Period Horror
Horror films/shows set in history
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- DirectorBurr SteersStarsLily JamesSam RileyJack HustonFive sisters in 19th century England must cope with the pressures to marry while protecting themselves from a growing population of zombies.
- DirectorS. Craig ZahlerStarsKurt RussellPatrick WilsonMatthew FoxIn the dying days of the old west, an elderly sheriff and his posse set out to rescue their town's doctor from cannibalistic cave dwellers.
- DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsMia WasikowskaJessica ChastainTom HiddlestonIn the aftermath of a family tragedy, an aspiring author is torn between love for her childhood friend and the temptation of a mysterious outsider. Trying to escape the ghosts of her past, she is swept away to a house that breathes, bleeds - and remembers.
- DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsMarisa ParedesEduardo NoriegaFederico LuppiAfter Carlos - a 12-year-old whose father has died in the Spanish Civil War - arrives at an ominous boys' orphanage, he discovers the school is haunted and has many dark secrets which he must uncover.
- CreatorJohn LoganStarsJosh HartnettTimothy DaltonEva GreenExplorer Sir Malcolm Murray, American gunslinger Ethan Chandler, scientist Victor Frankenstein and medium Vanessa Ives unite to combat supernatural threats in Victorian London.
- DirectorE. Elias MerhigeStarsJohn MalkovichWillem DafoeUdo KierThe filming of Nosferatu (1922) is hampered by the fact that its star Max Schreck is taking the role of a vampire far more seriously than seems humanly possible.
- DirectorKen RussellStarsVanessa RedgraveOliver ReedDudley SuttonIn 17th-century France, Father Urbain Grandier's protection of the city of Loudun from the corrupt Cardinal Richelieu is undermined by a sexually repressed nun's accusation of witchcraft.
- DirectorSofia CoppolaStarsNicole KidmanKirsten DunstElle FanningThe unexpected arrival of a wounded Union soldier at a girls school in Virginia during the American Civil War leads to jealousy and betrayal.
- DirectorChristopher SmithStarsEddie RedmayneSean BeanCarice van HoutenSet during the time of the first outbreak of bubonic plague in England, a young monk is given the task of learning the truth about reports of people being brought back to life in a small village.
- DirectorBen WheatleyStarsJulian BarrattPeter FerdinandoRichard GloverAmid the Civil War in 17th-century England, a group of deserters flee from battle through an overgrown field. Captured by an alchemist, the men are forced to help him search to find a hidden treasure that he believes is buried in the field.
- DirectorLukas FeigelfeldStarsAleksandra CwenCelina PeterClaudia MartiniAfter the loss of her tormented mother, the erratic behavior of a 15th century woman living in an isolated mountain village becomes a threat to the safety of her infant child.
- DirectorLenny AbrahamsonStarsDomhnall GleesonWill PoulterRuth WilsonAfter a doctor is called to visit a crumbling manor, strange things begin to occur.
- DirectorGeorge PopovJonathan RussellStarsTony BroadbentSuzie Frances GartonDaniel OldroydDuring the English Civil War, two opposing soldiers find themselves trapped in a forest controlled by a Witch.
- DirectorKen RussellStarsGabriel ByrneJulian SandsNatasha RichardsonThe Shelleys visit Lord Byron and compete to write a horror story.
- DirectorJames WatkinsStarsDaniel RadcliffeJanet McTeerCiarán HindsA young solicitor travels to a remote village where he discovers that the vengeful ghost of a scorned woman is terrorizing the locals.
- DirectorKaneto ShindôStarsKichiemon NakamuraNobuko OtowaKei SatôTwo women are raped and killed by samurai soldiers. Soon they reappear as vengeful ghosts who seduce and brutally murder the passing samurai.
- DirectorKaneto ShindôStarsNobuko OtowaJitsuko YoshimuraKei SatôTwo women kill samurai and sell their belongings for a living. While one of them is having an affair with their neighbor, the other woman meets a mysterious samurai wearing a bizarre mask.
- DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsRentarô MikuniMichiyo AratamaMisako WatanabeA collection of four Japanese folk tales with supernatural themes.
- DirectorNobuo NakagawaStarsShigeru AmachiNoriko KitazawaKatsuko WakasugiThe ghost of a samurai's wife takes revenge on her husband.
- DirectorJennifer KentStarsAisling FranciosiMaya ChristieBaykali GanambarrSet in 1825, Clare, a young Irish convict woman, chases a British officer through the rugged Tasmanian wilderness, bent on revenge for a terrible act of violence he committed against her family. On the way she enlists the services of an Aboriginal tracker named Billy, who is also marked by trauma from his own violence-filled past.
- DirectorRobert EggersStarsRobert PattinsonWillem DafoeValeriia KaramanTwo lighthouse keepers try to maintain their sanity while living on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s.
- DirectorAntonia BirdStarsGuy PearceRobert CarlyleDavid ArquetteIn a remote military outpost in the 19th century, Captain John Boyd and his regiment embark on a rescue mission which takes a dark turn when they are ambushed by a sadistic cannibal.
- DirectorJ.T. PettyStarsClancy BrownDavid BusseHarley CorizIn the Wild West a rescue party sets out to find a family of settlers that has vanished from their home under mysterious circumstances.
- DirectorNeil JordanStarsBrad PittTom CruiseAntonio BanderasA vampire tells his epic life story: love, betrayal, loneliness, and hunger.
- DirectorBrian O'MalleyStarsCharlotte VegaBill MilnerEugene SimonA family curse confines orphaned twins Rachel and Edwards to their home, in punishment for their ancestors' sins. Bound to the rules of a haunting childhood lullaby, the twins must never let any outsiders inside the house.
- DirectorAlejandro AmenábarStarsNicole KidmanChristopher EcclestonFionnula FlanaganIn 1945, immediately following the end of Second World War, a woman who lives with her two photosensitive children on her darkened old family estate in the Channel Islands becomes convinced that the home is haunted.
- DirectorNick MurphyStarsRebecca HallDominic WestImelda StauntonIn 1921, England is overwhelmed by the loss and grief of World War I. Hoax exposer Florence Cathcart visits a boarding school to explain sightings of a child ghost. Everything she believes unravels as the 'missing' begin to show themselves.
- DirectorJ.A. BayonaStarsBelén RuedaFernando CayoRoger PríncepA woman brings her family back to her childhood home, which used to be an orphanage for handicapped children. Before long, her son starts to communicate with an invisible new friend.
- DirectorJoe JohnstonStarsBenicio Del ToroAnthony HopkinsEmily BluntUpon his return to his ancestral homeland, an American man is bitten and subsequently cursed by a werewolf.
- DirectorChristophe GansStarsSamuel Le BihanMark DacascosJérémie RenierIn 18th-century France, the Chevalier de Fronsac and his Native American friend Mani are sent to the Gevaudan province at the king's behest to investigate the killings of hundreds by a mysterious beast.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsGary OldmanWinona RyderAnthony HopkinsThe centuries old vampire Count Dracula comes to England to seduce his barrister Jonathan Harker's fiancée Mina Murray and inflict havoc in the foreign land.
- DirectorStephen FrearsStarsJulia RobertsJohn MalkovichGeorge ColeA housemaid falls in love with Dr. Henry Jekyll and his darkly mysterious counterpart, Mr. Edward Hyde.
- DirectorMichael ReevesStarsVincent PriceIan OgilvyRupert DaviesA young soldier seeks to put an end to the evils caused by a vicious witch-hunter when the latter terrorizes his fiancée and kills her uncle.
- DirectorDavid MooreStarsRay WinstoneEssie DavisDavid WarnerA BBC adaptation of the Victorian "penny dreadful" tale of 18th century "demon barber" Sweeney Todd, of Fleet Street, who cuts the throats of unsuspecting clients in his London shop.
