Entertainment
The Best Horror Movies About Cults and Conspiracies
As you're reading through this list of the best horror movies about cults, please don't drink the Kool-Aid. This list ranks the scariest movies about cults and conspiracies, with the help of your votes. Do you have a favorite scary movie about a cult? The most recent example of a good cult horror movie is 2016's The Invitation, which finds the main character Will at a creepy dinner party hosted by his ex-wife.
Other good horror movies about cult leaders include beloved classics like The Wicker Man and Children of the Corn. Modern scary movies about conspiracies and cults include V/H/S/2 and The Conspiracy, both of which happen to be found footage movies.
Vote up your favorite horror movies with cults below, and downvote any films you've seen but didn't really enjoy.
Ranked by
- 1Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland
- Released: 1973
- Directed by: Robin Hardy
Sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward) arrives on the small Scottish island of Summerisle to investigate the report of a missing child. A conservative Christian, the policeman observes the residents' ...more - 2Peter Horton, Linda Hamilton, R. G. Armstrong
- Released: 1984
- Directed by: Fritz Kiersch
As physician Burt Stanton (Peter Horton) and his girlfriend, Vicky (Linda Hamilton), drive across the Midwest to his new job, their trip comes to a sudden halt when they encounter the body of a ...more - 3Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Joan Bennett
- Released: 1977
- Directed by: Dario Argento
Suzy (Jessica Harper) travels to Germany to attend ballet school. When she arrives, late on a stormy night, no one lets her in, and she sees Pat (Eva Axén), another student, fleeing from the school. ...more - 4Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Nancy Kyes
- Released: 1978
- Directed by: John Carpenter
On a cold Halloween night in 1963, six year old Michael Myers brutally murdered his 17-year-old sister, Judith. He was sentenced and locked away for 15 years. But on October 30, 1978, while being ...more - 5Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Betsy Baker
- Released: 1981
- Directed by: Sam Raimi
Ashley "Ash" Williams (Bruce Campbell), his girlfriend and three pals hike into the woods to a cabin for a fun night away. There they find an old book, the Necronomicon, whose text reawakens the dead ...more - 6Marilyn Burns, Gunnar Hansen, Allen Danziger
- Released: 1974
- Directed by: Tobe Hooper
When Sally (Marilyn Burns) hears that her grandfather's grave may have been vandalized, she and her paraplegic brother, Franklin (Paul A. Partain), set out with their friends to investigate. After a ...more - 7
The Invitation
Logan Marshall-Green, Michiel Huisman, Tammy Blanchard - 8Johnny Depp, Frank Langella, Lena Olin
- Released: 1999
- Directed by: Roman Polanski
Dean Corso (Johnny Depp) specializes in tracking down rare and exotic volumes for collectors. Boris Balkan (Frank Langella) has recently acquired a seventeenth-century satanic text called The Nine ...more - 9Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, Will Poulter
- Released: 2019
- Directed by: Ari Aster
Midsommar (Swedish for "Midsummer") is a 2019 American horror film written and directed by Ari Aster. A couple travels to Sweden to visit their friend's rural hometown for its fabled mid-summer ...more - 10Riley Keough, Jaeden Martell, Lia McHugh
- Released: 2019
- Directed by: Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
During a family retreat to a remote winter cabin over the holidays, the father is forced to abruptly depart for work, leaving his two children in the care of his new girlfriend, Grace. Isolated and ...more - 11Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks
- Released: 1987
- Directed by: Sam Raimi
The second of three films in the Evil Dead series is part horror, part comedy, with Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) once again battling horrifying demons at a secluded cabin in the woods. After ...more - 12Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick
- Released: 1975
- Directed by: Jim Sharman
In this cult classic, sweethearts Brad (Barry Bostwick) and Janet (Susan Sarandon), stuck with a flat tire during a storm, discover the eerie mansion of Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry), a transvestite ...more - 13Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, Joshua Leonard
- Released: 1999
- Directed by: Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez
Found video footage tells the tale of three film students (Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, Michael C. Williams) who've traveled to a small town to collect documentary footage about the Blair Witch, ...more - 14L.C. Holt, Hannah Hughes, Lawrence Michael Levine
- Released: 2013
- Directed by: Simon Barrett, Jason Eisener, Gareth Evans, Gregg Hale, Eduardo Sánchez
As they search for clues to the whereabouts of a missing student, a couple view the ghastly stories recorded on a collection of videotapes. - 15Jocelin Donahue, Tom Noonan, Mary Woronov
- Released: 2009
- Directed by: Ti West
Desperate to make some money so she can move into a new apartment, college student Samantha Hughes (Jocelin Donahue) takes a mysterious babysitting job. When she arrives at the house, Mr. Ulman (Tom ...more - 16Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, David Manners
- Released: 1934
- Directed by: Edgar G. Ulmer
Not to be confused with the 1941 version also featuring Bela Lugosi. The Black Cat is a 1934 horror film that became Universal Pictures' biggest box office hit of the year. The picture was the first ...more - 17Michael Parks, John Goodman, Melissa Leo
- Released: 2011
- Directed by: Kevin Smith
Three horny teenagers -- Travis (Michael Angarano), Jarod (Kyle Gallner) and Billy-Ray (Nicholas Braun) -- can't believe their luck when they meet a woman online who says she wants to hook up with ...more - 18Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, Niall MacGinnis
- Released: 1957
- Directed by: Jacques Tourneur
Night of the Demon is a 1957 British horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur, starring Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins and Niall MacGinnis. An adaptation of the M. R. James story "Casting the Runes", ...more - 19Barbara Steele, John Richardson, Arturo Dominici
- Released: 1960
- Directed by: Mario Bava
Black Sunday is a 1960 Italian gothic horror film directed by Mario Bava, from a screenplay by Ennio de Concini, Mario Serandrei and Marcello Coscia. The film stars Barbara Steele, John Richardson, ...more - 20Alex Essoe, Amanda Fuller, Noah Segan
- Released: 2014
- Directed by: Dennis Widmyer, Kevin Kolsch
A woman's pursuit of Hollywood stardom puts her on a collision course with a satanic cult. - 21Jack Nance, Charlotte Stewart, Allen Joseph
- Released: 1977
- Directed by: David Lynch
Henry (John Nance) resides alone in a bleak apartment surrounded by industrial gloom. When he discovers that an earlier fling with Mary X (Charlotte Stewart) left her pregnant, he marries the ...more - 22Joe Swanberg, Amy Seimetz, AJ Bowen
- Released: 2013
- Directed by: Ti West
Found footage reveals the events surrounding an investigative team's visit to a remote commune, led by a dangerous fanatic who maintains an iron grip on his followers. - 23Alan Oppenheimer, Jon Gries, Steve Railsback
- Released: 1976
- Directed by: Tom Gries
Helter Skelter is a 1976 TV film based on the 1974 book by prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry. In the United States, it aired over two nights. In some countries it was shown in theaters with ...more - 24Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, Loretta Swit
- Released: 1975
- Directed by: Jack Starrett
Roger (Peter Fonda), his friend Frank (Warren Oates), and their wives (Lara Parker, Loretta Swit) are heading from San Antonio to the wilderness of rural Texas for some off-road motocross. What they ...more - 25MyAnna Buring, Ben Crompton, Emma Fryer
- Released: 2011
- Directed by: Ben Wheatley
This film is a 2011 British horror film directed by Ben Wheatley, co-written and co-edited with Amy Jump, and starring Neil Maskell, Michael Smiley, and MyAnna Buring. When a British soldier returns ...more
