Plenty of horror movies feature witches front and center, but only a select few can boast the creation of the scariest takes on the idea ever put to screen. The concept of the witch has been around for untold centuries, with one of the earliest horror movies, Häxan, putting the idea of the profane female spellcaster into audiences’ minds as early as 1922.
Since then, the mental image of the witch has waxed and waned in pop culture via movie representation, with the green-skinned, cackling, broomstick-riding Wicked Witch of the West of The Wizard of Oz fame still representing the classic Halloween witch. However, films have expanded the terror of witches in all sorts of directions, from withered bestial hags to cruel demonic sorcerers.
10
Aunt Gladys (Weapons)
Warning! Spoilers for Zach Cregger’s Weapons.
The central mystery of Weapons‘ class of missing children is finally revealed early in the third act with the appearance of Aunt Gladys. At first, Gladys appears to be nothing more than a kindly, if eccentric, distant relative of the young Alex who stays with his family after coming down with a mysterious illness.
Before long, it’s revealed that Gladys is really an ancient witch capable of controlling people, using her magic to feed off the youthful vigor of 17 children in hopes of curing herself. Gladys serves up frights with a chilling smile, unnerving adults and kids alike with her brightly-colored persona before dropping the mask and making a cold threat she’s fully capable of backing up.
9
Asa Vajda (Black Sunday)
A very early example of a genuinely frightening movie witch, Princess Asa Vajda from 1960’s Black Sunday is an amazing template for the idea of ancient evil royalty. Once a powerful vampiric witch, Asa was sentenced to death via spiked mask hundreds of years ago, only to be exhumed and revived in present-day Romania.
Asa wastes no time resurrecting her long-ᴅᴇᴀᴅ paramour and terrorizing her physical reincarnation, draining her life force away. Barbara Steele is amazing in both roles, her crazed facial expressions pairing with the hideous scars on her face and the eerie black-and-white cinematography for bone-chilling results.
8
The Grand High Witch (The Witches)
For as beloved as the films based on Roald Dahl’s works are, it’s easy to forget that they can be shockingly dark for children’s entertainment, even by adult standards. That goes double for 1990’s The Witches, which explains that witches are actually another race of beings entirely that live in disguise among the human population, and that they despise children.
Of the lot of them, none are more terrifying than the Grand High Witch herself, the matriarch of witch society. The moment she sheds her disguise to reveal her disgusting true form is burned into the brains of many easily-frightened children of the ’90s, and she’s rightfully feared even among her fellow witches for a good reason.
7
Holda (Greta & Hansel)
Long before the advent of movies, witches dominated the frightening fairy tales of the old world, and Gretel & Hansel adapts one such fable to wicked results. In this folk horror interpretation of the story, Holda the witch doesn’t live in a candied house, but she has far more chilling ways to manipulate the young pair of siblings into doing her bidding.
Holda may seem like a normal old woman on the outside, but her magical powers and subtle abusive tactics are positively chilling. She might not have an especially frightening appearance, but her complete command of her victims for the majority of the story and the cold indifference with which she butchers children evokes a certain quiet terror.
6
Helena Markos (Suspiria)
Another take on the terrifying witch matriarch whose true form is closer to a monster than an actual human woman, Helena Markos dominates the plot of both the original Suspiria and the 2018 remake. Said to be one of the Three Mothers ruling over witch society in the films’ universe, Helena Markos leads the coven of the Markos Dance Academy.
Markos is the crowning achievement of Tilda Swinton’s triple role in 2018’s Suspiria, a grotesque hag desperately clutching at power. The melted skin, concealed eyes, and the blithering indignation with which Helena Markos commands her subordinates make her scary both as a monster and an abuser.
5
Joan (Hereditary)
Cackling witches that fly through the woods and horrible hag-like monsters that stalk dungeons are all well and good, but sometimes the most frightening witches are the most unᴀssuming. Enter Joan of Hereditary fame, a seemingly-normal woman who is actually a member of Paimon’s cult, manipulating Annie into calling forth the demonic prince.
Character actress Ann Dowd nails Joan’s two-faced nature, acting like a supportive shoulder to cry on before revealing her true colors as she spouts curses at the Graham children, preparing them for the arrival of her dark prince. Her gaslighting is frighteningly realistic; pointy-hat-wearing broomstick witches don’t exist, but a Joan could easily haunt one’s real life.
4
The Blair Witch
The found-footage horror movie genre wouldn’t exist as we know it without The Blair Witch Project, which conveys one of the most terrifying supernatural threats without ever directly showing it. However, the underrated spin-off, 2016’s Blair Witch, takes a brief opportunity to reveal the Blair Witch in all her terrifying glory.
During a claustrophobic chase sequence, the witch finally reveals herself on camera for a brief moment, turning out to be an utterly terrifying behemoth hag monster whose physical form is just as intimidating as her stalking and psychological torment. As if that weren’t terrifying enough, she has the ability to mimic the voices of her victims.
3
The Hag (The Wretched)
The two concepts of the friendly-faced witch and the terrifying, shambling hag are combined in 2019’s The Wretched, which centers on a troubled teen who suspects his new neighbor of being an evil witch. His suspicions are confirmed in the most horrific way imaginable when he comes face to face with the creature simply called The Hag.
This monstrous enтιтy possesses people one at a time in a bloodthirsty murder spree. Her true form is nearly as revolting as her actions, a withered corpse with a desiccated face crawling like an animal after her prey. Hiding via her possession of innocent people, The Hag gruesomely feasts on children when she has the chance to unveil her nauseating evil unimpeded.
2
Bathsheba (The Conjuring)
By now, the Conjuring series has become a sprawling media franchise of sequels and spin-offs, but it’s important to remember just how terrifying its original villain was. Rather than a traditional demon, the enтιтy behind the haunting of the infamous Perrons house is revealed to be none other than Bathsheba, the ghost of a witch who murdered her own child as a sacrifice to Satan.
Bathsheba boasts some of the spookiest jump scares in the entire Conjuring series, which is truly saying something, including the infamous “hide and clap” scene. From her profane words to her haunting scarred visage, Bathsheba is a spectral ghost who almost outdoes any other movie witch with her undying, profane commitment to the service of hell.
1
The Witch (The VVitch)
The nameless witch of Roger Eggers’ simply-тιтled The Witch, sometimes stylized as The VVitch, is easily one of the most chilling and iconic takes on the folklore legend. Hiding out in the woods of early colonial America, this witch represents a deep, ancient evil that infects the very land with its roots, slowly corrupting a family of pilgrims with her malicious influence.
From the moment she kidnaps the young baby Sam and mutilates his body for one of her foul rituals, the central witch of The Witch is absolutely blood-curdling. Whether she’s appearing as an alarming seductress or an animalistic hag, her influence spreads far and wide, making for one of the most atmospheric and chilling horror movie villains ever.