- DirectorGareth EvansStarsDan StevensRichard ElfynPaul HigginsIn 1905, a drifter on a dangerous mission to rescue his kidnapped sister tangles with a sinister religious cult on an isolated island.
- DirectorJulius AveryStarsJovan AdepoWyatt RussellMathilde OllivierA small group of American soldiers find horror behind enemy lines on the eve of D-Day.
- DirectorSergio G. SánchezStarsGeorge MacKayAnya Taylor-JoyCharlie HeatonA young man and his three younger siblings, who have kept secret the death of their beloved mother in order to remain together, are plagued by a sinister presence in the sprawling manor in which they live.
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsJohnny DeppChristina RicciMiranda RichardsonIchabod Crane is sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate the decapitations of three people; the culprit is legendary apparition The Headless Horseman.
- DirectorDavid TwohyStarsBruce GreenwoodDavid CrowMatthew DavisStrange happenings occur on a WW II submarine.
- DirectorEmma TammiStarsCaitlin GerardJulia Goldani TellesAshley ZukermanA plains-woman faces the harshness and isolation of the untamed land in the Western frontier of the late 1800s.
- DirectorJeremy WoodingStarsGeorge BlagdenTom CotcherBarrington De La RocheA stagecoach of travelers, a gunslinger and two outlaws arrive in a deserted mining town lit by the glow of a reddish full moon. As their worlds collide, they are hunted by a beast that only appears on the night of a blood moon.
- DirectorNeil JordanStarsSarah PattersonAngela LansburyDavid WarnerA teenage girl in a country manor falls asleep while reading a magazine, and has a disturbing dream involving wolves prowling the woods below her bedroom window.
- DirectorRainer SarnetStarsRea LestJörgen LiikArvo KukumägiIn a poor Estonian village, a group of peasants use magic and folk remedies to survive the winter, and a young woman tries to get a young man to love her.
- DirectorAntti-Jussi AnnilaStarsVille VirtanenTommi EronenViktor KlimenkoAs a 25-year war between Russia and Sweden concludes, two brothers who are part of an effort to outline new border accords become undone by their actions, and their mistreatment of a young woman during their journey.
- DirectorGlenn McQuaidStarsDominic MonaghanRon PerlmanLarry FessendenA grave robber reflects on his life of crime.
- DirectorAlex TurnerStarsHenry ThomasPatrick FugitNicki AycoxA group of Confederate soldiers hole up in an abandoned plantation after robbing a bank and find themselves at the mercy of supernatural forces.
- DirectorPaul Urkijo AlijoStarsKandido UrangaUma BracagliaEneko SagardoyA quiet village is thrown into turmoil upon disturbing a reclusive and feared blacksmith rumored to be in league with the devil.
- DirectorKim Sung-hoonStarsHyun BinSeo Ji-hyeJang Dong-gunLee Chung is a Prince of Joseon, but he has been taken hostage to the Qing Dynasty.
- DirectorAaron B. KoontzStarsMelora WaltersPat HealyStan ShawAfter a train robbery goes bad, two brothers leading a gang of cowboys must survive the night in a ghost town inhabited by a coven of witches.
- DirectorM.J. BassettStarsJamie BellRúaidhrí ConroyMike DowneyIn the middle of World War I, nine British soldiers caught behind enemy lines seek refuge in a complex network of German trenches. What they soon discover is that they aren't alone - and it isn't a German soldier that's hunting them down.
- DirectorTed GeogheganStarsKaniehtiio HornEzra BuzzingtonEamon FarrenLate in the War of 1812, a young Mohawk woman and her two lovers battle a squad of American soldiers hell-bent on revenge.
- DirectorJulie DelpyStarsJulie DelpyDaniel BrühlWilliam HurtA 17th century Hungarian countess embarks on a murderous undertaking, with the belief that bathing in the blood of virgins will preserve her beauty.
