Folklore Films
Every film rooted in a myth, legend, or folktale. 236 movies across 14 living traditions — look one up.
Western & Central Europe 22
- England 2013
A Field in England
English folklore; fairy rings / mushroom circles
- France 1946
Beauty and the Beast
'Beauty and the Beast' (Villeneuve / Leprince de Beaumont)
- Scotland 2012
Brave
Scottish folklore; will-o'-the-wisps
- France 1970
Donkey Skin
Charles Perrault's 'Donkeyskin' (1695)
- Arthurian 1981
Excalibur
Arthurian legend; Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur
- German/English (Grimm) 2014
Into the Woods
Grimm's 'Cinderella,' 'Rapunzel,' 'Red Riding Hood,' and 'Jack and the Beanstalk'
- Arthurian 1974
Lancelot du Lac
Arthurian legend (Lancelot-Grail cycle)
- French/German (Perrault/Grimm) 2014
Maleficent
'Sleeping Beauty' (Perrault) / 'Little Briar Rose' (Grimm)
- German (Grimm) 2012
Mirror Mirror
Brothers Grimm's 'Snow White'
- Spain 2006
Pan's Labyrinth
Faun/satyr mythology and European fairy-tale motifs
- Arthurian 1978
Perceval le Gallois
Arthurian legend; Chretien de Troyes' 'Perceval'
- German (Grimm) 2012
Snow White and the Huntsman
Brothers Grimm's 'Snow White'
- Italy 2015
Tale of Tales
Giambattista Basile's Pentamerone (1634)
- England 1938
The Adventures of Robin Hood
The Robin Hood legend
- German 2005
The Brothers Grimm
Brothers Grimm fairy tales
- England 1984
The Company of Wolves
'Little Red Riding Hood' and European werewolf folklore
- Spain 2001
The Devil's Backbone
Spanish ghost-lore (the aparecido / vengeful spirit)
- Arthurian (England) 2021
The Green Knight
Arthurian legend; 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'
- German 1957
The Singing Ringing Tree
A German fairy tale akin to Grimm's 'Hurleburlebutz'
- Celtic/Scottish 1973
The Wicker Man
Celtic pagan May Day ritual and the wicker-man sacrifice
- German 1962
The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm
Brothers Grimm tales
- Celtic 2006
Tristan + Isolde
The medieval Celtic legend of Tristan and Isolde
Nordic & Scandinavian 22
- Nordic 2018
Border
Scandinavian troll folklore (John Ajvide Lindqvist story)
- Norse 1989
Erik the Viking
Norse mythology (Ragnarok, Asgard, Valhalla, Fenrir, Freya)
- Scandinavian 1922
Häxan
Scandinavian and European witch and Devil folklore
- Icelandic 1988
In the Shadow of the Raven
Sagas of Icelanders plus the Tristan and Isolde legend
- Icelandic 2021
Lamb
Icelandic Christmas folk-horror (Gryla, the Yule Cat/Lads)
- Icelandic 1981
Outlaw: The Saga of Gisli
Gisla saga Surssonar
- Sami 1987
Pathfinder
An old Sami legend of the 'pathfinder' (the Chudes)
- Finnish 2010
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale
Joulupukki (Yule Goat) and dark Finnish Santa folklore
- Nordic 1984
Ronja, the Robber's Daughter
Astrid Lindgren's forest folklore (rumphobs, harpies, grey dwarfs)
- Finnish 1959
Sampo
The Kalevala (Finnish national epic)
- Norwegian 2012
Thale
The huldra / hulder legend
- Norwegian 2017
The Ash Lad: In the Hall of the Mountain King
Asbjornsen & Moe Ash Lad tales (nokken, huldra, the Mountain King)
- German (Grimm) 1990
The Juniper Tree
Brothers Grimm's 'The Juniper Tree' (KHM 47)
- Old Norse/Scandinavian 2022
The Northman
The legend of Amleth (Saxo's Gesta Danorum)
- Swedish 1921
The Phantom Carriage
The legend that the last to die on New Year's Eve drives Death's carriage for a year
- Norwegian 1991
The Polar Bear King
The Norwegian fairy tale 'White-Bear-King-Valemon' (Asbjornsen & Moe)
- Norse/Danish 1967
The Red Mantle
The legend of Hagbard and Signy (Saxo's Gesta Danorum)
- Sami (Finland) 1952
The White Reindeer
Pre-Christian Finnish myth and Sami shamanism; the were-reindeer
- Norwegian 2022
Troll
Norwegian mountain-troll folklore (Dovre, Kittelsen imagery)
- Norwegian 2010
Trollhunter
