"Don't keep the Wicker Man waiting!" The 30 Best Folk Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked (2024)

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"Don't keep the Wicker Man waiting!" The 30 Best Folk Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked (1)

By Jeremy Urquhart

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"Don't keep the Wicker Man waiting!" The 30 Best Folk Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked (2)

The term "folk horror" might not be the easiest thing to describe, but it's the type of horror movie where you know it when you see it. There's even a recent documentary called Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror that spends a little over three hours explaining what this type of horror subgenre is and exploring some significant films within it. Put simply, though, this horror subgenre usually features rural/mostly outdoor settings, and explores themes and stories that surround European pagan and witchcraft traditions/folklore.

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Perhaps the best way to understand folk horror as a subgenre is to look at the best titles that can be described as folk horror movies. The following are some of the greatest films contained within this specific type of horror, and are ranked below starting with the very good, and ending with some of the greatest folk horror films of all time.

30 'Possum' (2018)

Directed by Matthew Holness

"Don't keep the Wicker Man waiting!" The 30 Best Folk Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked (3)

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"Underrated" is a word that comes to mind when describing Possum, though it is admittedly a little niche and perhaps not for everyone. But that could also be said about folk horror in general. It’s a particularly strange form of horror; a brand that might be too slow or too obscure to strike fear into some. And, with Possum, there’s certainly an emphasis on things being slow-burn in nature.

It runs for a pretty brief 85 minutes, and follows a man having to reconnect with his stepfather while grappling with various unpleasant things that happened to him when he was younger. Possum takes its time but ends up being worthwhile in the end, keeping things intimate and strange while delivering some striking horror visuals when they're needed.

Possum

Horror

Drama

Mystery

Release Date
October 26, 2018

Director
Matthew Holness
Cast
Sean Harris , Alun Armstrong , Charlie Eales , Simon Bubb , Andy Blithe , Ryan Enever , Pamela Cook

Runtime
85 Minutes

Watch on Shudder

29 'Children of the Corn' (1984)

Directed by Fritz Kiersch

"Don't keep the Wicker Man waiting!" The 30 Best Folk Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked (4)

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It’s not quite up there with the best movies of 1984, but Children of Corn is still something of a minor folk horror classic. And its cast includes Linda Hamilton, who was also in the first The Terminator; a movie that can be considered one of 1984’s very best films, and does almost feel like a horror movie at times. Not folk horror by any means, but still.

Children of the Corn follows two people in unfamiliar rural territory, and the bad things that begin happening when they cross paths with some truly unsettling children who may be behind a string of murders. It was a film popular enough to kick-start what’s ended up being a ridiculously long-running franchise, as there have been a total of 11 Children of the Corn movies to date

Children of the Corn

R

Horror

Thriller

Release Date
March 9, 1984

Director
Fritz Kiersch
Cast
Peter Horton , Linda Hamilton , R.G. Armstrong , John Franklin , Courtney Gains , Anne Marie McEvoy , Robby Kiger , Julie Maddalena , Jonas Marlowe , John Philbin , Dan Snook , David Cowen , Suzy Southam , D.G. Johnson , Teresa Toigo

Runtime
92 minutes

Watch on Shudder

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28 'The Devil's Bath' (2024)

Directed by Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz

"Don't keep the Wicker Man waiting!" The 30 Best Folk Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked (5)

The Devil’s Bath is a German movie that’s a relatively recent release in the overall scheme of things, but one that proved striking enough to stand out among other folk horror films. It has a perfect setting for such a movie, taking place in Austria during the 1700s, and a premise that involves exploring repression, isolation, madness, and murder.

The horror elements of The Devil’s Bath trickle in deliberately slowly throughout, with some infrequent gnarly imagery proving shocking alongside other long sequences that emphasize atmosphere and a mild sense of unease over anything else. It’s long and perhaps a little one-note at times, but the highs here make it worth seeking out for anyone out there who’s particularly keen on horror of a fairly folky variety.