- DirectorJuraj JakubiskoStarsAnna FrielKarel RodenVincent ReganWith an unquenchable thirst for blood, Countess Elizabeth Bathory was one of the most prolific serial killers in history.
- DirectorCourtney SolomonStarsDonald SutherlandSissy SpacekRachel Hurd-WoodAn invisible entity haunts a 19th century family, and family secrets soon begin to surface.
- DirectorHideo NakataStarsKikunosuke OnoeHitomi KurokiMao InoueJapan, 250 years ago. Soetsu is a moneylender who is killed by the cruel samurai Shinzaemon. His body is dumped in the Kasenega-Fuchi river. According to legend, all who drown in the river will never surface again. 20 Years later, Shinkichi, the handsome son of Shinzaemon, coincidentally meets Toyoshiga, the daughter of Soetsu. They fall in love. It is a doomed love, as the spirit of Soetsu is far from dead.
- DirectorMario BavaStarsBarbara SteeleJohn RichardsonAndrea ChecchiA vengeful witch and her fiendish servant return from the grave and begin a bloody campaign to possess the body of the witch's beautiful look-alike descendant.
- DirectorNarciso Ibáñez SerradorStarsLilli PalmerCristina GalbóJohn Moulder-BrownA strict headmistress runs a secluded school for wayward girls in 19th century France, whose students are disappearing under mysterious circumstances.
- DirectorJack ClaytonStarsDeborah KerrPeter WyngardeMegs JenkinsA young governess for two children becomes convinced that the house and grounds are haunted.
- DirectorMario BavaStarsGiacomo Rossi StuartErika BlancFabienne DaliA Carpathian village is haunted by the ghost of a murderous little girl, prompting a coroner and a medical student to uncover her secrets while a witch attempts to protect the villagers.
- DirectorArne MattssonStarsNils AstherAnita BjörkJan MalmsjöA ghost called Vita Frun (White Lady) is accused of several murders. Detective Hillman is contacted to resolve the case.
- DirectorHerbert WiseStarsAdrian RawlinsBernard HeptonDavid DakerA lawyer travels to a small seaside town to settle the estate of a recently deceased woman, but soon becomes ensnared in something much more sinister.
- DirectorTom HarperStarsHelen McCroryJeremy IrvinePhoebe Fox40 years after the first haunting at Eel Marsh House, a group of children evacuated from WWII London arrives, awakening the house's darkest inhabitant.
- DirectorFreddie FrancisStarsTimothy DaltonJonathan PryceTwiggyIn Victorian England, two grave robbers supply a wealthy doctor with bodies to research anatomy on, but greed causes them to look for a more simple way to get the job done. Based on the horrifying Burke and Hare case.
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsJohnny DeppHelena Bonham CarterAlan RickmanThe legendary tale of a barber who returns from wrongful imprisonment to 1840s London, bent on revenge for the rape and death of his wife, and resumes his trade while forming a sinister partnership with his fellow tenant, Mrs. Lovett.
- DirectorAlbert HughesAllen HughesStarsJohnny DeppHeather GrahamIan HolmAfter five ritualistic murders are committed in 1888 London, Inspector Abberline's assignment is to investigate the "Jack the Ripper" murders. Along with a string of mutilated prostitutes, he uncovers a conspiracy involving the government.
- DirectorTimur BekmambetovStarsBenjamin WalkerRufus SewellDominic CooperAbraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, discovers vampires are planning to take over the United States. He makes it his mission to eliminate them.
- DirectorKarin EngmanKlas PerssonStarsElna KarlssonThomas HedengranRalf BeckIn the late viking age a missionary, travelling with a group of soldiers, vanishes somewhere in a vast border forest in the northern parts of Sweden. A rescue party is sent out to find them, but inside the dark woods there is something waiting for them. Something dark and ancient.
