GOOD WITCH OR WICKED WITCH? HALLOWEEN MOVIES TO CAST A SPELL ON YOU
words by TIANA DE HASETH
It’s the season of the witch, and what is Halloween without a witchy cult classic to set the mood? For decades, witches have cast their spell over Halloween, enchanting us through the screen, from the nostalgic witch movies we grew up watching as a child to the dark, horror films we moved towards as adults. Whether you’re in the mood for a little childhood nostalgia or something truly sinister, witch films have a way of making Halloween feel more magical.
SUSPIRA
BY DARIO ARGENTO
image via PINTEREST
Suspiria follows a young American dancer who enrolls into a prestigious German ballet academy, only to discover that it holds a coven of murderous witches. It’s a 1977 Italian supernatural horror film by director Dario Argento filled with witches, mystery, and surreal nightmares. The beautiful cinematography of the film is what makes it feel so enchanting and witchy.
PRACTICAL MAGIC
BY GRIFFIN DUNE
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Played by Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, two sister, who are raised by their aunt after their parent’s death, have to grapple with a family curse that kills any man who falls in love with them. The film blends fantasy, romance and comedy, and creates a story of a magical family that gets confronted with witchcraft after trying to avoid it for most of their lives.
EVE’S BAYOU
BY KASI LEMMONS
image via CRITERION
In 1960s Louisiana, a young girl starts to uncover a dark family secrets that changes everything she believes about her father and the people around her. Eve’s Bayou is a haunting Southern Gothic classic film that explores mysteries, memories and voodoo in Southern Louisiana.
TWITCHES
by STUART GILLARD
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Twitches is an original Disney channel film that you never get too old to re-watch. When two twin sisters get separated at birth, they reunite on their 21st birthday and discover their magical powers and family secrets, where they must defeat an evil spirit to save their biological mother and kingdom.
THE WITCH
BY ROBERT EGGERERS
Directed by Robert Eggers, The Witch is a gothic folk horror about a Puritan family in 1630’s New England that goes through paranoia and despair when their new born son vanishes, unleashing a series of bizarre and terrifying events that turn the deeply religious family against one another. The suspicion then falls on the eldest daughter who gets accused of doing witchcraft.
THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK
BY GEORGE MILLER
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The Witches of Eastwick is a dark comedy film about three best friends who are unaware about their magical powers and that their regular meet ups become a coven until a mysterious, charismatic man arrives in town and seduces each of them, inadvertently unleashing their full supernatural abilities. It explores sexual liberation, female power and the patriarchy in a small town through the arrival of the devil.
THE CRAFT
BY ANDREW FLEMING
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The Craft is an iconic witch film about high school friend group of outcasts who form a coven and use witchcraft to take revenge on their bullies, only for their newfound supernatural powers to spiral into a dark obsession and deadly consequences.
WICKED
BY JON M. CHU
image via IMDB
Wicked is for the musical lovers. It follows the story of Elphaba, a ridiculed, misunderstood, green skinned woman who eventually becomes the Wicked Witch of the West. It explores her unlikely friendship with Glinda, who is a popular privileged young woman who becomes Glinda the Good. The story plays off as a prequel to the classic Wizard of Oz tale, the narrative reveals the untold events of the Land of Oz that shaped these iconic characters.
HOCUS POCUS
BY KENNY ORTEGA
Hocus Pocus may be the most classic must-watch Disney film for the Halloween season — a film that truly never gets old, no matter your age. It follows a skeptical teenager in a small town of Salem Massachusetts, that accidentally resurrects three witches called the Sanderson sisters, after lighting a black flame candle. To achieve immorality, the trio has to suck a soul of a child before sunset, meanwhile the the teenager and his friends fight the witches to save their town.