Norwegian troll folklore (Asbjornsen & Moe, Kittelsen)
- Norse 1986
Valhalla
Norse mythology via the Eddas (Peter Madsen comics)
- Icelandic 1984
When the Raven Flies
Sagas of Icelanders (saga-style blood-revenge)
Slavic & Eastern Europe 17
- Polish (Slavic) 2003
An Ancient Tale: When the Sun Was a God
Pre-Christian Slavic pagan myth (9th-c. Polania)
- Russian 1956
Ilya Muromets
The byliny of the bogatyr Ilya Muromets of Kievan Rus
- Russian 1944
Kashchey the Immortal
Koschei the Deathless and the Marya Morevna cycle
- Serbian 1973
Leptirica
The Sava Savanovic vampire (upir) legend
- Czech 2000
Little Otik
Erben's folktale 'Otesanek' / 'The Wooden Baby'
- Czech 1967
Marketa Lazarová
13th-c. Christianity-versus-Slavic-paganism and native pagan rites
- Ukrainian 1952
May Night
Gogol's 'May Night'; the rusalka (drowned-maiden) legend
- Russian 1964
Morozko
The fairy tale 'Morozko' (the winter-frost spirit) and Baba Yaga
- Russian 1953
Sadko
The Novgorod bylina of Sadko and the Sea Tsar
- Russian 1973
The Golden Horns
Russian fairy tales centered on Baba Yaga
- Russian 1968
The Snow Maiden
The Snegurochka legend, daughter of Ded Moroz and Spring
- Czech 1973
Three Wishes for Cinderella
Cinderella via Bozena Nemcova's Czech retelling
- Czech 1970
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders
Eastern European vampire (upir) folklore via Gothic surrealism
- Russian 1939
Vasilisa the Beautiful
A Russian wonder tale (The Frog Tsarevna) with Baba Yaga and Zmey Gorynych
- Ukrainian/Russian 1967
Viy
Gogol's 'Viy'; the chthonic eyelid-demon Viy and witches
- Slavic 2014
Viy
Gogol's 'Viy' and collected Slavic myths
- Czech 2000
Wild Flowers
Karel Jaromir Erben's 'Kytice' folk ballads (vodnik, Polednice)
Greek & Roman 20
- Greek 1959
Black Orpheus
Orpheus and Eurydice
- Greek 1981
Clash of the Titans
The Perseus myth
- Greek 2010
Clash of the Titans
The Perseus myth and the Titanomachy
- Greek 1956
Helen of Troy
Homer's Iliad (the Trojan War)
- Greek/Roman 1958
Hercules
Heracles and the Argonauts/Golden Fleece
- Greek 1997
Hercules
Heracles, son of Zeus
- Greek/Roman 2014
Hercules
Heracles and the Twelve Labors
- Greek 2011
Immortals
Theseus and the Minotaur / the Titanomachy
- Greek 1977
Iphigenia
Euripides's Iphigenia at Aulis
- Greek 1963
Jason and the Argonauts
Apollonius's Argonautica (the Golden Fleece)
- Greek 1969
Medea
Euripides's Medea and the Jason myth
- Greek 1995
Mighty Aphrodite
Greek tragedy and chorus conventions
- Greek 2000
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Homer's Odyssey
- Greek 1967
Oedipus Rex
Sophocles's Oedipus Rex
- Greek 1950
Orpheus
Orpheus and Eurydice
- Greek 2010
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Modern Olympian-gods myth
- Greek 2013
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
The Golden Fleece and the Odyssey (Polyphemus)
- Greek 2004
Troy
Homer's Iliad (the Trojan War)
- Greek 1954
Ulysses
Homer's Odyssey
- Greek 2012
Wrath of the Titans
The Titanomachy (Kronos)
Middle East 17
- Arabian (1001 Nights) 1969
A Thousand and One Nights
One Thousand and One Nights
- Arabian (1001 Nights) 1992
Aladdin
The 'Aladdin' tale of the Arabian Nights
- Arabian (1001 Nights) 2019
Aladdin
The 'Aladdin' tale of the Arabian Nights
- Arabian (1001 Nights) 1974
Arabian Nights
One Thousand and One Nights
- Turkish 1971
Keloğlan
Keloglan ('Bald Boy') Turkish folk tales
- Arabian (1001 Nights) 1963
Scheherazade
Scheherazade, frame narrator of 1001 Nights
- Arabian (1001 Nights) 1977
Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger
The Sinbad cycle (Arabian Nights)
- Arabian (1001 Nights) 1947
Sinbad the Sailor
Sinbad the Sailor (Arabian Nights)
- Arabian (1001 Nights) 1958
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad
The Sinbad cycle of the Arabian Nights
- Jewish (Yiddish) 1937