- DirectorKonstantin ErshovGeorgiy KropachyovAleksandr PtushkoStarsLeonid KuravlyovNatalya VarleyAleksey GlazyrinA young priest is ordered to preside over the wake of witch in a small old wooden church of a remote village. This means spending three nights alone with the corpse with only his faith to protect him.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsRachel RobertsAnne-Louise LambertVivean GrayDuring a rural summer picnic, a few students and a teacher from an Australian girls' school vanish without a trace. Their absence frustrates and haunts the people left behind.
- DirectorChris CrowStarsMark Lewis JonesMichael JibsonIan VirgoBased on real events which saw two lighthouse keepers stranded for months at sea in a freak storm, the film tells a tale of death, madness and isolation; a desolate trip into the heart of human darkness.
- DirectorStuart GordonStarsLance HenriksenStephen LeeWilliam NorrisHorror film set in 1492 Toledo, Spain, depicting the cruel deeds of a monk named Torquemada, Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition.
- DirectorJohn McNaughtonStarsSteve BacicMicki MaunsellGerard PlunkettA grieving widower seeking the help of a necromancer is told the terrible tale of Ernst Haekel, a man obsessed with reanimation.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsBilly DragoShihô HarumiMichiéIn the 1800s, an American returns to Japan to find the prostitute he fell in love with, but instead learns of the physical and existential horror that befell her after he left.
- DirectorRichard RaaphorstStarsRobert GwilymHon Ping TangAlexander TerentyevIn the dying days of WWII, a battalion of Russian soldiers is lured into the secret lab of a deranged scientist and forced to face off against an army of horrific flesh-and-metal war machines.
- DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsIvana BaqueroAriadna GilSergi LópezIn the Falangist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.
- CreatorDavid KajganichMax BorensteinAlexander WooStarsJared HarrisDerek MioTobias MenziesSupernatural, semihistorical, horror anthology series, where each season is inspired by a different infamous or mysterious real life historical tragedy.
- DirectorMichael SpierigPeter SpierigStarsHelen MirrenSarah SnookFinn Scicluna-O'PreyEnsconced in her sprawling San Jose, California mansion, eccentric firearm heiress Sarah Winchester (Dame Helen Mirren) believes she is haunted by the souls of people killed by the Winchester repeating rifle.
- DirectorZak HilditchStarsThomas JaneMolly ParkerDylan SchmidA simple yet proud farmer in the year 1922 conspires to murder his wife for financial gain, convincing his teenage son to assist. But their actions have unintended consequences.
- DirectorJuan López MoctezumaStarsClaudio BrookDavid SilvaTina RomeroAfter the death of her parents, a young girl arrives at a convent and brings a sinister presence with her. Is it her enigmatic imaginary friend, Alucarda, who is to blame? Or is there a satanic force at work?
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsMasayuki MoriMachiko KyôKinuyo TanakaA tale of ambition, family, love, and war set in the midst of the Japanese Civil Wars of the sixteenth century.
- DirectorPaco PlazaStarsJulian SandsElsa PatakyJohn SharianAn uproar is caused when some mutilated cadavers are discovered, giving way to the legend of the "Werewolf of Allariz". A traveling vendor rolls through the forest in his old wagon. A woman from every village on his route faithfully awaits him. He's attractive, intelligent, charming.... But he's also the monster feared by all. His most recent prey, Barbara will soon become the one who hunts him down. The film is based on the true-life story of Manuel Blanco Romasanta, the traveling vendor, who confessed to the murders of thirteen people, using their body fat to make soap. Romasanta was tried in Allaríz in 1852 and avoided capital punishment by proclaiming he was a werewolf. Barbara was the lone survivor of four sisters.
- DirectorPeter Graham ScottStarsPeter CushingYvonne RomainPatrick AllenIn 18th-century England, the Royal Crown sends Royal Navy Captain Collier and his crew to investigate reports of illegal smuggling and bootlegging in a coastal town where locals believe in Marsh Phantoms.
- DirectorJames McTeigueStarsJohn CusackAlice EveLuke EvansWhen a madman begins committing horrific murders inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's works, a young Baltimore detective joins forces with Poe to stop him from making his stories a reality.
