Movies Based On Folklore
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- DirectorBen WheatleyStarsJulian BarrattPeter FerdinandoRichard GloverAmid the Civil War in 17th-century England, a group of deserters flee from battle through an overgrown field. Captured by an alchemist, the men are forced to help him search to find a hidden treasure that he believes is buried in the field.
- DirectorLee CroninStarsSeána KerslakeJames Quinn MarkeyKati OutinenA single mother living in the Irish countryside with her son begins to suspect he may not be her son at all, and fears his increasingly disturbing behavior is linked to a mysterious sinkhole in the forest behind their house.
- DirectorPaul Urkijo AlijoStarsKandido UrangaUma BracagliaEneko SagardoyA quiet village is thrown into turmoil upon disturbing a reclusive and feared blacksmith rumored to be in league with the devil.
- DirectorDavid KeatingStarsAidan GillenEva BirthistleTimothy SpallThe parents of a girl who was killed by a savage dog are granted the opportunity to spend three days with their deceased daughter.
- DirectorMichael ReevesStarsVincent PriceIan OgilvyRupert DaviesDuring the English Civil War, a young Roundhead seeks vengeance against a vicious witch-hunter and his henchman, who have terrorized the soldier's fiancée and wrongfully executed her uncle.
- DirectorAntonia BirdStarsGuy PearceRobert CarlyleDavid ArquetteIn a remote military outpost in the 19th century, Captain John Boyd and his regiment embark on a rescue mission which takes a dark turn when they are ambushed by a sadistic cannibal.
- DirectorCorin HardyStarsJoseph MawleBojana NovakovicMichael McElhattonA family who moved into a remote mill house in Ireland finds themselves in a fight for survival with demonic creatures living in the woods.
- DirectorAleksander NordaasStarsSilje ReinåmoErlend NervoldJon Sigve SkardEstranged friends Leo (a crime-scene cleaner) and hired-hand Elvis are cleaning up a particularly messy casualty deep in the Norwegian woods. When Elvis accidentally finds a secret passage that leads to a subterranean living space, he also encounters Thale, a beautiful young woman who sings, but does not speak. Though they are intrigued and concerned for her, they are ill-prepared when others, tracking Thale, finally catch up to her.
- DirectorBabak AnvariStarsNarges RashidiAvin ManshadiBobby NaderiAs a mother and daughter struggle to cope with the terrors of the post-revolution, war-torn Tehran of the 1980s, a mysterious evil begins to haunt their home.
- DirectorDavid BrucknerStarsRafe SpallArsher AliRobert James-CollierA group of old college friends reunite for a trip to a most dangerous country in Europe - Sweden, encountering a menacing presence there stalking them.
- DirectorAndré ØvredalStarsOtto JespersenRobert StoltenbergKnut NærumA group of students investigates a series of mysterious bear killings, but learns that there are much more dangerous things going on. They start to follow a mysterious hunter, learning that he is actually a troll hunter.
- DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsIvana BaqueroAriadna GilSergi LópezIn the Falangist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.
- DirectorBobcat GoldthwaitStarsAlexie GilmoreBryce JohnsonLaura MontagnaA man and his girlfriend camp in the woods to capture firsthand evidence of Bigfoot.
- DirectorAlex van WarmerdamStarsJan BijvoetHadewych MinisJeroen PercevalA vagrant enters the lives of an arrogant upper-class family, turning their lives into a psychological nightmare in the process.
- DirectorJan SvankmajerStarsVeronika ZilkováJan HartlJaroslava KretschmerováA childless couple passes off an anthropomorphous tree stump as their baby, but things get out of hand when the monstrosity comes to life and demands to be fed.
- DirectorRainer SarnetStarsRea LestJörgen LiikArvo KukumägiIn 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.
- DirectorAntti-Jussi AnnilaStarsVille VirtanenTommi EronenViktor KlimenkoAs a 25-year war between Russia and Sweden concludes, two brothers who are part of an effort to outline new border accords become undone by their actions, and their mistreatment of a young woman during their journey.
- DirectorPiers HaggardStarsPatrick WymarkLinda HaydenBarry AndrewsIn early 18th century England, the children of a village slowly convert into a coven of devil worshipers.
