15 Best Historical Horror Movies, Ranked

Horror movies are so timeless and versatile because they can take place across a variety of settings and periods. It’s not as limited as, say, science-fiction movies, which are commonly associated with the future, or fantasy movies, many of which take place in entirely different worlds. The only basic requirement for horror movies is that they be intentionally scary, or at least try to be, which means filmmakers can utilize pretty much any setting they want.

As such, many have been sent back in time, taking place in some of humanity’s bloodiest or most prosperous eras. These are exciting prospects for horror fans, as they provide new and exhilarating experiences that prove that fear can come from pretty much anywhere. These are the best historical horror movies, which not only provide scares aplenty but a little bit of historical education, too. Even if their stories are fictional, their production values will reveal something new about a specific time and place.

15 ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’ (1992)

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola

Count Dracula is the most prevalent character in horror cinema, appearing in over 60 films since the 1930s. He is the quintessential vampire, first appearing in an 1897 novel by Bram Stoker. Despite the many adaptations, very few ever try to stay even a little faithful to the original. In fact, most make up their plotlines but end up using the same character. Enter Bram Stoker’s Dracula, a movie by renowned filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola that seeks to actually adapt the novel properly.

The titular vampire is played by Gary Oldman, who also plays Vlad the Impaler, a notorious Wallachian ruler who was infamous for the brutal manner in which he murdered hundreds of victims and the historical figure on whom Dracula is based. The movie opens with Vlad, showcasing his transformation into a vampire before leaping forward five centuries and picking up at the beginning of the novel. Fans of gothic literature shouldn’t pass this one up because it’s probably the most faithful adaptation of Stoker’s original novel out there, even though it isn’t the best Dracula film in general.

14 ‘Army of Darkness’ (1993)

Directed by Sam Raimi

Sam Raimi‘s Evil Dead is among the best horror trilogies of all time. While the third and final entry, Army of Darkness, wasn’t the best, it’s still a really fun movie that maintains the same charm as its predecessors. It sees the protagonist, Ash (Bruce Campbell), transported back to the Middle Ages, where he is forced once again to acquire the Necronomicon and fight his way through the army of living dead to return home.

Army of Darkness isn’t just a horror movie; it’s also a comedy and an action movie with great scares, cheesy 90s action, and hilarious one-liners. It’s got a little bit of everything without ever feeling like it’s doing too much. Sure, it may be the weakest film in the trilogy, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad or even average because the first two set a pretty high bar to clear.

13 ‘Brotherhood of the Wolf’ (2001)

Directed by Christophe Gans

Brotherhood of the Wolf has gained quite a cult following in recent years, finally allowing it to have its turn in the spotlight after being largely ignored at the time of its release. This action-horror flick takes place during the French Revolution, near the end of the 18th century. Even before the Revolution, tales began to spring up about a wolf-life entity known as the Beast of Gévaudan, which was ostensibly responsible for a series of killings happening in the area. Luckily, this was just a legend, and no known evidence of such a creature actually exists.

Brotherhood of the Wolf decides to play into that myth, though, featuring a beast created with a combination of CGI and state-of-the-art Jim Henson Company-made puppetry. In 2022, it received a director’s cut at the Cannes Film Festival, which speaks to its quality, even if it never got much attention. Haunting, atmospheric, and visceral, Brotherhood of the Wolf is the perfect combination of a chilling historical setting and a classic supernatural story.

Watch on Amazon Prime

12 ‘The Head Hunter’ (2018)

Directed by Jordan Downey

A fairly recent horror movie, The Head Hunter takes place during the Dark Ages, featuring an unnamed Viking father (Christopher Rygh) who earns his crust by slaying mythical monsters from folklore. He makes it his mission to always remove their heads as revenge for the death of his daughter (Cora Kaufman). Despite his lust for vengeance, he finds it difficult to track down the one who murdered his daughter.

The movie received mixed reviews from average viewers but was a real hit with critics, who commended it for its efficient use of limited resources to deliver a picture that was not only terrifying and interesting but also emotionally moving. The Head Hunter received a few major acknowledgments, even if it remains largely underappreciated. It’s a testament to the power of independent filmmakers to deliver creative stories without a big budget and is a triumph in the indie horror genre.

Watch on Hoopla

11 ‘The Nightingale’ (2018)

Directed by Jennifer Kent

The Nightingale comes from acclaimed Australian film director Jennifer Kent, who is primarily known for her outstanding 2014 horror flick The Babadook. One of the best war horror movies, The Nightingale occurs during Australia’s Black War, which ran from the mid-1820s until 1832, when Australia was used as a place of exile for British and Irish prisoners. Irish convict Clare (Aisling Franciosi) is living in Tasmania when she is brutally attacked, causing her to embark on a crusade for revenge.