- DirectorHenry CassStarsDonald WolfitVincent BallBarbara ShelleyIn 1870s Transylvania, scientist Dr. Callistratus is put to death by villagers who wrongly believe he's a vampire. However, his horribly disfigured henchman, Carl is on hand to orchestrate a life-saving heart transplant.
- DirectorEdward DeinStarsEric FlemingMichael PateKathleen CrowleyWhile a malady is claiming the lives of young women in a Western town, a sinister gunslinger-for-hire Drake Robey is really a vampire, and it's up to Preacher Dan to save the town and girlfriend Dolores Carter.
- DirectorChristopher DunneStarsCandy K. SweetLexton RaleighTom DennisA classic and intense horror/drama about the all consuming nature of revenge.
- DirectorStuart GordonStarsElyse LevesqueJeffrey CombsAron TagerThe Black Cat, set in 1840 Philadelphia, has the great writer Edgar Allan Poe, struggling with alcoholism, writers block, as well as being out of ideas, short on cash, and tormented by his wife Virginia's black cat that will either destroy his life or inspire him to write one of his most famous stories.
- DirectorPaul McGuiganStarsDaniel RadcliffeJames McAvoyJessica Brown FindlayTold from Igor's perspective, we see the troubled young assistant's dark origins, his redemptive friendship with the young medical student Viktor Von Frankenstein, and become eyewitnesses to the emergence of how Frankenstein became the man - and the legend - we know today.
- DirectorDavid LoweryStarsDev PatelAlicia VikanderJoel EdgertonA fantasy retelling of the medieval story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
- StarsJulien FrisonMarilou AussillouxColine BealIn a reimagined history of the French Revolution, the guillotine's future inventor uncovers a disease that drives the aristocracy to murder commoners.
- DirectorPiers HaggardStarsPatrick WymarkLinda HaydenBarry AndrewsIn early 18th century England, the children of a village slowly convert into a coven of devil worshipers.
- DirectorTom TykwerStarsBen WhishawDustin HoffmanAlan RickmanJean-Baptiste Grenouille, born with a superior olfactory sense, creates the world's finest perfume. His work, however, takes a dark turn as he searches for the ultimate scent.
- DirectorChris DurlacherStarsJulian SandsRachael StirlingRobert PattinsonA wounded RAF pilot, confined to a wheelchair, is committed to an eerie hospital where he starts to lose his mind.
- DirectorPéter BergendyStarsViktor KlemFruzsina HaisJudit SchellA post mortem photographer and a little girl confront ghosts in a haunted village after the First World War.
- CreatorAshley PharoahStarsColin MorganCharlotte SpencerMalcolm StorryWhen a young couple inherit a farm, they are determined to turn it into a success, but strange supernatural forces soon intervene, threatening their marriage and their lives.
- DirectorTerry BourkeStarsJudith AndersonAlex CordMichael CraigA sheriff investigates why the guests at a local hostelry check in but never check out.
- StarsJu Ji-hoonBae DoonaKim SungkyuWhile strange rumors about their ill King grip a kingdom, the crown prince becomes their only hope against a mysterious plague overtaking the land.
- DirectorWilliam McGregorStarsEleanor Worthington-CoxJodie InnesKobna Holdbrook-SmithA folk tale set in the hills of Wales during the industrial revolution.
- DirectorDoron PazYoav PazStarsHani FurstenbergIshai GolanKirill CernyakovDuring an outbreak of a deadly plague in Lithuania, a mystical woman must save her tight-knit Jewish community from a gang of ruffians led by a local landowner, but the entity she conjures to protect them is a far greater evil.
- DirectorJong-ho HuhStarsKim Myung-minKim In-kwonLee HyeriYoon Gyeom is a loyal subject of King Jung Jong of Joseon. He struggles to fight against a monster that threatens King Jung Jong's life and a group of people trying to depose King Jung Jong.