Have you already had a chance to watch these 25 amazing dark fantasy movies?
A successful dark fantasy movie is a combination of the presence of a magical or supernatural realm that feels real, and the feeling of horror or the inexplicable sensation that you’re in danger. In other words, it elevates you by offering what should be impossible, inexistent, like witches and magical creatures, and it makes your back sweat by creating a threatening, sinister atmosphere. While there have been and still are many attempts at satisfying the demanding and sometimes unforgiving audience with dark fantasy films, only few of them have earned recognition and fame through powerful narratives and unique styles. And today, we’re going to have a look at twenty-five dark fantasy movies that you should definitely check out!
25. Van Helsing
Evil doesn’t sleep, and neither does Van Helsing.
Van Helsing is a 2004 dark fantasy movie directed by Stephen Sommers, who is also known for his fantasy adventure movies, such as The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. The film follows the adventures of Van Helsing, a hunter for vampires and other supernatural, demonic creatures. Van Helsing travels to Transylvania, the home of a powerful vampire, Count Dracula, following the orders of the Vatican City, and his mission is to destroy the evil vampire and protect those whose lives are in danger as long as Dracula lives.
Van Helsing is created with the Gothic theme and is rich with the supernatural, its curious manifestations as well as its deadly nature.
24. Something Wicked This Way Comes
Have you seen these boys?
Something Wicked This Way Comes - Trailer
A movie adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s novel, Something Wicked This Way Comes is a fairly old movie (1962) that employs one of our favorite sinister themes: the theme of a carnival.
The citizens of Green Town, Illinois, have to face the temptation of having their most precious, most desirable wishes come true when a carnival, led by mysterious Mr. Dark, comes to town. Mr. Dark offers to make your secret desires reality, but the price is higher than you would ever dare imagine. While adults recklessly give in to the temptation, Mr. Dark finds two young boys, Jim and Will, to be a real threat to his devilish enterprise.
23. Snow White and the Huntsman
One bite is enough to put you to sleep for a long time.
Snow White and the Huntsman - Trailer
The story of Snow White and her evil stepmother takes an interesting twist in this dark fantasy movie starring Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road), Kristen Stewart (Twilight), and Chris Hemsworth (Thor).
The Queen, obsessed with eternal youth, drains life from young and beautiful girls in order to keep her youth and beauty, but her superiority is endangered when she learns there is another, who is destined to surpass her. Determined not to let this happen, the Queen orders a huntsman to find the young girl and bring her to the Queen, so that she can achieve her ultimate desire to stay young forever.
22. Gretel & Hansel
This story may ruin your appetite.
Gretel & Hansel - Trailer
Gretel and her brother Hansel are forced to seek work and shelter in the forest when their father dies, and their mother banishes them from home. Hungry and exhausted, they enter a strange house deep in the forest, hoping to rest. The host, Holda, greets them and satisfies their hunger, but the cunning Gretel grows suspicious of her. While the children are satisfying their hunger, could Holda be preparing to satisfy hers?
The dark tale by the Brothers Grimm is retold in this dark fantasy movie adaptation. A fair warning: if you are highly impressionable and don’t have enough mental stamina, this movie is likely to give you nightmares. But if you are a big appreciator of the Gothic, Gretel & Hansel is simply a must-watch!
21. Alice in Wonderland
“Off with their heads!”
Alice in Wonderland - Trailer
Lewis Carroll’s Alice goes on her mad adventures in this 2010 film adaptation, in which Mia Wasikowska (The Devil All The Time), Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean), Helena Bonham Carter (Fight Club), and Anne Hathaway (The Intern) help bring our beloved eccentric characters to life.
Running away from an unwanted marriage proposal, limiting societal expectations, and the trauma after a painful loss, Alice follows a strange rabbit with a pocket watch into a whole in the forest and finds herself in a magical land called Wonderland. There, she meets the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, the Caterpillar, and other unusual characters whose absurdity makes Alice doubt her own sanity. Maybe that’s exactly what Alice needs: to be “as mad as a hatter” to survive this “land full of wonder, mystery, and danger.”