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Watch on Shudder

27 'The White Reindeer' (1952)

Directed by Erik Blomberg

"Don't keep the Wicker Man waiting!" The 30 Best Folk Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked (6)

A good many popular folk horror movies started popping up in the late 1960s, with the sub-genre also thriving in the 1970s, so that makes something as old as The White Reindeer stand out. This one’s a Finnish film that’s among the older examples of folk horror movies out there, with its plot revolving around a magic potion that’s said to make whoever drinks it more desirable.

Of course, like with every story involving a magic potion, there are consequences and trade-offs, which is where the horror of The White Reindeer creeps in. There’s probably not a ton here that will genuinely frighten modern-day viewers, but it’s nevertheless an important movie within the overall sub-genre, and also stands as a rather underrated international horror movie more generally speaking.

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26 'Exhuma' (2024)

Directed by Jang Jae-hyun

"Don't keep the Wicker Man waiting!" The 30 Best Folk Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked (7)

A recent film that’s one of the most interesting horror flicks of the 2020s so far, Exhuma follows a group of paranormal experts who come across a graveyard associated with a famously wealthy family. They’re determined to get to the bottom of what they’ve been uncovering, but go a bit too far and take the idea of “uncovering” something too literally when they start digging up graves.

If you’re ever aware you're in a horror movie, grave-digging is probably the last thing you'd want to do, but the characters of Exhuma aren’t lucky enough to be self-aware. The scariest elements, as is the case with many folk horror movies, unfold slowly but surely, with the build proving just as important as the eventual release. There’s also a blending of familiar elements and things that are more offbeat in Exhuma, all done in a way that ends up working quite well.

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Exhuma

Horror

Mystery

Drama

Thriller

Release Date
February 22, 2024

Director
Jang Jae-hyun

Cast
Choi Min-sik , Kim Go-eun , Yoo Hae-jin , Lee Do-Hyun , and Kim Sun-young

Runtime
134 Minutes

Watch on Shudder

25 'You Won't Be Alone' (2022)

Directed by Goran Stolevski

"Don't keep the Wicker Man waiting!" The 30 Best Folk Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked (8)

Taking witchcraft and using it to explore feminist themes, You Won't Be Alone is one of the most distinctive and unusual horror movies in recent memory. Much of the film revolves around shape-shifting and identity, with a young witch in Macedonia during the 1800s killing a peasant by accident, and then slipping into her life inside a village.

It's all executed in a way that ensures maximum eeriness, with You Won't Be Alone having an undeniably bold visual style and a general sense of atmospheric uneasiness. Thanks to its plot regarding witchcraft and its setting, it certainly qualifies as a movie that fits within the folk horror subgenre, too.

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You Won't Be Alone

R

Horror

Drama

Fantasy

Where to Watch

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Release Date
April 1, 2022

Director
Goran Stolevski
Cast
Sara Klimoska , Anamaria Marinca , Alice Englert , Félix Maritaud , Carloto Cotta , Noomi Rapace

Runtime
108 minutes

24 'Eve's Bayou' (1997)

Directed by Kasi Lemmons

"Don't keep the Wicker Man waiting!" The 30 Best Folk Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked (14)

Eve's Bayou might be more definable as a work of Southern Gothic drama/horror, but it crosses over into folk horror enough to arguably count itself within both camps. It centers around a Louisiana family's intense drama and various secrets, all of which threaten to boil to the surface when family members come together during the sweltering summer of 1962.

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It's notable for being the most successful independent film of its year, and for the committed performances by a cast that's led by Samuel L. Jackson and Lynn Whitfield. It's an intense and harrowing movie at times, perhaps more drama than horror, but certainly maintaining some elements of folk horror regardless (like its rural setting).

Eve's Bayou

R

Release Date
November 7, 1997

Director
Kasi Lemmons
Cast
Jurnee Smollett , Meagan Good , Samuel L. Jackson , Lynn Whitfield , Debbi Morgan , Jake Smollett , Ethel Ayler , Diahann Carroll

Main Genre
Drama

Watch on Amazon Prime

23 'La Llorona' (2019)

Directed by Jayro Bustamante

"Don't keep the Wicker Man waiting!" The 30 Best Folk Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked (15)

The term La Llorona roughly translates to "The Crying Woman," and there have been numerous films lately regarding this figure of Mexican folklore. One was 2019's The Curse of La Llorona, and another was 2022's The Legend of La Llorona. Neither of these were as well-received, however, as a 2019 Guatemalan film simply called La Llorona.

