Witchy Films for Long Winter Nights

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I am a film nut. I'm obsessed, really. Which isn't to say that I am a fan of every type of film -- far from it. I find romantic comedies and any film with Catherine Zeta Jones in it intolerable. But one category I've been fascinated by for years is what I call "witchy" film. By witchy, I don't mean solely films with witches in them, although many of the ones I put in this category feature witches. What I mean is films that may be of interest to witches, pagans, and/or magicians -- films with some magick and preferably a heavy dose of the occult. I love these movies so much that I've even written a book about them (well, halfway written). So, since the nights are getting long and cold, and it's a great time to settle in for a movie fest, here are some suggestions for witchy films to check out. But first, some caveats.

The films on this list do not necessarily portray witches, pagans, and/or magicians in a good light. They are not necessarily "quality," or even "good." In fact, it's usually the opposite. But most of them are fun.

This list is not exhaustive. There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of witchy films out there. I've tried to pick some that are not well-known, as well as some more familiar titles, and I'm assuming you've already seen the old standbys: Bell, Book and Candle, I Married a Witch, Practical Magic, and The Crap. I mean The Craft. If you haven't, Bell, Book and Candle is -- in my opinion anyway -- the best of the "familiar four," although the last 10 minutes are regrettable. I'm not sure I'd give up my magick, even for Jimmy Stewart.

Enough with the caveats. Get yourself some popcorn and dig in!

General Witchiness

There's a formula to most witch films. They tend to go like this: 1) Witch is burnt at the stake/hanged/killed by an angry mob. 2) As the witch is dying, she curses the people who killed her and their descendants to the end of time. 3) Time passes, and most people forget about the witch. 4) Someone, either intentionally or unintentionally, does something really stupid that brings the witch back to life. 5) The witch wreaks havoc on descendants of her killers, often by possessing the body of one or more nubile young women. 6) The witch leads some ritual that is meant to be sensationalistic, but is usually rather boring and overly dependent on scantily clad acolytes performing abominable interpretive dance. 7) Hero discovers how to kill witch. 8) Hero kills witch and sets things to rights. 9) Witch is not quite dead. ...

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