Best movies like Viy
Last updated March 2024
Looking for movies similar to Viy? Use your familiarity to navigate others towards films and tv shows you've watched that they may enjoy too. Help expand the group of people recommending videos to one another. We value your input!
Plot Summary:
A young priest is ordered to preside over the wake of a witch in the church of a remote village. This means spending three nights alone with the corpse with only his faith to protect him.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 77 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, scary, dark fantasy, serious, stylized, gothic, bleak, suspense, surreal, gothic horror
Best tv shows and movies like Viy (1967):
Similar in 87%
Incubus (1966)
Plot Summary:
On a strange island inhabited by demons and spirits, a man battles the forces of evil.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 78 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, satanic, cerebral, philosophical, gothic, suspense, surreal, gothic horror, independent film, black and white
Similar in 83%
Edgar Allan Poe's the Black Cat (1989)
Plot Summary:
Mark Ravenna, a famous Italian horror film director, sets out to script his latest film entitled 'Suspiria : De Profundis'. His film is based on Dario ArgentoÆs 'Suspiria' and 'Inferno' and deals with the story of Levana, Queen of all Witches. Levana is the eldest of the three mistresses of darkness, mother of madness, most powerful of all evil. Ravenna is warned not to make his film in fear of actually summoning Levana to the present day. He does not heed these warnings and casts his wife Anne to play the lead role of Levana. Anne reads the script and is then haunted and terrorized by the evil witch who tells her she will suffer terrible tortures if she continues, and that everyone involved with the production will suffer dire consequences.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 769
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Country: Italy
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, suspense, scary, serious, suspenseful, stylized, surprise ending
Similar in 85%
Mystics in Bali (1981)
Plot Summary:
Researching a book that takes her to Bali and the black magic cult of Leák, Cathy meets an evil witch which promises to train her in the dark arts. Tricked, Cathy is turned into a Penanggalan; a flying vampire with internal organs hanging from her neck. It is now up to the local holy men who are then enforced to do battle with the forces of evil.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Fantasy, Horror, Thriller
Country: Indonesia
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, suspenseful, scary, surreal, cult classic, psychotronic, slasher, disturbing, controversial, dark comedy
Similar in 83%
Forbidden Empire (2014)
Plot Summary:
Early 18th century. Cartographer Jonathan Green undertakes a scientific voyage from Europe to the East. Having passed through Transylvania and crossed the Carpathian Mountains, he finds himself in a small village lost in impassible woods. Nothing but chance and heavy fog could bring him to this cursed place. People who live here do not resemble any other people which the traveler saw before that. The villagers, having dug a deep moat to fend themselves from the rest of the world, share a naive belief that they could save themselves from evil, failing to understand that evil has made its nest in their souls and is waiting for an opportunity to gush out upon the world.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Adventure, Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Russia, Ukraine, Czech Republic
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: dark fantasy, mystic, suspenseful, bleak, atmospheric, fairy tale, gothic, suspense, exciting, serious
Similar in 84%
Beyond the Door III (1989)
Plot Summary:
A shy co-ed and her classmates travel to Europe to see a ritual. With a satanist/professor with them, he lures them into deadly traps to become sacrifices to Satan. One co-ed is a virgin, the main key to bring Satan back to life. But can the co-ed lose her virginity before Satan controls the world?.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Country: Italy, Yugoslavia
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: scary, atmospheric, serious, slasher, suspenseful
Similar in 76%
The Devil Rides Out (1968)
Plot Summary:
The powers of good are pitted against the forces of evil as the Duc de Richelieu wrestles with the charming but deadly Satanist, Mocata, for the soul of his friend. Mocata has the knowledge and the power to summon the forces of darkness and, as the Duc de Richelieu and his friends remain within the protected pentacle, they are subjected to ever-increasing horror until thundering hooves herald the arrival of the Angel of Death.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Horror
Country: UK
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: scary, gothic, suspense, suspenseful, psychological, dark, atmospheric, satanic, grindhouse, creepy