20. The Brothers Grimm
Not quite your Winchester brothers...
The Brothers Grimm - Trailer
Brothers Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm are well-known monster hunters, freeing communities of evil and supernatural creatures that nobody else can defeat. Their secret? Their battles are staged. In reality, they are con artists who trick people into believing in enchanted and magical creatures that they defeat, to everybody’s admiration. But their little stunts are useless against a real magical curse, a curse that puts their abilities to test.
While this movie has many elements of dark fantasy, it also employs humor and comedy to make the plot even more entertaining and the protagonists more relatable.
19. Red Riding Hood
Could the Big Bad Wolf be not so bad?
Red Riding Hood - Trailer
Fairy tales for children make an excellent base for a dark and twisted adult story, and the tale of Little Red Riding Hood is not an exception.
The 2011 movie adaptation of a well-known tale for children, Red Riding Hood follows the story of Valerie, who lives with her parents and sister in a small village on the verge of a forest terrorized by a werewolf. When the wolf breaks a pact with the villagers by attacking and killing one of them, it sets in motion a series of hunts, tortures, and murders that reveal the darkest, ugliest, scariest sides of human nature that come to light under the pressure of fear and panic. Valerie is in the center of a love triangle and family secrets that will inevitably change her love forever.
18. Dark Shadows
Welcome home, Mr. Vampire.
Dark Shadows - Trailer
One of Johnny Depp’s many talents is his fitness for a role of a charming vampire who is the center of a dark story with a pinch of humor, romance, and suspense, such as Dark Shadows (2012).
Cursed by a jealous witch, Barnabas Collins is forced to spend two centuries under the ground, buried alive as a vampire after losing the love of his life, until a chance allows him to resurface without having aged a day. He finds out his old estate is now inhabited by other residents, and he has no choice but to try his best to fit in the new family as well as in the new age. But just as he is beginning to hope again to rekindle his love, his past finds a way to catch up with him when the witch that cursed him shows up at his doorstep.
17. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Eva Green, as always, is extraordinary.
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Trailer
Directed by the talented Tim Burton and based on Ransom Riggs’s novel of the same name, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children presents a curious world that welcomes all the children that are different in their own, unique ways.
A young boy Jake discovers the world of peculiar children that his grandfather told him about, and learns that he is one of them, and that his ability is to see the invisible monsters called Hollowgasts. The monsters are a threat to the existence of Peculiars, and Jake must now do everything in his power to protect his new friends and himself from those who seek to eliminate them for being different.
16. In the Mouth of Madness
“Do you read Sutter Cane?”
In the Mouth of Madness - Trailer
In the Mouth of Madness (1994) is what one would call a Lovecraftian movie, because of its many references to the sinister and wicked themes and stories presented in the books by H.P. Lovecraft.
John Trent, an insurance investigator, is requested to look into the disappearance of Sutter Cane, a famous horror novelist, whose books are known to cause people with weak psychological stamina to experience hallucinations, paranoia, and manic behaviour. In the process of investigating, John realizes he is slowly giving in to all these symptoms, questioning his sanity while trying to retrieve Cane’s yet-to-be-released manuscript that tells a story strangely similar to the events Trent is going through.
15. Constantine
The world is full of angels and demons.
Constantine - Trailer
Constantine (2005) intrigues viewers by discussing the topic of angels and demons, crime and punishment, and everything that’s in between good and evil.
Constantine, who possesses the ability to perceive half-demons and half-angels in the human world, agrees to investigate the strange suicide of Detective Angela’s twin sister, who ended her life while being a patient in a mental facility. The investigation leads them to discover that Angela’s sister was part of a much bigger, much more dangerous plan that threatens the world.
14. The Shape Of Water
How sad is it that humans often forget how to be human?
The Shape of Water - Trailer
Elisa Esposito is mute, and she works as a cleaning lady in a US secret government facility. Her life is uneventful and routine-based, but that changes when Elisa discovers an amphibious man held at the facility for study and experimenting. Regularly meeting with the creature in secret, she is slowly getting to know him, and the two are beginning to bond, embracing each other’s being different.