- DirectorRobin HardyStarsEdward WoodwardChristopher LeeDiane CilentoA puritan police sergeant arrives in a Scottish island village in search of a missing girl, who the pagan locals claim never existed.
- DirectorFritz KierschStarsPeter HortonLinda HamiltonR.G. ArmstrongA young couple is trapped in a remote town where a dangerous religious cult of children believes that everyone over age 18 must be killed.
- DirectorBen WheatleyStarsNeil MaskellMyAnna BuringHarry SimpsonNearly 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.
- DirectorRobert EggersStarsAnya Taylor-JoyRalph InesonKate DickieA family in 1630s New England is torn apart by the forces of witchcraft, black magic and possession.
- DirectorKier-La JanisseStarsLinda HaydenIan OgilvyKevin KölschA thorough overview and dissection of the subgenre of 'folk horror, ' with contributions from many of the major creators and clips from cinema all over the world.
- DirectorAvery CrounseStarsDennis LipscombGuy BoydRebecca StanleyA preacher is accused of adultery, and he and his followers are chased out of town. They become stranded in an isolated forest, which is haunted by the spirits of French colonists controlled by evil.
- DirectorSam WeissStarsJohn CarradineJohn Carradine narrates the Washington Irving story of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman.
- DirectorBarbara HirschfeldA Tribal Film. Made by a Vermont collective of women led by Barbara Hirschfeld and Julia Haines. A fascinating feminist experimental fiction shot on location in Vermont about a group of witches performing white magic.
- DirectorRyan MackfallStarsCiaran ClarkeKevin HorshamNoah Wallace1907, Massachusetts. A scholar drifts from his path and finds himself in a house he takes for deserted. Deserted, apart from a beguiling book containing dark secrets that exerts a powerful hold over those who come into contact with it.
- DirectorDjordje KadijevicStarsMirjana NikolicPetar BozovicSlobodan 'Cica' PerovicA young man wants to marry the beautiful daughter of a landowner who refuses to allow the marriage. To prove his worth, the young man becomes a miller in a vampire-infested local mill.
- DirectorDjordje KadijevicStarsMilan 'Caci' MihailovicBranko PlesaDusan JanicijevicA terrified young man is running away from the mysterious man in a black coat and a bowler hat. He finds the asylum in the nearby mental hospital, where the doctor takes care of him. However, one cannot escape from his fate.
- DirectorDjordje KadijevicStarsOlivera KatarinaGoran SultanovicIvan JagodicA young man Ivan travels in a carriage, and stops to rest in a remote castle somewhere in the lowlands. The castle is considered by locals to be haunted. The coachman doesn't want to carry on, so Ivan continues his journey by foot. A young kid who passes by tells Ivan about the castle, but the next minute the carriage kills him. Sibylle, a beautiful but strange woman comes out of the carriage and helps Ivan to carry the dead kid into the castle, which turns out to be her home. After her husband's death, Sybille lives there only with her coachman Bartholomew. Upon his arrival, Ivan starts to hear strange music coming from unknown place. Ivan and Sibylle fall in love with each other, but the mystery of music is yet to be find out.
- DirectorOtakar VávraStarsVladimír SmeralElo RomancikJosef KemrIn the 1600s, an overzealous clergy hauls innocent women in front of tribunals, forces them to confess to imaginary witchery, and engages in brutal torture and persecution of their subjects.
- DirectorKonstantin ErshovGeorgiy KropachyovAleksandr PtushkoStarsLeonid KuravlyovNatalya VarleyAleksey GlazyrinA young priest is ordered to preside over the wake of witch in a small old wooden church of a remote village. This means spending three nights alone with the corpse with only his faith to protect him.
- DirectorKåre BergstrømStarsErling LindahlBjørg EnghHenny MoanA group of friends travel to a cabin in the Norwegian forest. It's a rumor that at night a crazy man can be heard screaming at a lake nearby the cabin.