Similar in 85%
A Holy Place (1990)
Plot Summary:
Sveto mesto (A Holy Place, 1990) is based on a literary classic, Nikolai Gogol's 1835 short story, 'Viy'. However, Kadijevic uses it only as a starting point for his own explorations into the dark side of eroticism. Gogol's story deals with Toma, a reluctant theology student who is forced to read the Psalms over an (un)dead girl for three nights in a row. All the while supernatural forces are trying to grab him from the Holy Circle drawn on the church floor. Kadijevic adapts and enriches 'Viy' by inventing a new backstory for the witch-girl and her father. The dead girl, Catherine (unwittingly killed in the prologue, while in the shape of a hag), is referred to as a 'saint' and her father is a harsh and unpleasant man. Kadijevic departs further from the original story, and introduces an excess of perversity and horror more reminiscent of the Anglo-American gothic than the milder Slavic attempts in a similar mode.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Horror
Country: Yugoslavia
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, gothic, gothic horror, queer horror, creepy
Similar in 90%
Salem (2014)
Plot Summary:
Set in the volatile world of 17th century Massachusetts, 'Salem' explores what really fueled the town's infamous witch trials and dares to uncover the dark, supernatural truth hiding behind the veil of this infamous period in American history. In Salem, witches are real, but they are not who or what they seem.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: scary, suspenseful, atmospheric, gothic horror, stylized, serious, erotic, sexy, gothic, bloody
Similar in 76%
Malpertuis (1971)
Plot Summary:
Malpertuis is the name of an old, rambling mansion which is in reality a labyrinth where characters from Greek mythology are imprisoned by the bedridden Cassavius (Welles). He manages to keep them (as well as his nephew and niece) prisoners even after his death, through a binding testament. As Jan, the nephew, (Carrière) unravels the mystery, he discovers that he cannot escape the house because Malpertuis is far more significant than he was led to believe.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
Country: Belgium, France, West Germany
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: gothic, slasher, experimental, gothic horror, cult classic, phantasmagoric, scary, offbeat, serious, suspenseful
Similar in 85%
Dark Waters (1993)
Plot Summary:
A girl travels to an island, after the death of her father, to find out why the father funded a monestary on the island.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: Russia, UK
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: gothic, lovecraft, atmospheric, bleak, suspenseful, surreal, gothic horror, dark, satanic, creepy
Similar in 77%
A Dark Song (2016)
Plot Summary:
A determined young woman and a damaged occultist risk their lives and souls to perform a dangerous ritual that will grant them what they want.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 21000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
Country: Ireland, UK
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: suspense, exciting, disturbing, suspenseful, spooky, psychological thriller, art house, religious horror, scary, atmospheric
Similar in 83%
The Black Cat (1968)
Plot Summary:
In the Sengoku period, a woman and her daughter are raped and murdered by soldiers during a time of civil war. Afterwards, a series of samurai returning from the war through that area are found mysteriously dead with their throats torn out. The governor calls in a wild and fierce young hero to quell what is evidently an Onryō ghost. He encounters the two beautiful women in an eerie, beautiful scene. After spiritual purification, he meets the demon in a thrilling fight.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama, Horror
Country: Japan
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, bleak, suspenseful, scary, serious, gothic, black and white, mind bending, psychedelic, suspense
Similar in 79%
Share with Me Your Brightest Colors (2019)
Plot Summary:
Far into the mountains, in a community led by a preacher named El Señor, a new child who is supposed to be the new messiah, is brought, and with him destruction and redemption. Soon, everything will change. Not only for the town, but on the preacher's home as his 3 daughters start to wonder the real origins of God itself, the nature of love, pleasure and inner freedom.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 787
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Western
Country: Colombia
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: light, dark, bleak, suspense, spaghetti western, independent film, weird
Similar in 77%
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970)
Plot Summary:
