12 Greatest Horror Films Of The Last 5 Years

The Witch is a fantastic example of a film that rejects the popular jump scare. Written and directed by Robert Eggers, it was released in 2015 and was greatly boosted in popularity by critical acclaim at various festivals around the world.

Set in the seventeenth century, the film centres on a family who are excommunicated from their Puritan Christian plantation in New England, forcing them to set up a farm on the border of a dense, mysterious wood. It's not uncommon for horror films that are also period pieces to come across as cheesy and overblown, so it's remarkable just how convincing the set, costumes, and dialogue really are.

There's a prolonged dread in The Witch evoked by the family’s religious anxieties, as their belief in the evil that lurks within the forest gradually unfolds. This is where the real terror lies, as we wonder what each member of the family is capable of doing based on their staunch faith. But there's also a huge amount of disturbing imagery too, from the witch that grinds baby Samuel in a pedestal to the twisted movements of the goat Black Phillip.