagining of the 1981 Indonesian horror classic of the same name.

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28 Pyewacket, 2017

Leah Reyes is a teenager fascinated with black magic and occult practices. Following the death of Leah’s father, her grieving mother decides to move to a remote woodland house for a fresh start, forcing Leah to leave her school friends behind and join her. After a fierce argument with her mother, Leah wishes death on her and performs an occult ritual in the forest from one of her books, to summon the demon Pyewacket to kill her mother. However, Leah bonds with her mother shortly afterwards, and she soon regrets her actions.

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27 The Hallow, 2015

A couple and their infant move into the backwoods. The husband, an expert in microbiology, has come to inspect the trees for clearance. He is warned by the locals not to trespass the forests as the “hallows” will trespass into his house and steal his baby. One night the window of the infant’s room is broken, but the local cop assures the couple not to worry, some bird must have done it. But things get dreadful as the mystery unfolds.

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26 Moloch, 2022

MOLOCH tells the story of 38-year-old Betriek, who lives at the edge of a peat bog in the North of the Netherlands. When she and her family are attacked by a random stranger one night Betriek sets out to find an explanation. The more she digs, the more she becomes convinced that she is being hunted by something ancient.

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25 Antlers, 2021

In a small town in central Oregon, Frank Weaver runs a meth lab out of an abandoned mine. While his young son Aiden waits outside the mine in his truck, Frank and an accomplice are attacked by an unseen creature. Investigating strange noises, Aiden is also attacked by the creature. Frank and Aiden survive their encounter with the creature and return home, where their condition quickly worsens. Frank sets up a locked room and demands that no matter what, Aiden’s older brother Lucas keeps them locked inside.

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24 The Shrine, 2010

After a young American backpacker goes missing in Europe, a group of journalists link his disappearance to a remote village in Poland. They travel there hoping to get the story, but as they unravel the secrets behind this mysterious village, they are suddenly pursued by hostile locals.

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23 Gretel & Hansel, 2020

When their mother descends into madness, siblings Gretel and Hansel must fend for themselves in the dark and unforgiving woods. Hungry and scared, they fortuitously stumble upon a bounty of food left outside an isolated home. Invited inside by the seemingly friendly owner, the children soon suspect that her generous but mysterious behavior is part of a sinister plan to do them harm.

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22 In the Tall Grass, 2019

When siblings Becky and Cal hear the cries of a young boy lost within a field of tall grass, they venture in to rescue him, only to become ensnared themselves by a sinister force that quickly disorients and separates them. Cut off from the world and unable to escape the field’s tightening grip, they soon discover that the only thing worse than getting lost is being found.

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21 Krampus, 2015

While the holiday season represents the most magical time of year, ancient European folklore warns of Krampus, a horned beast who punishes naughty children at Christmastime. When dysfunctional family squabbling causes young Max to lose his festive spirit, it unleashes the wrath of the fearsome demon. As Krampus lays siege to the Engel home, mom, pop, sister and brother must band together to save one another from a monstrous fate.

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20 The Medium (ร่างทรง | Rang Zong), 2021

Convinced she embodies the spirit of benevolent deity Ba Yan, Nim, a local healer and devoted shamaness, catches the attention of a small documentary crew. Committed to exploring indigenous religions and their spiritual practice, the team sets off on a trip to Nim’s remote mountainous village in Thailand’s Isan region to record her day-to-day life and, hopefully, provide explanation and proof of the unseen.

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19 Kill List, 2011

Nearly a year after a botched job, a hitman takes a new assignment with the promise of a big payoff for three killings. What starts off as an easy task soon unravels, sending the killer into the heart of darkness.

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18 You Won’t Be Alone, 2022

Set in an isolated mountain village in 19th century Macedonia, YOU WON’T BE ALONE follows a young girl who is kidnapped and then transformed into a witch by an ancient spirit. Curious about life as a human, the young witch accidentally kills a peasant in the nearby village and then takes her victim’s shape to live life in her skin. Her curiosity ignited, she continues to wield this horrific power in order to understand what it means to be human.

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17 Noroi: The Curse (ノロイ), 2005

A documentary filmmaker explores seemingly unrelated paranormal incidents connected by the legend of an ancient demon called the “kagutaba.”

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16 November, 2017

In a poor Estonian village, a group of peasants use magic and folk remedies to survive the winter, and a young woman tries to get a young man to love her.

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15 The Fear Street Trilogy, 2021

Fear Street Part One: 1994

A circle of teenage friends accidentally encounter the ancient evil responsible for a series of brutal murders that have plagued their town for over 300 years. Welcome to Shadyside.

Fear Street Part Two: 1978

Shadyside, 1978. School’s out for summer and the activities at Camp Nightwing are about to begin. But when another Shadysider is possessed with the urge to kill, the fun in the sun becomes a gruesome fight for survival.

Fear Street Part Three: 1666

The origins of Sarah Fier’s curse are finally revealed as history comes full circle on a night that changes the lives of Shadysiders forever.