It sounds like a standard action flick, but there are actually quite a lot of psychological themes, making it quite creepy to watch. The Nightingale also has some really decent social commentaries in it, mainly about prejudice against the Indigenous population, the remnants of which can still be felt today. It’s not just spooky and entertaining, but it’s a movie with heart, too, and one that makes a really good point.

10 ‘Trench 11’ (2017)

Directed by Leo Scherman

Trench 11 is a really unique Canadian horror flick that takes place on the Western Front during the First World War. A squad of Canadian soldiers, led by Rossif Sutherland, is dispatched to the eponymous trench network behind enemy lines. Becoming trapped inside, they find themselves at the mercy of German soldiers who have been infected with a parasitic worm. With such a creative premise and setting, it’s a real shame this movie never got the attention it deserves.

Critics were all over it, praising the movie for its effective use of common phobias like darkness and tight spaces to make for a truly terrifying journey through time. This is one that horror fans are definitely not going to want to miss. The movie doesn’t give the audience an inch, refusing to let up for even a second as things gradually become more and more frightening. It is spectacular and criminally underrated.

Watch on Tubi

9 ‘The Others’ (2001)

Directed by Alejandro Amenábar

The Others takes place just weeks after the end of the Second World War, which would ordinarily be a cause for celebration in the United Kingdom and all of its overseas territories. But unfortunately, for one family living in the Bailiwick of Jersey in the English Channel, it only brings about a new set of nightmares. Starring Nicole Kidman as a beleaguered mother named Grace, with two light-sensitive children, the end of the war brings about apparent hauntings in the home, turning the family’s isolation into the stuff of nightmares.

The Others is a classic example of Gothic horror, utilizing many of the tropes, including isolation and the ghosts having an alternate explanation. Its historical setting really adds to the Gothic feel, even if it is set later than most Gothic horror movies are. Still, The Others remains a fan-favorite when it comes to ghost movies, especially ones with a historical setting.

8 ‘In My Mother’s Skin’ (2023)

Directed by Kenneth Dagatan

In My Mother’s Skin is set during the Pacific Theatre of World War II, where a wealthy Filipino family becomes the target of frequent harassment by the occupying Japanese soldiers. Desperate, the father sets off on some foolish treasure hunt as the mother’s health begins to decline rapidly. With no other way out, the daughter heads into the woods to find a mythical fairy and beg for her help. She finds the fairy, but unbeknownst to her, the fairy has no intentions of helping and is secretly planning to devour them all.

Perfect for fans of Pan’s Labyrinth, In My Mother’s Skin is strikingly creepy in its signature visuals and dark fantasy style. It takes a recognized folk symbol of happiness and joy and turns it on its head, making it into a malevolent being with no regard for human life. Genius and criminally underrated, In My Mother’s Skin is a textbook example of both historical horror and folk horror.

7 ‘Witchfinder General’ (1968)

Directed by Michael Reeves

Witchfinder General stars the one and only Vincent Price, one of the most iconic horror actors of all time, as Matthew Hopkins, a real witch-hunter who was particularly active during the English Civil War in the 17th Century. It was a time of great paranoia about witchcraft and the occult, especially in the Puritan Church, so there were many trials and false accusations against women who were suspected to have been involved in sorcery.

Witchfinder General
makes effective use of a teeny-tiny budget, gradually rising to cult status among the horror community.

When Hopkins falsely accuses Sara Lowes (Hilary Dwyer) of being a witch, her fiancé, Richard Marshall (Ian Ogilvy), sets out on a quest for revenge against Hopkins and his reign of terror. The movie makes effective use of a teeny-tiny budget, gradually rising to cult status among the horror community. It only gained this status decades later with the rise of the “Satanic Panic” in the early ’80s, which coincided with a resurgence in popularity for Vincent Price due to his part in Michael Jackson‘s “Thriller.” Still, Witchfinder General excels as a showcase for the iconic Vincent Price, who arguably delivers his finest performance.

Buy on Amazon

6 ‘Fear Street Part Three: 1666’ (2021)

Directed by Leigh Janiak

Fear Street is a trilogy that explores a few different time periods, but the third and final installment goes farther into the past than any of them, taking audiences way back to the year 1666. During this time, the origins of the horror story are explored, involving a dark book of magic and accusations of witchcraft during the Puritan era of America.

Like the previous two films released that very same year, the third part of the trilogy was commended for how much fun it has with itself, as well being clearly influenced from some of the best horror classics, on top of how well it knows horror fans and knows how to give them what they want. It may be the weakest of the trilogy, but it’s still a solid film that wrapped everything up in a nice little bow.