- DirectorViðar VíkingssonStarsRóbert ArnfinnssonHelga BernhardKristján Franklin MagnússIn the year 1940 when there were British forces in Iceland, a country boy goes to Reyjavik to work for the army. He also wants to know what became of his childhood sweetheart. He soon discovers that she's having an affair with a British soldier. He starts to suspect that the soldier, instead of being an officer and a gentleman, is in fact a very peculiar kind of monster.
- DirectorMario AndreacchioStarsArthur DignamPenny CookGary SweetA doctor treats a sick aboriginal person, who had defied a tribal taboo and visited a sacred cave. The doctor soon finds herself having disturbing dreams and finds herself involved in a 200-year-old mystery.
- DirectorJames BogleStarsZoe CaridesTom JenningsEric OldfieldThe residents of a housing development find themselves in trouble after they discover that their development was built on top of a sacred aboriginal graveyard, on which a curse was placed upon anyone who disturbed it.
- DirectorAnn TurnerStarsRebecca SmartNicholas EadieVictoria LongleyAn imaginative and somewhat disturbed young girl fantasizes about evil creatures and other oddities to mask her insecurities while growing up in rural Australia.
- DirectorIan CoughlanStarsJoanne SamuelLou BrownBunney BrookeA young girl is subjected to a reign of terror so that her soul can be transferred to the body of an old crone.
- DirectorMarek PiestrakStarsKrzysztof JasinskiIwona BielskaStanislaw BrejdygantKacper, an ex-guerrilla soldier is chased by a female werewolf, realizes that he is possessed by the spirit of his deceased wife Maryna. He also recognizes the same werewolf symptoms in Julia, a predatory countess who has a relationship with an Austrian officer.
- DirectorJanusz MajewskiStarsJózef DuriaszEdmund FettingGustaw LutkiewiczA pastor studying folklore in remote parts of 19th century Lithuania is invited to stay with a young nobleman. His mother is sequestered and mad. It seems she has been attacked by a bear as a young wife and local peasants whisper the young man may be the son of a bear. A doctor, who treats the mother with old-fashioned remedies, reveals this to the pastor. Young nobleman's wife is found with a bite and the man has disappeared into the woods.
- DirectorRyszard BugajskiStarsRon LeaGraham GreeneMichael HoganA white lawyer finds his values shaken when he is paired with an angry Indigenous activist who insists on kidnapping the head of a logging company to teach him the price of his destruction.
- DirectorWillie DunnA musical telling of the life of the Blackfoot Chief and the betrayal and fall of his tribe with the White conquest of the Canadian West.
- DirectorMichael MitchellMort RansenStarsMichael MitchellA documentary about a group of native Americans near the Canadian border. They attempt to blockade a road that runs through their land, leading to the Canadian police getting involved to open the road.
- DirectorMichael PetersonStarsJulian Black AntelopeWilma PellyDavid LeReaneyInspired by true events, residential school survivor Jacob Wematim, struggles to hang onto his land and indigenous identity as his personal demons resurface and manifest in the form of the Wendigo spirit.
- DirectorBrunello RondiStarsDaliah LaviFrank WolffAnna María AvetaA lonely, sexually-uninhibited young peasant is subjected to an exorcism after she hexes a man who rejects her advances.
- DirectorMariano BainoStarsLouise SalterVenera SimmonsMariya KapnistA girl travels to an island, after the death of her father, to find out why the father funded a monestary on the island.
- DirectorChris NewbyStarsNatalie MorseGene BervoetsToyah WillcoxIn the 14th-century, a visionary girl is to become an Anchoress, a walled-in recluse, so that she can live in the Virgin's house forever. Over time she awakens to her own sensuality and explores her own female, earth-based spirituality.
- DirectorAlan ClarkeStarsSpencer BanksJohn AtkinsonGeorgine AndersonSummer 1955, and pastor's son Stephen must come to terms with his own identity amid societal pressure, religious guilt and his own imaginings.
- DirectorDigby RumseyStarsRonald ForfarRoger WatkinsPeter RutherfordThe colleagues of an executed highwayman pledge to save his soul.
- DirectorJames MacTaggartStarsAnna CropperAmanda WalkerJulian HollowayAfter a long-term relationship ends, Norah moves to a remote house in the country. The locals are friendly., if eccentric. She starts a flirtatious relationship with young gamekeeper, Rob. But events at a festival have her feeling manipulated. Only later, do the consequences of that relationship leave her trapped in a nightmare.
