5 Fantasy Horror Films to Add to Your Watchlist

The fantasy horror genre was a match made in hell. The shimmery, larger than life genre is inherently scary due to its other worldly nature. The voyage and return plot devise in childhood fantasy allows horror to swoop in just as the character is lost and yearns for home.

I've dedicated the past 3 years to finding fantastical stories that took characters that extra step toward terrifying. And all I have to say is- dear GOD, was it tough. Fantasy has proven to be a dying art and a grandiose task. I hit wall after wall. Each one barely missing the mark in joining the elements of both genres. Suddenly, a pink haze filled the screen and with a cleaver to her feet, all that searching finally paid off.

The Ugly Stepsister shook me in a way I had not felt in a long time. "OH MY GOD! FINALLY!" I shout. If you're anything like me, desperate to find the perfect combination of a fantasy movie you watched as a child and the brutality of horror, I have 5 films perfectly curated for you.

Viy (1967)

The Soviet Union's first Horror film, Viy, follows a young seminary student after he kills a witch in an isolated village. The witch transforms into a young woman who tasks the student with praying over her body for three nights. Based on the novella by Nikolai Gogol, the '67 film uses gothic fantasy elements to pull the viewer into a surreal, unending nightmare.

Return to Oz (1985)

If there's one thing we remember haunting our childhoods, it's Mombi's hall of heads. Though several films from Disney's "Dark Age" come to mind, like The Black Cauldron, there is something about Walter Murch's twisted sequel that sticks with you. Following the events of the 1939 classic, Dorothy finds her way back to Oz, only it's not what she remembered. Taking inspiration from L. Frank Baum's Ozma of Oz and the Marvelous Land of Oz, this adaptation is the closest in style you can get to the original books. Return to Oz beautifully embodies the darkness in a bold and unapologetic way.

Kuroneko (1968)

Kaneto Shindō's haunting folktale centers two women who are brutally murdered (Trigger Warning: SA) and return as ghosts to seek revenge. The 1968 film is rich in poetic theming surrounding the agency of women and cosmic justice. The film is one of many horror features to form the cat subgenre, deriving from Japanese folklore.

Alice (1988)

Alice in Wonderland somehow even more surreal and terrifying than the book. Taking a look at Caroll's intention for it to exist as a dream sets the groundwork for Jan Svanmjer's adaptation. Bizarre animation and stop motion, off beat character design, and disarranged sets blend together for a clunky yet charming viewing experience.

Beauty and the Beast (1978)

A gothic reimagining of the classic fable, Juraj Herz's Panna a Netvor is a gorgeous, gloomy, and grotesque dreamscape. The looming feeling of dread and loneliness are inescapable. Playing with themes of corruption, rot, and greed, Herz wraps the darkness in glittering fog.