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14 Lamb (Dýrið), 2021

Haunted by the indelible mark of loss and silent grief, sad-eyed María and her taciturn husband, Ingvar, seek solace in back-breaking work and the demanding schedule at their sheep farm in the remote, harsh, wind-swept landscapes of mountainous Iceland. Then, with their relationship hanging on by a thread, something unexplainable happens, and just like that, happiness blesses the couple’s grim household once more. Now, as a painful ending gives birth to a new beginning, Ingvar’s troubled brother, Pétur, arrives at the farmhouse, threatening María and Ingvar’s delicate, newfound bliss. But, nature’s gifts demand sacrifice. How far are ecstatic María and Ingvar willing to go in the name of love?

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13 Apostle, 2018

London, 1905. Prodigal son Thomas Richardson has returned home, only to learn that his sister is being held for ransom by a religious cult. Determined to get her back at any cost, Thomas travels to the idyllic island where the cult lives. As Thomas infiltrates the island’s community, he learns that the corruption of mainland society that they claim to reject has infested the cult’s ranks nonetheless – and uncovers a secret more evil than he could have imagined.

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12 The Ritual, 2017

Reuniting after the tragic death of their friend, four college pals set out to hike through the Scandinavian wilderness. A wrong turn leads them into the mysterious forests of Norse legend, where an ancient evil exists and stalks them at every turn.

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11 Ravenous, 1999

Upon receiving reports of missing persons at Fort Spencer, a remote Army outpost on the Western frontier, Capt. John Boyd investigates. After arriving at his new post, Boyd and his regiment aid a wounded frontiersman, F.W. Colghoun, who recounts a horrifying tale of a wagon train murdered by its supposed guide – a vicious U.S. Army colonel gone rogue. Fearing the worst, the regiment heads out into the wilderness to verify Colghoun’s gruesome claims.

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10 Angel Heart, 1987

Harry Angel is a private detective contracted by Louis Cyphre to track down the iconic singer Johnny Favorite. However, everybody that Angel questions about Favorite seems to meet a tragic demise. Eventually the trail leads Angel to New Orleans where he learns that Favorite had dabbled in the black arts. As Favorite’s whereabouts and true identity become clear, Angel learns that being hired by Cyphre was not a random choice.

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9 Men, 2022

In the aftermath of a personal tragedy, Harper retreats alone to the beautiful English countryside, hoping to have found a place to heal. But someone or something from the surrounding woods appears to be stalking her. What begins as simmering dread becomes a fully-formed nightmare, inhabited by her darkest memories and fears in visionary filmmaker Alex Garland’s feverish, shape-shifting new horror film.

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8 The Wailing (곡성 | Gokseong), 2016

An unprecedented spate of grisly murders and the outbreak of an unexplained virulent disease wreak havoc in Goksung, a sleepy rural hamlet nestled in a damp mountainous region of South Korea. As a result, vague but disquieting rumours of demonic activity shroud the once-peaceful village. But no one can escape the silent but dreadful curse, not even police sergeant Jong-goo’s only daughter, Hyo-jin. After all, the girl’s body shows clear signs of infection. As the community’s suspicions fall on a reclusive newcomer, pressing questions arise. Are dark forces at work? Is the cryptic stranger the root of all evil?

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7 Kwaidan (怪談), 1964

Taking its title from an archaic Japanese word meaning “ghost story,” this anthology adapts four folk tales. A penniless samurai marries for money with tragic results. A man stranded in a blizzard is saved by Yuki the Snow Maiden, but his rescue comes at a cost. Blind musician Hoichi is forced to perform for an audience of ghosts. An author relates the story of a samurai who sees another warrior’s reflection in his teacup.

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6 The Wicker Man, 1973

Sergeant Howie arrives on the small Scottish island of Summerisle to investigate the report of a missing child. A conservative Christian, the policeman observes the residents’ frivolous sexual displays and strange pagan rituals, particularly the temptations of Willow, daughter of the island magistrate, Lord Summerisle. The more Sergeant Howie learns about the islanders’ strange practices, the closer he gets to tracking down the missing child.

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5 Sleepy Hollow, 1999

Set in 1799, “Sleepy Hollow” is based on Washington Irving’s classic tale “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Faithful to the dreamy custom-bound world that Irving paints in his story, the film mixes horror, fantasy and romance and features an extraordinary cast of characters that dabble in the supernatural.

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4 Hereditary, 2018

When the matriarch of the Graham family passes away, her daughter and grandchildren begin to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about their ancestry, trying to outrun the sinister fate they have inherited.

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3 The Witch (The VVitch: A New-England Folktale), 2015

In 1630 New England, panic and despair envelops a farmer, his wife and their children when youngest son Samuel suddenly vanishes. The family blames Thomasin, the oldest daughter who was watching the boy at the time of his disappearance. With suspicion and paranoia mounting, twin siblings Mercy and Jonas suspect Thomasin of witchcraft, testing the clan’s faith, loyalty and love to one another.

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2 The Blair Witch Project, 1999

Found video footage tells the tale of three film students (Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, Michael C. Williams) who’ve traveled to a small town to collect documentary footage about the Blair Witch, a legendary local murderer. Over the course of several days, the students interview townspeople and gather clues to support the tale’s veracity. But the project takes a frightening turn when the students lose their way in the woods and begin hearing horrific noises.

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1 Midsommar, 2019

A young American couple, their relationship foundering, travel to a fabled Swedish midsummer festival where a seemingly pastoral paradise transforms into a sinister, dread-soaked nightmare as the locals reveal their terrifying agenda.

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