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It centers around a general accused of horrific crimes who's trapped in his house because of protesting individuals, at which point he and his family start to feel as though a vengeful supernatural presence is targeting them. It's a movie that takes its time, but feels suitably menacing and creepy throughout, with its slow-burn nature helping the outwardly horror-related stuff found later in the movie hit harder.

Watch on Shudder

22 'Hagazussa' (2017)

Directed by Lukas Feigelfeld

"Don't keep the Wicker Man waiting!" The 30 Best Folk Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked (16)

Like a good many movies within the folk horror subgenre, 2017's Hagazussa takes place a considerably long time ago; during the 15th century, to be precise. It also follows folk horror conventions by being set in a very isolated location, here being a remote mountain village in the Alps where the main character, a goat-herder, is further isolated by most other people in the village.

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As you'd expect from a story with that kind of basic premise, something that seems to be ghostly or supernatural soon makes its presence known, and then the horror elements really kick in. Hagazussa is beautifully shot and consistently unsettling, continually finding ways to make things feel just a little off and unusual, which helps the scares get delivered well.

Hagazussa (2018)

Horror

Drama

Fantasy

Release Date
May 17, 2018

Director
Lukas Feigelfeld

Cast
Aleksandra Cwen , Claudia Martini , Tanja Petrovsky , Haymon Maria Buttinger , Celina Peter , Gerdi Marlen Simon , Franz Stadler , Thomas Petruo , Judith Geerts , Kilian Abeltshauser , Maximilian Hinterberger , Richard Gerum , Leona Berner , Fabienne Peter , Malena Berner , Iris Berner , Andrea Esletzbichler , Martin Eisl , Benjamin Travincek , Simon Lubinski

Runtime
102 Minutes

Watch on Tubi

21 'The Serpent and the Rainbow' (1988)

Directed by Wes Craven

"Don't keep the Wicker Man waiting!" The 30 Best Folk Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked (17)

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No one will deny that Wes Craven is a master of horror; he created the character of Freddy Krueger, after all - a villainous presence that haunts dreams and murders within them, too. But while Craven's well-known for the series that Kruger belongs to - Nightmare on Elm Street - as well as the Scream franchise, other movies of his like The Serpent and the Rainbow are slightly less popular.

Perhaps The Serpent and the Rainbow was never going to reach the same level of popularity, but it's still a good film worth checking out for anyone who's a horror fan. Its Haiti setting and unique take on curses and zombies keep it exciting and thoroughly engrossing, and it's undeniably interesting to see Craven have a shot at making a folk horror-esque movie.

The Serpent and the Rainbow

R

Horror

Thriller

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Release Date
February 5, 1988
Director
Wes Craven
Cast
Bill Pullman , Cathy Tyson , Zakes Mokae , Paul Winfield , Brent Jennings , Conrad Roberts

Runtime
98

20 'The Blood on Satan's Claw' (1971)

Directed by Piers Haggard

"Don't keep the Wicker Man waiting!" The 30 Best Folk Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked (22)

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The Blood on Satan's Claw is a significant film within the folk horror subgenre because the term was first used to describe this film, way back in the 1970s. That doesn't make The Blood on Satan's Claw the very first folk horror movie necessarily, but it's a vital one when it comes to the term and its usage for obvious reasons.

Like numerous other early folk horror movies, it's a British film, and the plot here revolves around bizarre remains being unearthed in the 1700s, which consequently sees a group of children in a nearby village become devil worshipers. Its plot is certainly out there, but it still feels heavily psychological, mystical, and unsettling, with it also having a distinctly folk horror kind of setting and atmosphere.