- DirectorDean PuckettStarsGrant GillespieMolly CaseyDenise StephensonIn an isolated church community in the English countryside, a powerful hate preacher prepares to deliver a sermon to his flock, but his daughter has a secret that could destroy them all.
- DirectorBenjamin ChristensenStarsBenjamin ChristensenElisabeth ChristensenMaren PedersenFictionalized documentary showing the evolution of witchcraft, from its pagan roots to its confusion with hysteria in Eastern Europe.
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsMax von SydowBirgitta ValbergGunnel LindblomIn 14th-century Sweden, an innocent yet pampered teenage girl and her family's pregnant and jealous servant set out from their farm to deliver candles to church, but only one returns from events that transpire in the woods along the way.
- DirectorJohn GillingStarsAndré MorellDiane ClareBrook WilliamsDuring a mysterious epidemic in a small Cornish village, the local doctor summons his professor friend for help.
- DirectorTerence FisherStarsChristopher LeeCharles GrayNike ArrighiDevil worshipers plan to convert two new victims.
- DirectorGordon HesslerStarsVincent PriceElisabeth BergnerEssy PerssonIn 1500s England, a cruel witch-hunting magistrate, who often tortures innocent villagers for his entertainment, runs afoul of a witch who conjures a banshee to kill the magistrate and his family.
- DirectorJaromil JiresStarsJaroslava SchallerováHelena AnýzováPetr KoprivaSurreal tale in which love, fear, sex, and religion merge into one fantastic world. Based on a classical Czech novel of the same title.
- DirectorDaniel HallerStarsSandra DeeDean StockwellEd BegleyWilbur Whateley travels to the Arkham Miskatonic University to borrow the legendary Necronomicon. But, little does anyone know, Whateley isn't quite human...
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsRachel RobertsAnne-Louise LambertVivean GrayDuring a rural summer picnic, a few students and a teacher from an Australian girls' school vanish without a trace. Their absence frustrates and haunts the people left behind.
- DirectorGeorge PavlouStarsDavid DukesKelly PiperHugh O'ConorAn ancient creature called Rawhead is awakened from its slumber near an Irish village and goes on a rampage killing anyone in sight.
- DirectorKen RussellStarsAmanda DonohoeHugh GrantCatherine OxenbergWhen an archaeologist uncovers a strange skull in a foreign land, the residents of a nearby town begin to disappear, leading to further inexplicable occurrences.
- DirectorStan WinstonStarsLance HenriksenJeff EastJohn D'AquinoAfter a tragic accident, a man conjures up a towering, vengeful demon called Pumpkinhead to destroy a group of unsuspecting teenagers.
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsJenny SeagroveDwier BrownCarey LowellA young couple with a newborn baby don't realize that the nanny they hired is a magical nymph who sacrifices infants to an evil tree.
- DirectorDaniel MyrickEduardo SánchezStarsHeather DonahueMichael C. WilliamsJoshua LeonardThree film students vanish after traveling into a Maryland forest to film a documentary on the local Blair Witch legend, leaving only their footage behind.
- DirectorChad Crawford KinkleStarsSean BridgersLauren Ashley CarterKaitlin CullumWhen she learns the supernatural pit worshipped by her remote community in the woods has demanded her as a blood sacrifice, Ada struggles to find a way to survive, while the pit lashes out in anger.
- DirectorRob ZombieStarsSheri Moon ZombieMeg FosterBruce DavisonRadio DJ Heidi is sent a box containing a record--a "gift from the Lords". The sounds within the grooves trigger flashbacks of her town's violent past. Is Heidi going mad, or are the Lords back to take revenge on Salem, Massachusetts?
- DirectorLawrie BrewsterStarsDavid SchofieldAlexandra HulmeEuan DouglasWhen a school teacher is plagued by recurring nightmares of a mysterious entity, he travels to his childhood home because he suspects a link to a dark incident in his past.