Valerie, a Czechoslovakian teenager living with her grandmother, is blossoming into womanhood, but that transformation proves secondary to the effects she experiences when she puts on a pair of magic earrings. Now seeing the world around her in a different light, Valerie must endure her sexual awakening while attempting to discern reality from fantasy as she encounters lecherous priest Gracian, a vampire-like stranger and otherworldly carnival folk.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Country: Czechoslovakia
Duration: 77 min
Plot tags: fairy tale, surreal, suspenseful, gothic, disturbing, dark, experimental, gothic horror, allegory, erotic
Similar in 80%
Wild Flowers (2000)
Plot Summary:
Seven seemingly unconnected fairy tales - glued together only by folklore, mood, color and light - make up this Czech collection of visual poetry. The original piece of literature, written by Karel Jaromír Erben in 1853, contained twelve tales.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Romance
Country: Czech Republic
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: serious, dark, fairy tale, atmospheric, gothic, gothic horror, anthology, psychotronic, allegory, post modern
Similar in 86%
Hagazussa (2017)
Plot Summary:
The dark legend of the young woman Albrun and her struggle to preserve her own sanity, and tries to explore the fine line between ancient magic, faith and madness at a time when pagan beliefs in witches and nature spirits spread fear and terror in the minds of the rural population.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Horror
Country: Austria, Germany
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: bleak, art house, rough, phantasmagoric, psychological thriller, atmospheric, scenic, creepy, psychological, gothic
Similar in 83%
Poison for the Fairies (1986)
Plot Summary:
In 1965 Mexico City, Fabiola, a wealthy yet lonely schoolgirl, befriends Graciela, a young orphan girl who has an unhealthy fascination with witchcraft. Fabiola is convinced that she, herself, is a witch by Graciela, who then uses the fear that she's put into her new friend to get Fabiola to carry out her orders. As their games grow more serious, the two girls find themselves involved in murder.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Fantasy, Horror
Country: Mexico
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: psychological thriller, gothic, suspense, folk tale, disturbing, art house, deep, terrifying, scary, psychological
Similar in 77%
Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)
Plot Summary:
Ghoulish Count Dracula lures a naive estate agent, Jonathan Harker, to his decaying Transylvanian castle with the promise of easy money. But when he spies a portrait of the man's beautiful young wife Lucy, the vampire becomes obsessed and sets in motion their destruction.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 40000
Genere: Drama, Horror
Country: West Germany, France
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: gothic, atmospheric, bleak, enigmatic, dark, cult classic, scary, stylized, surreal, scenic
Similar in 84%
The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)
Plot Summary:
A Harvard anthropologist is sent to Haiti to retrieve a strange powder that is said to have the power to bring human beings back from the dead. In his quest to find the miracle drug, the cynical scientist enters the rarely seen netherworld of walking zombies, blood rites and ancient curses. Based on the true life experiences of Wade Davis and filmed on location in Haiti, it's a frightening excursion into black magic and the supernatural.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 27000
Genere: Fantasy, Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: scary, surreal, suspense, creepy, serious, suspenseful, disturbing, sensual, psychological, splatter
Similar in 90%
The Keep (1983)
Plot Summary:
Nazis take over an ancient fortress that contains a mysterious entity that wreaks havoc and death upon them.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Country: UK
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: surreal, gothic, scary, atmospheric, dark, cult classic, gothic horror, lovecraft, suspenseful, allegory
Similar in 76%
The Rite (2011)
Plot Summary:
Seminary student Michael Kovak (Colin O'Donoghue) reluctantly attends exorcism school at the Vatican. While he’s in Rome, Michael meets an unorthodox priest, Father Lucas (Anthony Hopkins), who introduces him to the darker side of his faith, uncovering the devil’s reach even to one of the holiest places on Earth.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 102000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Hungary, Italy
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: scary, demonic, suspense, psychological, disturbing, atmospheric, suspenseful, tense, satanic, surreal
Similar in 87%
Pumpkinhead (1988)
Plot Summary:
A man conjures up a gigantic vengeance demon called Pumpkinhead to destroy the teenagers who accidentally killed his son.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 27000
