Touted as the first great horror movie of the year, The Witchoffers a visceral exploration of black arts and superstition in a bloody tale set within 17th century New England. The film inspires this 24 Frames gallery of the most iconic witches from movie history.
The Last Witch Hunter Year: 2015
Vin Diesel plays an immortal warrior hunting down rogue witches who hide among us in everyday society. When the Queen Witch is resurrected, ol’ Vin is forced to do the last thing he wants: join forces with a young witch, played by Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey).
The Harry Potter
series
If you’re looking for witches, muggle, look no further than Hogwarts. Hermione Granger, along with pals Harry and Ron,
attended the school and got mixed up in some world-threatning affairs. You may have heard about this.
The Harry Potter series
Maggie Smith portrayed the shape-shifting Minerva McGonagall, also head of Gryffindor House at Hogwarts.
The Harry
Potter series
The Dark Lord’s most loyal servant, Bellatrix Lestrange was played with obvious sinister glee by Helena Bonham Carter.
Oz the Great and Powerful Year: 2013
Tomatometer: 59%
Rachel Weisz is one of three witches (the others being Mila Kunis and Michelle Williams) in this contemprary, CGI-heavy
telling of the L. Frank Baum stories.
The Wizard of Oz Year: 1939
Tomatometer: 99%
The most famous witch from moviedom, the Wicked Witch of the West ruled and schemed from her castle and platoon of
flying monkeys. Just don’t get her wet.
Stardust Year: 2007
Tomatometer: 76%
Michelle Pfeiffer fingering a spell in Matthew Vaughn’s light skewering of the fantasy film genre.
The Witches Year: 1990
Tomatometer: 100%
The ’90s generated a number of witchcrafted entertainment (probably ‘cuz the great satanic panic was on everybody’s
minds) and director Nicolas Roeg got in on this action, directing Anjelica Huston as the Grand High Witch at a coven
covention.
The Craft Year: 1996
Tomatometer: 50%
Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell, and Rachel True star as teenaged practitioners of the dark arts.
Hocus Pocus Year: 1993
Tomatometer: 30%
Three witches (Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy) get resurrected into modern day Salem, a world of
horseless carriages and where Halloween has turned into a joke holiday.
The Witches of Eastwick Year: 1987
Tomatometer: 73%
The Witches of Eastwick are comprised of Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer, three repressed women
who are manipulated to fall for the same devillish cad (Jack Nicholson).
Practical Magic Year: 1998
Tomatometer: 20%
Griffin Dunne’s early stab at directing resulted in this romantic comedy starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as
women who live with a family curse.
Bewitched Year: 2005
Tomatometer: 25%
Kidman is a witchy woman once more in this meta-remake of TV show Bewitched.
Kiki’s Delivery Service Year: 1989
Tomatometer: 100%
Witches frequently figure in Hayao Miyazaki’s joints (Yubaba in Spirited Away), going so far as devoting his fifth film
to the trials and tribulations of a witch-in-training.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Year: 1937
Tomatometer: 98%
Wait, never mind Miyazaki; witches have been a part of Walt Disney’s movies since the earliest days. It was, after all,
this hag who whipped up the infamous poison apple in America’s first animated feature.
Sleeping Beauty Year: 1959
Tomatometer: 92%
Arguably the most famous Disney witch (certainly the most visually striking) is Maleficent, who spins Princess Aurora
into the deepest slumber.
The Sword in the Stone Year: 1963
Tomatometer: 71%
The most fun Disney witch, Madam Mim, is wild, frenetic, and can shape shift on a whim.
The Black Cauldron Year: 1985
Tomatometer: 55%
Made during the Disney doldrums of the early ’80s, The Black Cauldron is a dark fantasy featuring Orddu, Orgoch, and
Orwen, three evil ladies in the land of Prydain.
Maleficent Year: 2014
Tomatometer: 49%
Modern day Disney has had fun turning its classic stories on their heads, like casting Angelina Jolie as the antagonist
witch from Sleeping Beauty and turning her into a hero.
Into the Woods Year: 2014
Tomatometer: 71%
This smorgasbord of fantasy tropes features Meryl Streep as a witch who offers to lift a married couple’s curse if
they find some key items and engage in a variety of musical numbers.
Black Sunday Year: 1960
Tomatometer: 84%
The first movie from slick slasher Mario Bava starred Barbara Steele in two roles, mainly as a witch named Asa who get
s burned at the stake and comes back 200 years later for revenge.
I Married a Witch Year: 1942
Tomatometer: 100%
French maestro Rene Clair put out a few Hollywood studio films, including I Married a Witch starring Veronica Lake as
the title character.
Macbeth Year: 1971
Tomatometer: 86%
The three witches, aka the Weird Sisters, from the opening of Roman Polanski’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragic
epic.
Teen Witch Year: 1989
Tomatometer: 33%
Before Sabrina was a thing on TV, there was the mega-’80s Teen Witch, starring Robin Lively as a girl
who gains magical powers on her 16th birthday.