The Dybbuk
Dybbuk possession (Jewish folklore)
- Arabian (1001 Nights) 1973
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
Sinbad of the Arabian Nights
- Jewish 2018
The Golem
The Golem legend (Jewish folklore)
- Jewish (Prague) 1920
The Golem: How He Came into the World
The Golem of Prague (Jewish folklore)
- Persian 1971
The Legend of Rostam and Sohrab
The Shahnameh by Ferdowsi (Rostam and Sohrab)
- Arabian (1001 Nights) 1924
The Thief of Bagdad
One Thousand and One Nights
- Arabian (1001 Nights) 1940
The Thief of Bagdad
Arabian Nights / 1001 Nights
- Iranian/Islamic 2016
Under the Shadow
Djinn folklore (Quranic / Iranian)
North Africa 4
- Arabic-Maghrebi (Morocco) 2018
Achoura
The 'Bougatate' child-eating djinn legend
- Arabic-Islamic (Egypt) 1985
Al Ins wal Jinn
Djinn of Quranic and Egyptian folklore
- Moroccan folklore 2020
Kandisha
Aicha Kandisha, the vengeful Moroccan water-jinn succubus
- Amazigh/Kabyle (Algeria) 1997
La Montagne de Baya
Kabyle myth of Anzar (rain god) and Baya (earth)
Sub-Saharan Africa 11
- Lebou/Wolof (Senegal) 2019
Atlantics
'Faru rab' lover-spirit djinns
- West Africa 1998
Kirikou and the Sorceress
West African trickster-hero and witch tales
- West Africa 2005
Kirikou and the Wild Beasts
West African folk-tale tradition
- Akan (Ghana) 2013
Kwaku Ananse
Anansi/Kwaku Ananse, the Akan spider-trickster
- Igbo (Nigeria) 1992
Living in Bondage
'Blood money' occult money-ritual folk belief
- West Africa (Yoruba) 2023
Mami Wata
Mami Wata, the West African water deity
- Igbo (Nigeria) 1994
Nneka the Pretty Serpent
Mami Wata and serpent-deity tradition
- Serer (Senegal) 2021
Saloum
Sira Bana vengeful spirits of the Saloum Delta
- Yoruba (Nigeria) 2009
The Figurine
Yoruba myth of the goddess Araromire
- Zulu (South Africa) 2018
The Tokoloshe
Tokoloshe, the Zulu malevolent dwarf-spirit
- Bambara (Mali) 1987
Yeelen
Bambara magico-mythological Komo-society lore
East Asia 26
- China 1987
A Chinese Ghost Story
'Nie Xiaoqian' from Pu Songling's Strange Tales
- Korea 2003
A Tale of Two Sisters
Janghwa Hongryeon jeon, a Joseon-era folktale
- Korea 2017
Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds
Korean afterlife mythology (49-day trials, hell courts)
- China 2016
Big Fish & Begonia
Zhuangzi and the Classic of Mountains and Seas
- China 1993
Green Snake
The Legend of the White Snake (green-snake perspective)
- China 1961
Havoc in Heaven
Journey to the West; Sun Wukong the Monkey King
- Taiwan 2022
Incantation
Taiwanese folk-religion curses and deity-desecration folklore
- Japan 1968
Kuroneko
Bakeneko, the vengeful cat-spirit yokai
- Japan 1964
Kwaidan
Lafcadio Hearn's collected ghost folktales (Yuki-Onna, Hoichi)
- China 2015
Monkey King: Hero Is Back
Journey to the West; Sun Wukong
- China 1985
Mr. Vampire
Jiangshi (hopping corpse) and Taoist-priest folklore
- Japan 2007
Mushishi
Primordial 'mushi' life-spirits, kin to yokai folklore
- China 2019
Ne Zha
The Nezha myth from Investiture of the Gods
- Japan 1964
Onibaba
The 'flesh-eating hag' demon-mask folk parable
- China 2008
Painted Skin
'The Painted Skin' from Pu Songling's Strange Tales
- Japan 1994
Pom Poko
Bake-danuki, the shapeshifting raccoon-dog yokai
- Japan 1997
Princess Mononoke
Mononoke vengeful nature-spirits, shishigami and kami
- Japan 2001
Spirited Away
Kami and yokai of the bathhouse-of-the-gods tradition
- Korea 1994
The Fox with Nine Tails
Gumiho, the nine-tailed fox
- Japan 2005
The Great Yokai War
Pan-Japanese yokai folklore
- Mongolia 2003
The Story of the Weeping Camel
Mongolian camel-coaxing ritual and weeping-camel legend
- Taiwan 2015
The Tag-Along
'The Little Girl in Red' (mosien) urban legend
- Japan 2013
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
Taketori Monogatari (Tale of the Bamboo Cutter), 10th c.