5 ‘The Witch’ (2015)

Directed by Robert Eggers

The Witch takes place in New England during the early 17th Century, a time in which the Salem Witch Trials were occurring in what is today Massachusetts. A Puritan family, disgraced by their father’s wrongdoings, is exiled to the rural New England countryside to live out the remained of their days away from Puritan society. Unfortunately for them, the nearby woods are home to sinister forces that begin preying upon the family and using dark magic to get them to turn on each other.

Anya Taylor-Joy takes the lead as Thomasin, the eldest daughter in the family who becomes the scapegoat for the paranormal events occurring on the farm. As far as horror movies go, this one isn’t all that scary, with only one jumpscare throughout the entire movie. Nevertheless, it is a spectacular entry into the genre, with the sensation that something isn’t quite right slowly mounting, leaving each minute more tense than the last.

4 ‘Pearl’ (2022)

Directed by Ti West

Pearl is the prequel film in the critically acclaimed X trilogy, and stars Mia Goth as the titular Pearl, a woman living on a rural farmstead in Texas while her husband is off fighting in the final year of the First World War. Pearl dreams of becoming an actress, and she becomes so determined to find fame that she will do anything to make it happen. And make no mistake: she will do literally anything, including kill whoever stands in the way of her dream.

This prequel actually came out the same year as the original X film, which would ordinarily be a recipe for disaster. Instead, it proved to be a success, with Pearl keeping the same spirit as the original despite tight time constraints. Pearl is a movie that is less about scary visuals and more about the inner machinations of such an individual’s psyche, proving that sometimes, the human mind can be more terrifying than any creepy creature the filmmakers could have come up with.

3 ‘The Cremator’ (1969)

Directed by Juraj Hertz

The Cremator is a film from the former nation of Czechoslovakia that is set in the 1930s, during the Third Reich’s rise to power in Europe. There were lots of other social and political changes in this era, too, which all loom in the background of this underrated foreign flick. As the continent changes around him, a man working in a crematorium in Prague, which he nicknames his “temple of death,” begins to get frightening delusions about what cremation actually is. He starts seeing it not as an after-death method of laying a body to rest, but as a way of purifying a person from the torturous monotony of life, and believes that even those that are still alive ought to be cremated in order to be “saved.”

The Cremator is unashamedly dark, but not without its morbidly comedic aspects. Its trademark gallows humor and bizarre visuals make it feel unique and special, even if it is a movie that hasn’t seen nearly as much of the success as it deserves. Perfect for psychological horror fans, this movie also has a lot of political messages woven into it, exploring the impact of Europe’s radicalization during the 1930s on the human brain, and the lengths people resorted to in order to cope with the rapidly-changing landscape.

2 ‘Prey’ (2022)

Directed by Dan Trachtenberg

Prey is one of the best horror prequels out there and the most recent entry into the Predator franchise. While Predator is a timeless classic featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger, some felt that this prequel film was actually better than the original. It takes place in the United States in the early 18th Century, where an Indigenous woman named Naru (Amber Midthunder) happens across an extra-terrestrial species known as the Predator on what appears to be their first visit to Earth.

Critics loved that it felt like a return to the roots of the original in that it keeps the pulse-pounding, tense action but also emphasizes character development, resulting in a tale audiences can recognize and resonate with. Prey uses its setting to its fullest, employing the inherent horror of the unknown to enhance its sci-fi premise. Fans of sci-fi horror should definitely give this one a go because it’s bound to become a classic just as much as the original was.

1 ‘Onibaba’ (1964)

Directed by Kaneto Shindō

Onibaba (literally “demon hag”) is one of several Japanese films set during the feudal era at the end of the Middle Ages. Ordinarily, Japanese films set in this era fall into the jidaigeki category in that they’re typically about samurai and are more focused on drama or action. Onibaba takes a different route by playing into horror, utilizing various aspects of Japanese mythology for its scares.

Story-wise, it’s about two women who make their living by slaying samurai and selling their possessions. The nameless older woman (Nobuko Otowa) murders a samurai who bears a strange demon mask. She takes it and uses it to scare the nameless younger woman (Jitsuko Yoshimura) away from having an affair. However, this is no ordinary mask, as it has some sort of supernatural curse attributed to it. Onibaba features a lot of visuals that would later come to be commonplace in Japanese horror, making it one of the founding members of the genre. It’s not in-your-face scary, but it is creepy and teeming with all of the qualities of classic jidaigeki films. The fact that it was so revolutionary and yet so classic is what makes this the best historical horror movie ever made.

Watch on Max

NEXT: The Best Historical Fantasy Movies, Ranked