- DirectorKaneto ShindôStarsNobuko OtowaJitsuko YoshimuraKei SatôTwo women kill samurai and sell their belongings for a living. While one of them is having an affair with their neighbor, the other woman meets a mysterious samurai wearing a bizarre mask.
- DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsRentarô MikuniMichiyo AratamaMisako WatanabeA collection of four Japanese folk tales with supernatural themes.
- DirectorKaneto ShindôStarsKichiemon NakamuraNobuko OtowaKei SatôTwo women are raped and killed by samurai soldiers. Soon they reappear as vengeful ghosts who seduce and brutally murder the passing samurai.
- DirectorJohn D. HancockStarsZohra LampertBarton HeymanKevin O'ConnorA recently institutionalized woman has bizarre experiences after moving into a supposedly haunted country farmhouse and fears she may be losing her sanity once again.
- DirectorJaco BouwerStarsMonique RockmanCarel NelAlex van DykAn injured forest ranger on a routine mission is saved by two off-the-grid survivalists. What is initially a welcome rescue grows more suspicious as the son and his renegade father reveal a cultish devotion to the forest.
- DirectorJaco BouwerStarsMonique RockmanCarel NelAlex van DykAn injured forest ranger on a routine mission is saved by two off-the-grid survivalists. What is initially a welcome rescue grows more suspicious as the son and his renegade father reveal a cultish devotion to the forest.
- DirectorScott CooperStarsKeri RussellJesse PlemonsJeremy T. ThomasIn an isolated Oregon town, a middle-school teacher and her sheriff brother become embroiled with her enigmatic student, whose dark secrets lead to terrifying encounters with an ancestral creature.
- DirectorJordan GrahamStarsMichael DanielRachel JohnsonAurora LoweSecluded in a desolate forest, a broken family is observed by Sator, a supernatural entity who is attempting to claim them.
- DirectorJalmari HelanderStarsJorma TommilaOnni TommilaPeeter JakobiIn the depths of the Korvatunturi mountains, 486 meters deep, lies the closest ever guarded secret of Christmas. The time has come to dig it up. This Christmas everyone will believe in Santa Claus.
- DirectorMichael DoughertyStarsAdam ScottToni ColletteDavid KoechnerA boy who has a bad Christmas accidentally summons a festive demon to his family home.
- DirectorMichael CohnStarsSigourney WeaverSam NeillGil BellowsIn this dark take on the fairy tale, the growing hatred of a noblewoman, secretly a practitioner of the dark arts, for her stepdaughter, and the witch's horrifying attempts to kill her.
- DirectorMark JonesStarsMax GrodénchikJohn DuceyKim Johnston UlrichThe wish of a young widow to see her police officer husband, killed on the line of duty, frees a demonic creature who wants to claim the soul of her baby.
- DirectorAgnieszka SmoczynskaStarsMarta MazurekMichalina OlszanskaKinga PreisIn Warsaw, a pair of mermaid sisters are adopted into a cabaret. While one seeks love with humans the other hungers to dine on the human population of the city.
- DirectorNeil JordanStarsSarah PattersonAngela LansburyDavid WarnerA teenage girl in a country manor falls asleep while reading a magazine, and has a disturbing dream involving wolves prowling the woods below her bedroom window.
- DirectorMark JonesStarsWarwick DavisJennifer AnistonKen OlandtAn evil, sadistic Leprechaun goes on a killing rampage in search of his beloved pot of gold.
- DirectorCharles BandStarsGary BuseyRobin SydneyRyan LockeAn evil yet adorable Gingerbread man comes to life with the soul of a convicted killer - this real life cookie monster wreaks havoc on the girl who sent the killer to the electric chair.
- DirectorAlexander J. BaxterLeigah KeewatinJessica MoutrayStarsTracey RoathAlexander J. BaxterRoy CampsallA pagan village, founded on the bones of both innocent and foul, is deeply rooted within the heart of an ancient Eden. When a balance of flesh and soil decays, the last surviving village elder battles madness and the macabre to save her people from not only themselves, but the monstrous judgement that burrows up from below.
- DirectorWilliam Brent BellStarsTuppence MiddletonRalph InesonMatt StokoeA desperate search for the young daughter of the town's new minister.