- Korea 2016
The Wailing
Korean shamanism (muism), gut exorcism, village-spirit folklore
- Japan 1953
Ugetsu
Ueda Akinari's Ugetsu Monogatari (1776), from older ghost folktales
- Japan 1968
Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare
Traditional yokai (kappa, rokurokubi, kasa-obake)
South Asia 21
- India 2023
Adipurush
The Ramayana
- Sri Lanka 2017
Bandhanaya
Mahasona graveyard-demon yaka folklore
- Bengal 1966
Behula
Manasamangal and the snake-goddess Manasa folklore
- India 2007
Bhool Bhulaiyaa
Manjulika ghost legend and spirit-possession folklore
- India 2022
Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva
Astras of Hindu mythology and Shiva
- Bengal 2020
Bulbbul
Chudail (witch) folklore
- Bengal 1969
Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne
A Bengali folktale by Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury
- India 2024
Hanu-Man
The deity Hanuman and Ramayana lore
- India 2005
Hanuman
The Ramayana and the deity Hanuman
- Punjab 1970
Heer Ranjha
The Punjabi folk tragedy of Heer and Ranjha (Waris Shah)
- India 1975
Jai Santoshi Maa
Goddess Santoshi Maa vrat folklore
- India 2024
Kalki 2898 AD
The Kalki avatar of Vishnu and the Mahabharata (Ashwatthama)
- Tulu (Karnataka) 2022
Kantara
Bhoota Kola / Daiva spirit worship (Panjurli, Guliga)
- India 1957
Mayabazar
Mahabharata folk tale Sasirekha Parinayam
- India 1976
Nagin
Ichchhadhari naagin (shapeshifting snake) folklore
- India 1986
Nagina
Ichchhadhari naagin folklore
- India 2018
Pari
Jinn and Ifrit folklore
- India 1961
Sampoorna Ramayana
The Ramayana (Valmiki)
- India 2008
Sita Sings the Blues
The Ramayana (Sita's perspective)
- India 2018
Stree
Karnataka urban legend Nale Ba ('come tomorrow')
- India 2018
Tumbbad
The myth of the cursed god Hastar and greed
Southeast Asia 20
- Philippines 1992
Aswang
The Aswang
- Javanese 1985
Bangunnya Nyi Roro Kidul
Nyi Roro Kidul
- Thailand 1973
Krasue Sao
The Krasue
- Thailand 2019
Krasue: Inhuman Kiss
The Krasue
- Indonesia 2006
Kuntilanak
The Kuntilanak
- Balinese 1981
Mystics in Bali
Leyak/Leak
- Thailand 1999
Nang Nak
Mae Nak Phra Khanong
- Thailand 2013
Pee Mak
Mae Nak Phra Khanong
- Malay 1957
Pontianak
The Pontianak
- Javanese 1980
Ratu Pantai Selatan
Nyi Roro Kidul
- Malay 2019
Revenge of the Pontianak
The Pontianak
- Philippines 1984
Shake, Rattle & Roll
The Manananggal
- Malay 1958
Sumpah Orang Minyak
The Orang Minyak
- Javanese 1981
Sundelbolong
Sundel Bolong
- Javanese 2018
Suzzanna: Buried Alive
Sundel Bolong
- Vietnam 2016
Tam Cam: The Untold Story
Tam Cam
- Thailand 2002
Tamnan Krasue
The Krasue
- Philippines 2012
Tiktik: The Aswang Chronicles
Aswang / Tiktik
- Philippines 1988
Tiyanak
The Tiyanak
- Hiligaynon (Philippines) 2008
Yanggaw
The Aswang
Oceania 11
- Native Hawaiian 2001
Holo Mai Pele
Pele the volcano goddess and her sister Hiiaka
- Aboriginal Australian 2016
Hunting for Shadows
The Quinkin (a Bunyip variant) and the Kurdaitcha man
- Maori 1988
Mauri
Mauri, the Maori spiritual life-force
- Polynesia 2016
Moana
Maui the demigod and Polynesian earth-mother deities
- Polynesia 2024
Moana 2
Maui and the storm god (Tawhirimatea / Whiro)
- Maori 1979
Te Utu
The war of the gods after the separation of earth and sky
- Yolngu (Arnhem Land) 2006
Ten Canoes
A Yolngu Dreaming moral tale
