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Witches, above almost every other Halloween mascot, are endlessly reworkable. They can be good, bad, scheming, stupid, funny and, as is usually the case, terrifyingly powerful. Case in point: Marvel's Agatha All Along, the WandaVision spinoff that gives the villainous Agatha Harkness her own shot at the spotlight. Agatha is witch through-and-through, despite begins surrounded by superheroes, and with her saga finally airing on Disney+, we thought we'd pay tribute to her eternally evolving ilk. Travel down the Witches' Road with Popverse, won't you, as we explore the best witch horror movies ever made.

Best witch horror movie #1: A Dark Song

The fear of witchcraft and the occult is usually resigned to the past, which is perhaps one of the reasons the modern day Dark Song strikes such a chord. The horror here is the actual process of witchcraft itself - magic is an ancient and barely knowable thing in this film, with its only certainty being that it requires sacrifice. But the witch in question - that is, a grieving woman who recruits an occultist to help her speak to her dead child - iis willing to sacrifice just about anything.

Listen to the music of madness by streaming A Dark Song on AMC+.

Best witch horror movie #2: The Craft

I generally try not to include the "well, duh" movies on these lists, which is why you won't be seeing a certain Robert Eggers film starring a goat on here. That said, it would be downright insulting to not include The Craft on this list; its perfect blend of teen drama and the great and terrible world of the occult is unique in media, though plenty have tried and failed to recreate its magic.

Find your coven by streaming The Craft on Max.

Best witch horror movie #3: Hausu

Ok freaks, it's time to turn up the weird. Japanese supernatural thriller Hausu is proof that you can fit just about anything in between the first and last frame of the film, or at the very least, you can go down in history trying. For all its weirdness, though, there's an almost Brothers-Grimm-classicism to the story as well - it's youngsters vs. a conniving witch that lives in a house of wonders, a tale as old as time in some ways.

Oh! And there's a lot here for cat people. 

Visit the world of the weird by streaming Hausu on Max.

Best witch horror movie #4: Witchfinder General

So far we've touched on movies where the horror comes from diabolical witchcraft, but in actual history, witchcraft was only horrific in that it inspired centuries of religious persecution. Few movies capture this depressing side of the sub-genre better than Witchfinder General, starring the great Vincent Price as Matthew Hopkins, a real-life strong-man whose incendiary preachings led to dozens of real-life deaths. It's a deeply disturbing film, so beware as you go into it - there's no Sanderson Sisters silliness by the time this one wraps up.

Live the true history of witchcraft by streaming Witchfinder General on PlutoTV (for free!).

Best witch horror movie #5: Black Sunday

What began as Italy's attempt to rival the success of Dracula wound up being a must-see of the horror genre, not to mention the introduction into the director's chair of one Mario Bava, one of the pioneers of the giallo brand of horror from the 70s. A pretty extreme case of body horror for its time, Black Sunday is about a witch that returns to haunt her own bloodline, centuries after her own brother put her in the ground.

Wake what waits beyond by streaming Black Sunday on Tubi (for free!).

Best witch horror movie #6: Häxan

Who says you need sound to make a great horror movie? Danish milestone in terror Häxan certainly does without it, just like color, marketing, and, well, anything that people used to make movies after 1922. That's right, the last entry on this list is over a century old, and the reason for its unnaturally long life doesn't come from magic, but the innovative costumes and theatrics that still manage to pop in the modern era. That's not to say this film is without a certain spell - made as a documentary, the film offers a dramatized history of the superstitions surrounding witchcraft in the medieval ages, but does so making use of heavy surrealism and almost ballet-like fantasy seequences. What actually goes on in the movie is second to how it makes you feel.

Blur your own reality by streaming Häxan on Tubi (for free!).

In the immortal words of Danny Elfman, "Life's no fun without a good scare." We couldn't agree more, which is why we think you should check out horror aficionado Greg Silber's list of the best horror movies of all time. Or, if you've already seen those classics, check out our list of the most underrated horror movies from the past couple years. And if you've already seen all of those, Let us tell you what to look forward to (or dread) in Popverse's list of upcoming horror movies.