Watch on Tubi

19 'Alucarda' (1977)

Directed by Juan López Moctezuma

"Don't keep the Wicker Man waiting!" The 30 Best Folk Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked (23)

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1977 was a very good year for the horror genre, with Alucarda being one of many notable scary movies that saw release during that year. It manages to include a great deal within its brief 78-minute runtime, having themes around Satanism, scenes of demonic possession, and even a bit of vampire-related horror thrown in for good measure.

The protagonist is a young girl who goes to live at a convent following the tragic deaths of her parents, though finds herself in what might be a cult surrounding a figure known as Alucarda. It's a very over-the-top and even sleazy movie, being a bit more brash than some of the more subtle folk horror movies out there, but what it deals with thematically qualifies it as a title within the subgenre.

Watch on Cultpix

18 'Apostle' (2018)

Directed by Gareth Evans

"Don't keep the Wicker Man waiting!" The 30 Best Folk Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked (24)

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Gareth Evans is best known for directing both The Raid and The Raid 2 - two phenomenal action/thriller movies - but mixed things up a bit with the release of Apostle. It's most certainly not an action movie, and is instead about a man going to a mysterious island to rescue his sister from a cult that's kidnapped her, with the movie taking place in the early 1900s.

It's got a slow-burn narrative, takes place a good many years in the past, and features an unusual and sinister cult at its center, making it a pretty clear example of folk horror. And while it might not be action-packed like Evans's other movies, it has a similar impact when it comes to violence, because Apostle is a very gritty and gory horror movie when it wants to be.

Apostle

TV-MA

Thriller

Action

Horror

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Release Date
September 21, 2018

Director
Gareth Evans
Cast
Dan Stevens , Kristine Froseth , Lucy Boynton , Michael Sheen , Bill Milner , Mark Lewis Jones

Runtime
130 Minutes

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17 'Kill List' (2011)

Directed by Ben Wheatley

"Don't keep the Wicker Man waiting!" The 30 Best Folk Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked (26)

English filmmaker Ben Wheatley has had an eclectic filmmaking career so far, as beyond the horror genre, he's also been behind the action/comedy/thriller Free Fire and the recent Meg 2: The Trench. But he first got notice for his horror movies, some of which can be classified as fitting within the folk horror subgenre.

Case in point: 2011's Kill List, which starts off feeling like a crime movie about a hitman tasked with three different killings, but ends up becoming something darker, more surreal, and overall closer to a horror film. It's a very strange and grimy film that's not going to be for everything, but as a movie that perhaps helped the folk horror subgenre gain some more recognition in the early 2010s, it's certainly notable.

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Kill List

R

Horror

Crime

Thriller

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Release Date
September 2, 2011
Director
Ben Wheatley
Cast
Neil Maskell , MyAnna Buring , Harry Simpson , Michael Smiley , Emma Fryer , Struan Rodger

Runtime
95 minutes

16 'Witchfinder General' (1968)

Directed by Michael Reeves

"Don't keep the Wicker Man waiting!" The 30 Best Folk Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked (33)

The Blood on Satan's Claw was instrumental in helping give the folk horror subgenre a name, but Witchfinder General was a film that came out even earlier, and also helped define this brand of horror. It takes place during a particularly paranoid time in English history, and centers on a man named Matthew Hopkins who claims to be a witch hunter, but is more likely a simple sadist.

Anyone who knows a good deal about classic horror movies will be well aware of the talents of Vincent Price, with Witchfinder General being another movie of his that's considerably elevated by his presence alone. He makes Hopkins into a great villain, and ensures this classic horror movie is suitably menacing and tense throughout.

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Buy on Amazon

15 'The Ritual' (2017)

Directed by David Bruckner

"Don't keep the Wicker Man waiting!" The 30 Best Folk Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked (34)

With a few notable exceptions, it appears as though folk horror as a subgenre was most popular in either the late 1960s to mid-1970s, or throughout the 2010s and into the early 2020s. Trends within genres come and go, after all, and of the folk horror movies belonging to the latter popular folk horror "era" (if it can be called that), The Ritual is one of the more noteworthy.

It's about a group of college friends who clearly don't know they're in a horror movie, because they decide to venture into some dark and very much isolated woods on a trip to get away from everyday life. Within the forest is what might be a supernatural presence, leading to terror, suspense, and everything else you could hope to find in a folk horror (or even just regular horror) movie.

