Table of Contents
✨ Magical practices form a cornerstone of folk horror, representing the survival of pre-modern beliefs into contemporary times. These traditions take different forms across cultures but share common themes of hidden knowledge, power derived from nature or spirits, and practices that exist outside mainstream religious institutions.
Witchcraft in Folk Horror
Surviving Traditions
Witchcraft in folk horror is often treated as an ancient practice that has been carried on through the centuries, surviving despite modernization:
- The City of the Dead (1960, UK)
- Don't Torture a Duckling (1972, Italy)
- Alison's Birthday (1981, Australia)
These films present witchcraft as something that has endured in secret, often in rural or isolated communities.
Resurrected Practices
Some folk horror depicts witchcraft as something that has been resurrected from a time long gone:
- The Wicker Man (1972, UK)
In these narratives, contemporary characters deliberately revive ancient practices, often as a rejection of modernity.
Pagan vs. Diabolical
Witchcraft in folk horror is sometimes presented as part of a region's pagan past:
- Lokis (1970, Poland)
- The Juniper Tree (1990, Iceland)
- November (2017, Estonia)
In other films, it's explicitly framed as devil worship:
- Häxan (1922, Sweden)
- The Witches (1966, UK)
- Viy (1967, USSR)
- Witchfinder General (1968, UK)
- Witchhammer (1970, Czechoslovakia)
- History of the Occult (2020, Argentina)
This distinction often reflects historical attitudes toward folk beliefs, which were frequently reframed as satanic by religious authorities.
The Devil in Folk Horror
Films where the Devil literally appears differ from those focused on witchcraft:
- The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941, US)
- Satan's Feats in the Village of Leva-e-Traz (1967, Brazil)
- Blood on Satan's Claw (1971, UK)
- Nazareno Cruz and the Wolf (1975, Argentina)
- The Legend of Hillbilly John (1974, US)
- Born of Fire (1987, UK)
Shamanism
Shamanic practices appear in folk horror films from cultures with shamanic traditions:
- The White Reindeer (1952, Finland)
- Io Island (1977, South Korea)
- The Medium (2021, Thailand)
These films often explore the ambiguous role of shamans as mediators between human and spirit worlds, capable of both healing and harm.
Other Forms of Folk Magic
Hoodoo and Rootwork
African diaspora traditions in the Americas:
- I Walked with a Zombie (1943, US)
- Angel Heart (1987, US)
- The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988, US)
These films often mistakenly label these practices as "voodoo," conflating distinct traditions.
Brujeria
Latin American magical traditions:
- The Amulet of Ogum (1974, Brazil)
- Voodoo Black Exorcist (1974, Spain)
- The Believers (1987, US)
Gender and Witchcraft
Folk horror often reflects historical gender dynamics in its portrayal of witchcraft. Female practitioners are frequently depicted as either malevolent crones or seductive temptresses, reflecting centuries of misogynistic stereotypes about women with power. Male practitioners, by contrast, are more often portrayed as scholars or leaders.
Some modern folk horror films have begun to subvert these dynamics, presenting witchcraft as a form of feminine empowerment against patriarchal oppression.
Historical Context
The witch trials of early modern Europe and colonial America cast a long shadow over folk horror's treatment of witchcraft. Films like Witchfinder General (1968, UK) and The Witch (2015, US) directly engage with this historical context, exploring how religious fear, gender politics, and social control intersected in the persecution of supposed witches.
This note is part of a series exploring folk horror in cinema. Return to the main Folk Horror overview to explore other tropes.