Genere: Fantasy, Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: scary, slasher, suspense, atmospheric, disturbing, gothic, melancholic, intense, rough, serious
Similar in 83%
Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997)
Plot Summary:
Based somewhat more authentically on the Grimm Brothers' story of a young woman who is unliked by her stepmother, the film includes the talking mirror, a poisoned apple, and some ruffian gold (not diamond) miners (and they aren't dwarfs or cute). It takes place at the time of the Crusades, and depicts the attitudes of the wealthy and the peasant classes toward one another.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Adventure, Fantasy, Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: gothic, fairy tale, dark, suspenseful, atmospheric, suspense, mysterious, folk tale, fantasy adventure, cult classic
Similar in 84%
The Witch (2015)
Plot Summary:
In 1630s New England, William and Katherine lead a devout Christian life with five children, homesteading on the edge of an impassable wilderness, exiled from their settlement when William defies the local church. When their newborn son vanishes and crops mysteriously fail, the family turns on one another.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 291000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada, UK
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: disturbing, atmospheric, dark, suspenseful, scary, gothic, psychological, suspense, satanic, enigmatic
Similar in 85%
The Masque of the Red Death (1964)
Plot Summary:
Satan-worshiper Prince Prospero invites the local nobility to his castle for protection against an oncoming plague, the Red Death. He orders his guests to attend a masked ball and, amidst an atmosphere of debauchery and depravity, notices the entry of a hooded stranger dressed all in red. Believing the figure to be his master, Satan, Prospero is horrified at the revelation of his true identity.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Drama, Horror
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: gothic, atmospheric, suspense, surreal, suspenseful, scary, grindhouse, cult classic, gothic horror, serious
Similar in 89%
Season of the Witch (2011)
Plot Summary:
A 14th century Crusader returns with his comrade to a homeland devastated by the Black Plague. The Church commands the two knights to transport a witch to a remote abbey, where monks will perform a ritual in hopes of ending the pestilence.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 97000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: dark fantasy, gothic, gothic horror, dark, suspense, stylized, exciting, scary, serious, brutal
Similar in 87%
Tale of Tales (2015)
Plot Summary:
From the bitter quest of the Queen of Longtrellis, to two mysterious sisters who provoke the passion of a king, to the King of Highhills obsessed with a giant Flea, these tales are inspired by the fairytales by Giambattista Basile.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 31000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Country: Italy, France, UK
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: fairy tale, dark fantasy, atmospheric, stylized, disturbing, surreal, anthology, dark, costume drama, tense
Similar in 76%
The Company of Wolves (1984)
Plot Summary:
An adaptation of Angela Carter's fairy tales. Young Rosaleen dreams of a village in the dark woods, where Granny tells her cautionary tales in which innocent maidens are tempted by wolves who are hairy on the inside. As Rosaleen grows into womanhood, will the wolves come for her too?.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Country: UK
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: gothic, fairy tale, sexy, surreal, atmospheric, dark fantasy, scary, dark, cult classic, disturbing
Similar in 78%
Spiral (2000)
Plot Summary:
In a small town in Japan, Kirie comes upon her boyfriend's father silently videotaping a snail. Later, the mans obsession with spirals becomes more and more bizarre, ending in his suicide in a washing machine which turn his body into a spiral. Soon other inhabitants become possessed with different forms of spirals.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Country: Japan
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, psychological, surreal, disturbing, suspenseful, scary, dark fantasy, lovecraft, mind bending, slasher
Similar in 79%
November (2017)
Plot Summary:
In a pagan Estonian village where werewolves, the plague, and spirits roam, the villagers’ main problem is how to survive the cold, dark winter. And, to that aim, nothing is taboo. People steal from each other, from their German manor lords, and from spirits, the devil, and Christ. Amongst the disorder, a young farm girl hopelessly and forlornly in love with a village boy.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Romance
Country: Estonia, Poland, Netherlands
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: bleak, art house, surreal, mind bending, suspenseful, suspense, black and white, scary, philosophical, psychedelic