The Shape of Water, directed by Guillermo del Toro, is an unusual movie, both tender and cruel, happy and sad, calling our attention to the topics of human greed for power and, as its opposite, the freeing power of unconditional love.
13. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
These three are being tested by life again and again.
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events - Trailer
As you may have guessed from the title, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004) is a story of three siblings who are going through a really dark patch, life throwing at them one misfortune after another.
Violet, Klaus, and Sunny lose their parents in a massive fire and are forced to live with their new guardian, Count Olaf. The children’s first impression of him gradually proves to be accurate: he is as obnoxious and unfit to take care of children as his dark house and unfriendly countenance suggest. But Olaf’s strange behavior soon hints at something else, something not as harmless as the lack of babysitting experience. Could the children’s inheritance have anything to do with their guardian’s incompetent, almost murderous style of caring for them?
12. Crimson Peak
Every house has its secrets.
Crimson Peak - Trailer
Edith, against her father’s warnings, marries Sir Thomas Sharp, charmed by his seductive mysteriousness. As her marriage begins, so does the road of uncovering everything that her husband is trying to hide from her. All the darkness and the terror of his past are coming for her, and it doesn’t look like she has anywhere to run, for this is her home now.
Electrifying and blood-freezing, Crimson Peak offers a story of a young woman who, by marrying a charming, intriguing man, also marries his darkest secrets.
11. Corpse Bride
What an unusual couple!
Corpse Bride - Trailer
Victor’s wedding goes wrong in every possible way, forcing him to flee to the forest in order to practice his wedding vow and try again. In an unpredictable turn of events, he accidentally marries a dead woman who rises from the ground claiming they are now man and wife. Thus begins the most unorthodox marriage in the history of marriages, which has many surprises for Victor as well as for the viewers.
Dark and funny at the same time, this animated movie is a fantastic combination of the Gothic theme and the most charming features of the comedy genre.
10. Maleficent
The magnificent Maleficent
Maleficent - Trailer
Loosely based on the story of Sleeping Beauty, this movie tells a tale of lost love and of a newly found one. Heartbroken by a betrayal of the love of her love, Maleficent rules the Moors, a dark kingdom full of magical creatures. When she learns that the man she loved, now a king, is having his daughter’s Christening, she comes to his castle and places a curse upon his infant child, giving her time to live only until her 16th Birthday. What Maleficent does not expect is that, while secretly observing the girl grow from a distance, her own feelings would change and she would grow to love the very girl she cursed. Will true love prove that it has the power to save lives?
The familiar tale of the girl who falls victim to a cruel witch is retold with a modern touch that helps us see good in people, and reminds us of the seemingly impossible powers of love.
9. Pan's Labyrinth
“It is in pain that we find the meaning of life.”
Pan’s Labyrinth - Trailer
Pan’s Labyrinth is a 2006 Spanish fantasy movie that some consider Alice in Wonderland for adults. Its protagonist, Ofelia, moves into a new house and has a new stepfather, a strict, taciturn, humorless military man. Her life in the new house is lonely and joyless, but one night a fairy leads her to a faun who tells her that Ofelia is a princess. The faun has three tasks for Ofelia, the tasks that will prove her loyalty by exposing her weaknesses, emphasizing her strengths, and revealing the bigger picture.
This movie is another one of Guillermo del Toro's masterpieces, dark, fascinating, sometimes scary and uncomfortable because of the themes it ruthlessly exposes, but leaving us with the feeling of two hours well-spent.
8. The Addams Family
Morticia and Fester looking their darkest
The Addams Family - Trailer
The Addams Family (1991) is one of the most well-known classic Gothic movies that is rich with dark humor, depicting murder, torture, and pain as a means of entertainment. It follows a story of an eccentric family consisting of Morticia, Gomez, their children, and other peculiar family members, all of whom share one trait: they are the most Goth family in the neighborhood. Dark, but not scary, The Addams Family is a perfect watch for appreciators of dark comedy.