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The Ritual

TV-MA

Horror

Mystery

Thriller

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Release Date
February 9, 2018
Director
David Bruckner
Cast
Rafe Spall , Robert James-Collier , Sam Troughton , Matthew Needham

Runtime
94 minutes

14 'Men' (2022)

Directed by Alex Garland

"Don't keep the Wicker Man waiting!" The 30 Best Folk Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked (36)

Alex Garland's a writer/director who's made films with some challenging aspects before, but nothing he's done has proven quite as polarizing and unusual as 2022's Men. You might not suspect that from the premise, though, because Men starts simply enough, with a story that sees a young woman trying to heal emotionally after a personal tragedy, and going to stay in the English countryside for a while.

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The time spent away from the busyness of her usual life is anything but peaceful, though, as her past seems to haunt her while inexplicable horrors nearby begin targeting her. Men goes to some bizarre places and continually flips back and forth between being subtle and over-the-top, but as a singular experience, it's a difficult one to shake or forget.

Men (2022)

R

Horror

Drama

Fantasy

Release Date
May 20, 2022

Director
Alex Garland
Cast
Jessie Buckley , Rory Kinnear , Paapa Essiedu , Gayle Rankin

Runtime
100 minutes

Watch on Max

13 'Viy' (1967)

Directed by Konstantin Yershov and Georgi Kropachyov

"Don't keep the Wicker Man waiting!" The 30 Best Folk Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked (37)

Not all early folk horror movies were made or set in England, as 1967's Viy demonstrates well. It's based on an iconic Russian horror novella of the same name, which was published back in 1835, and has a premise that involves a young priest being tasked with watching over the dead body of a witch in the days before her wake is to begin.

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As is usually the case with folk horror, the setting here is a small village, leading the priest to feel particularly alone and helpless when the inevitable supernatural threats begin to haunt him. It's not super scary by today's standards, but it is effectively eerie and atmospheric, and this 1967 version is certainly the most celebrated and worthwhile film adaptation of Viy.

Watch on Criterion

12 'Lamb' (2021)

Directed by Valdimar Jóhannsson

"Don't keep the Wicker Man waiting!" The 30 Best Folk Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked (38)

One year before starring in You Won’t Be Alone, Noomi Rapace was also the star of another folk horror movie: Lamb. The plot here is centered on a couple who live on a farm in Iceland, and the strange things that happen to them when they find the creature alluded to in the title.

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Ordinary lambs aren't truly scary of course, so it's no surprise to find that the "lamb" in Lamb isn't your typical kind of lamb, and may well be something that can place the two lead characters in danger. It's a haunting and even upsetting kind of film, but certainly works as a very dramatic take on the folk horror subgenre.

Lamb

R

Horror

Drama

Fantasy

Where to Watch

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Release Date
October 8, 2021

Director
Valdimar Jóhannsson
Cast
Noomi Rapace , Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson , Björn Hlynur Haraldsson , Hilmir Snær Guðnason , Ester Bibi

Runtime
106 minutes

11 'A Field in England' (2013)

Directed by Ben Wheatley

"Don't keep the Wicker Man waiting!" The 30 Best Folk Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked (45)

Two years after Kill List, Ben Wheatley made another movie that could be categorized as a folk horror movie; perhaps even more justifiably than that 2011 film. This second film was A Field in England, which is set back in the 17th century and revolves around a group of people who go mad in the countryside while trying to find buried treasure.

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It's a truly surreal and ambitious movie, with a consistently unique visual style and a rather staggering blend of genres. Far from just a horror movie, Letterboxd also lists the following genres as ones that A Field in England belongs to: thriller, comedy, drama, fantasy, history, and adventure. It's safe to say that there's not much else out there like it.

A Field in England

NR

Release Date
July 5, 2013
Director
Ben Wheatley

Cast
Julian Barratt , Peter Ferdinando , Richard Glover , Ryan Pope , Reece Shearsmith , Michael Smiley

Runtime
90

Main Genre
Drama

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