10 Best Horror Movies About Hoodoo or Voodoo
Hoodoo and voodoo are forms of spiritual practice which arrived from Western African countries to the deep American South where they used to be practiced by the African American population, mostly living in the remote and desolate swamps. Very often set in Southern states, such as Louisiana, Alabama and Georgia, the movies about these practices are mostly dark, chilling and full of mystery. This is the list of the ten best horror movies about hoodoo or voodoo.
Get Out (2017)
Get out is inventive and imaginative horror. It is something many viewers might find confusing and difficult, but it is a story that opens numerous questions and topics to discuss, dealing with some of the most important issues of today’s society, such as racism and prejudice. But it also causes a great deal of horror in the audience.
Chris is visiting his white girl’s parents on the weekend, ready to meet them and get to know them. What he didn’t expect was the way they welcomed him. From being overly accommodating to completely weird, Rose’s parents and the group of people Chris had the opportunity to meet hide a secret so scary and dreadful and Chris will soon realise his life is in great danger.
The Skeleton Key (2005)
One of the most intriguing movies with the topic of voodoo and hoodoo is this horror set in a Louisiana swamp where the even most terrible and dangerous secrets are kept among its residents. We follow nurse Caroline Ellis whose new job is taking care of the elderly Ben Deveroux who had a stroke and can’t walk or talk.
After meeting Ben’s creepy wife Violet and finding a secret room full of spells and bones to practice hoodoo, Caroline is even more determined to stay and help poor Ben, certain that Violet has put a spell on him. Caroline believes that hoodoo can’t harm anyone who doesn’t believe in it, but soon she will find herself in a situation where she won’t be sure whether she is here to save Ben or if her life is in danger.
Spell (2020)
Marquis is flying with his family to his father’s funeral in rural Appalachia but after an intense storm causes him to lose control of his plane and crash, he wakes up alone and trapped in the attic of a crazy lady named Ms Eloise.
She is convinced that she can heal him with the Boogity, a Hoodoo doll she has made from his blood and skin. Desperate to find help and save his family from a sinister ritual before the rise of the blood moon, Marquis will try to escape Eloise’s dark magic in every possible way he can.
The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)
One of Wes Craven’s most underrated and unknown movies is this excellent fantasy horror, The Serpent and the Rainbow. The movie is set in 1985 when a successful Harvard researches Dr Dennis Alan is invited to Haiti to study the case of a man named Christophe who died in 1978 and has apparently returned to life.
Dr Alan arrives in Haiti in the period of the revolution and is about to meet Dr Marielle Duchamp responsible for Christophe’s health. While trying to solve this strange occurrence, Alan will have to deal with various threats lurking on the island, such as the powerful torturer and witch named Tonton Macuse and he will soon realise that death is not the end here on this dangerous journey of his.
Child’s Play (1988)
One of the most sinister and terrifying horrors of all time is this gruesome story about a doll that has been brought to life by a voodoo routine. Charles Lee Ray is on the run from a police offer and in order to escape him, he decides to take his soul and bury it into a seemingly playful doll named Chucky.
But Chucky is soon to be given to a boy Andy Barclay who will quickly realise there is something terribly wrong with his new toy. Charles will confide with Andy, but numerous murders will be committed and it will be too late before adults believe in Andy’s story and figure out the truth.
Thinner (1996)
Billy Halleck is a successful man, with an expensive home and a loving family. But he has a terrible secret that will cost him his health and nerves. After accidentally killing a Romani woman and escaping punishment, he will become a victim of a curse that will make him begin to lose weight uncontrollably, going from his overweight state to an unrecognisable man.
He will have to turn to his friends in organised crime and ask them to help him persuade this woman to reverse the curse before he vanishes completely.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)
Even though it doesn’t fall under the genre of horror, it should be on this list due to its topic. Clint Eastwood directed this interesting crime drama-thriller starring John Cusack and Kevin Spacey. It is set in Savannah, Georgia and it is centred on a murder and the upcoming trial of James Arthur Williams, an art collector and antiques dealer.
John Kelso is a magazine reporter who finds himself in Savannah and is immediately drawn by Williams’ case and his curiosity gets even bigger when he meets his young and violent lover Billy Hanson. After Billy is found dead, Kelso stays in Savannah to cover the murder trial and while waiting for the story and trying to solve the mysteries around Kelso’s murder, he will meet an array of unusual characters who might be in a way connected to everything.
Angel Heart (1987)
This cult horror thriller directed by Alan Parker tells the story of Harry Angel, a private investigator with a new case, to find a man called Johnny Favorite. But this won’t be very easy since Johnny doesn’t want to be found.
Harry is hired by a man who calls himself Louis Cyphre, eager for him to find this singer and Harry will soon find himself in a situation he could have never imagined. The whole investigation will take a completely unexpected turn and become very nasty and dangerous. Mickey Rourke and Robert De Niro delivered extremely powerful and remarkable performances in this mystery classic.
The Wicker Man (1973)
One of the greatest horror classics is The Wicker Man, an intriguing and chilling story about Neil Howie, a sergeant who arrives on a Scottish island ater receiving a letter about the disappearance of a twelve-year-old girl Rowan Morrison. When he arrives there, he finds out that the locals are simple people who claim they don’t know who the girl in the picture is.
Even the woman who he believes to be her mother doesn’t know what he is talking about and soon he will start believing that the girl is alive and somewhere on the island but that the locals are hiding knowledge of her. He will also learn that they are a weird lot of extremely religious individuals with pagan beliefs and that their “religion” centres on procreation as the source of life.
The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
This fantasy horror comedy with Jack Nicholson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Cher and Susan Sarandon tells the story of three best friends who live in a small New England coastal town. They are all divorced and are constantly complaining about the lack of interesting men in their hometown.
After one of these conversations consisting of the description of qualities they are looking for in a man, a mysterious millionaire Daryl Van Horne arrives in their town. He soon manages to seduce all of them but after a series of unexplained events, they begin to realise who Daryl is and how it is possible that he understands them so well. They will have to regain control over their lives and they will have to use some powers learned indirectly from Daryl.