7. Sleepy Hollow
Ichabod Crane in search of the culprit
Sleepy Hollow - Trailer
Ichabod Crane is a police detective sent from New York to Sleepy Hollow, a small and superstitious town, to investigate a series of mysterious murders that left its victims decapitated. The locals are convinced that a certain Headless Horseman is behind these murders, but Ichabod feels skeptical about these beliefs. He knows the culprit is made of flesh and blood, and he’s determined to find him no matter what.
Sinister and intriguing, this movie is a product of collaboration between Tim Burton’s unique vision and Johnny Depp’s acting genius.
6. A Monster Calls
“Stories are wild animals... if you let them loose, who knows what havoc they may wreak.”
A Monster Calls - Trailer
Twelve-year-old Conor knows exactly how hard it sometimes is to be a kid. He’s having a hard time dealing with acceptance of his mother’s terminal illness as well as being bullied at school. He begins to have hope when he meets a tree monster who becomes his friend and helps him find peace with many things in his life.
A Monster Calls is a magical, visually rich work, by J. A. Bayona, that gets through many powerful messages about the difficulties of childhood.
5. Monster House
Living across the street from a murderous house must be quite a nightmare.
Monster House - Trailer
Does your neighborhood have a house that everyone stays the hell away from?
D.J., Chowder, and Jenny discover that their neighbor’s house they believed to be simply scary and unpleasant is actually much more evil than that. It lives a life of its own, devouring those who are reckless enough to get too close to it. The trio is resolved to destroy the evil house once and for all by killing its heart, but that means… Yes, that means having to actually enter the house.
4. Dracula
Dracula, played by Gary Oldman
Dracula - Trailer
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Dracula (1992) is based on Bram Stoker's 1897 novel of the same name. The novel is considered to be one of the classics of its genre, with the 1992 movie adaptation masterfully bringing Dracula’s story onto the screen.
Vlad Dracula, a vampire, has been heartbroken ever since the death of his wife Elisabeta. Centuries after her death, he encounters Mina Harker, a woman who he is sure is reincarnated Elisabeta. With his love for his wife as strong as ever, Dracula is determined to make Mina his.
3. Interview With the Vampire
Greed, love, lust, betrayal, and misery, all in one movie.
Interview With The Vampire - Trailer
Based on Anne Rice's 1976 novel of the same name, Interview With The Vampire is a Gothic story about love and loss, indulgence and obstinance, as well as it is about life and death.
Louis, a vampire, is giving an interview to a modern-day journalist, recalling the story of his life. Consumed with grief after losing his wife and daughter back in the 18th century, while still being human, he encounters a vampire, Lestat, who turns him. While Louis enjoys satisfying his bloodthirst by killing humans, Louis refuses to commit murders and suffers a lot feeding on animal blood. His life from now on is a series of losses and misfortune, as he loses another daughter and struggles to do the right thing because of his vampire nature.
2. Edward Scissorhands
Can people accept someone who is very different from them?
Edward Scissorhands - Trailer
Edward is a creation of an old inventor, almost a human if it weren’t for his scissor-hands. When invited to live with a kind woman, Peg, and her family, Edward begins to socialize with the whole neighborhood, using his hands to perform haircuts for those willing to get one. In spite of most of his neighbors’ friendliness, there are those who are reluctant to get to know Edward, let alone to like him. Trapped in a series of deceits and accusations, Edward’s life rapidly becomes a whirl of love, hate, aggression, and even murder.
1. Coraline
Is the grass always greener on the other side?
Coraline - Trailer
Wandering around the house she has recently moved into with her parents, Coraline discovers a door that leads her to what seems to be the parallel universe. It has the same house and the same parents, but everything and everyone seems to be happier, livelier, brighter. The only weird thing is that her other parents have buttons for eyes. As Coraline is enjoying her newly discovered life and her more caring parents, she receives an offer to stay in this world forever on the condition that she sews two buttons to replace her eyes. Terrified, Coraline rejects, but it doesn’t look like the new mum and dad are willing to take a no for an answer…
An animated adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s “Coraline,” this movie is a witty story teaching us that, if the grass is greener elsewhere, there must be a catch, but it also educates us on the importance of receiving affection from your parents.
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