- Maori 2014
The Dead Lands
Taniwha and Maori spirit-world cosmology
- Aboriginal Australian 1977
The Last Wave
Dreamtime and Mulkurul apocalyptic-flood prophecy
- Aboriginal Australian (Lardil) 1975
The Rainbow Serpent
The Rainbow Serpent (Goorialla) creation myth
- Maori (Ngati Konohi) 2002
Whale Rider
Paikea, the whale rider
North American Indigenous 10
- Algonquin 2021
Antlers
Wendigo
- Algonquian 1995
Frostbiter: Wrath of the Wendigo
Wendigo
- Cree 2021
Night Raiders
Wesakechak (trickster) and Weetigo (cannibal spirit)
- Mi'kmaq 2019
Pet Sematary
Wendigo
- Algonquian (Ojibwe) 1999
Ravenous
Wendigo
- Navajo (Dine) 2002
Skinwalkers
Skinwalker / Yee Naaldlooshii
- Inuit 2022
Slash/Back
Ijiraq, a shapeshifting being
- Algonquian 2006
The Last Winter
Wendigo (and related Chenoo)
- Cree 2013
Wakening
Wesakechak and Weetigo
- Algonquian 2001
Wendigo
Wendigo
African & Caribbean Diaspora 12
- New Orleans Vodou-Hoodoo 1987
Angel Heart
Vodou ceremony and the loa
- African American 1992
Candyman
Hook-handed slave urban legend and Bloody Mary mirror-summoning
- African American 2021
Candyman
Hook-handed lynching legend (Cabrini-Green)
- Gullah-Geechee 1991
Daughters of the Dust
Igbo Landing, the 'flying Africans'
- Louisiana Creole 1997
Eve's Bayou
Hoodoo and conjure
- South Sudanese Dinka 2020
His House
Apeth, the night witch
- Haitian Vodou 1943
I Walked with a Zombie
Zombi and Vodou rites
- African American 1946
Song of the South
Br'er Rabbit trickster tales
- Haitian-Louisiana Vodou 1974
Sugar Hill
Baron Samedi and a zombi army
- Haitian Vodou 1988
The Serpent and the Rainbow
Zombification (the Clairvius Narcisse case)
- Louisiana African American 2005
The Skeleton Key
Hoodoo and conjure
- Haitian Vodou 1932
White Zombie
Zombi, the reanimated dead
Latin America & Caribbean 23
- Afro-Brazilian 2009
Besouro
Candomble orixas and Afro-Brazilian legend
- Mexican/Tex-Mex 2013
Chupacabra vs. the Alamo
El Chupacabra
- Caribbean/Latin 2005
Chupacabra: Dark Seas
El Chupacabra
- Mexico 2017
Coco
Dia de los Muertos and the Land of the Dead
- Dominican Vodu 2017
Cocote
Dominican Vodu and rezo ritual folklore
- Amazonian (Brazil) 1987
Ele, o Boto
Boto cor-de-rosa, the pink-dolphin shapeshifter
- Mexico 2007
J-ok'el
La Llorona, the Wailer
- Mexico 2006
Kilometro 31
La Llorona and highway-ghost legends
- Mexico 2016
La leyenda del Chupacabras
El Chupacabra
- Mexico 1933
La Llorona
La Llorona, the weeping woman
- Guatemala/Maya 2019
La Llorona
La Llorona, the weeping woman
- Trinidadian 2020
La'Diablesse Curse
La Diablesse, the devil woman
- Mexico 1960
Macario
Dia de los Muertos and indigenous death folklore
- Brazil 1953
O Saci
Saci-Perere
- Andean (Peru) 2003
Pishtaco
The Pishtaco / nakaq
- Mexico 1932
Que viva Mexico!
Dia de los Muertos and death iconography
- Brazil 2009
Saci
Saci-Perere
- Caribbean 2025
Soucouyant
Soucouyant, the fire-vampire skin-shedder
- Mexico 2014
The Book of Life
Dia de los Muertos; Lands of the Remembered and Forgotten
- Mexico 2019
The Curse of La Llorona
La Llorona
- Andean (Peru) 2009
The Milk of Sorrow
The Andean 'teta asustada' folk belief
- Mexico 2017
Tigers Are Not Afraid
Mexican ghost and wish folklore
- Cuba 1985
Vampires in Havana
Vampire satire (generic Dracula lore)
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