Travel across the American South with the best Southern Gothic movies to make you think more deeply about the history and culture of the region.
Find themes of slavery, alienation, poverty, racism, violence, and the blending of what is supernatural and real in these Southern Gothic films. Explore highly charged political times and find thought-provoking social commentary.
Like Southern Gothic literature, and especially Gothic fiction from the 20th century forward, refute and critique the idealist version of the Antebellum South, which was full of suppression and racial tensions. Please watch some of these movies with a critical eye; while they have value, a few are also problematic. 🖤 Christine
15 Best Southern Gothic Movies
We asked our friend and dark tourist media specialist, Jeremy, to share the most important, popular, and interesting Southern Gothic films to watch across the decades. Consider watching with a VPN. We stream via Roku with Hulu combination plans (Disney+ & HBO Max), Amazon Prime, and Apple TV+.
Big Fish (2003)
Big Fish mixes the real with the fantastical for a deeply emotional thematic journey. When his father, Edward, tells an outlandish story about his birthday, Will Bloom has had enough of his blatant lies and stops speaking to him.
Years later, Edward has cancer, and Will decides to head back down to where he grew up – Ashton, Alabama – and spend some time with Edward. Of course, this means even more exaggerated and unbelievable tales from his father, so Will decides to see if he can tell if there’s any truth to these stories at all.
With Big Fish, director Tim Burton provides his trademark whimsy and creative visuals, as well as familiar faces from his group of regular collaborators. Whatever your opinion of the sometimes divisive “funky” style of Burton, his Southern Gothic movies are not dull to look at!
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
One night in the town of Sparta, Mississippi, the body of a wealthy industrialist is found lying in the street, murdered. Local police officer Sam Wood later finds a Black man with plenty of money on him at the train station and arrests him for the murder. However, this man turns out to be Virgil Tibbs, a top homicide detective from Philadelphia, and very much not the murderer. Despite open hostility and racism in the town, Tibbs decides to stay and help solve the murder. But he may not be able to keep himself safe for long.
One of the most iconic Southern Gothic movies ever made, In the Heat of the Night represents a turning point in how audiences reacted to depictions of resistance against racism in movies.
Ballast (2008)
Following the death of his twin brother Darius, local store owner Lawrence is despondent. Whilst reeling and still in shock, he attempts to end his own life with a gunshot to the chest, but survives. Because he ran the store with his brother, Lawrence finds he cannot return there and instead spends his time in their formerly shared apartment.
Into this mix comes Darius’ estranged son James, as well as his mother Marlee, who both have extreme emotional and financial problems of their own. Together, can this unlikely family unit find some peace?
Writer/director Lance Hammer’s debut is one of the most contemplative yet powerful Southern Gothic films on this list, with cinematography that’s just as bleak as the characters’ prospects.
Interview with the Vampire (1994)
On a dreary night in San Francisco, reporter Daniel Melloy enters an apartment to meet with a mysterious man, claiming to be a vampire. Louis de Pointe du Lac is every bit as undead as he claims to be. Speaking to an enraptured Melloy, Louis recounts his life in late 18th-century Louisiana. He talks about his vampiric transformation at the hands of the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt, and his un-life thereafter.
This book-to-movie adaptation of author Anne Rice’s seminal book of the same name is one of the most famous Southern Gothic horror movies and has plenty of intense, dramatic scenes. The performances of the actors in the main vampiric roles are on point, even – and, perhaps, especially – the then-10-year-old Kirsten Dunst, in one of her earliest movie roles.
Rice’s Interview with the Vampire is a classic. Read even more “must” vampire books.
Beautiful Creatures (2013)
Gatlin, South Carolina, is a place that Ethan Wate would very much like to put behind him. Lena Duchannes’s arrival turns his high school world upside down. The entire school is immediately abuzz with gossip about Lena and her family, especially her reclusive uncle Macon Ravenwood.
Everyone thinks that they’re all Devil-worshippers, an idea not unfounded considering the number of strange events that seem to happen when Lena is around. Most strange of all, though, is the fact that Ethan has regularly been dreaming of Lena, despite not having met her – or laid eyes on her – until now. Just who is she?
If Twilight was set in the South, and the main characters had had their roles reversed, it wouldn’t be a million miles away from Beautiful Creatures. So, if you’re after some more of that YA fantasy fix, this could be one of the more interesting Southern Gothic movies for you.
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
In the town of Maycomb, Alabama, 6-year-old Jean Louise “Scout” Finch and her brother Jem spend their days trying to find fun and amusement in between their schooling and chores. Their father, the lawyer Atticus Finch, and Calpurnia, their live-in maid, keep tabs on them.
They love speculating about Arthur “Boo” Radley, their reclusive neighbor, whom neither of them has ever seen. But their carefree innocence comes to an abrupt halt. The town accuses a Black man of a heinous crime – one he did not commit – and Atticus defends him. One way or another, things will never be the same again.
To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the most important Southern Gothic films of all time, based on the continuously relevant, Pulitzer Prize-winning book of the same name by Harper Lee.
If you like To Kill a Mockingbird, don’t miss these other great books set in the South.
Sister, Sister (1987)
Sister, Sister is for mystery and romantic thriller seekers: Out in the Louisiana bayou, two sisters – Charlotte and Lucy Bonnard – run a guest house at their familial plantation. While Charlotte carries out a romance with Cleve Bonnard, the town sheriff, Lucy finds herself frustrated and rebuffs the attention of her childhood friend, Etienne.
Matt Rutledge, a city congressional aide, visits the guest house hoping for peace in the country. Little do the sisters know that Matt’s arrival will unearth secrets buried deep in the past.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
Life is tough in Mississippi, especially during the 1930s Depression. But for Pete, Delmar, and Everett, it’s even harder, seeing as they’re all on a chain gang together. But thanks to the “brilliant” scheming of Everett, the three of them slip away and make a break for freedom… even though they’re still manacled together. The chains are the least of their worries, though.
Somehow, they’ve got to make it to the secret location where Everett stashed the 1.2 million dollars he scored from a previous job before that location is at the bottom of a huge lake.
With the sharp direction and some screwball writing in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the Coen Brothers have created one of the best Southern Gothic movies. Would you believe it’s based on the serious literary classic, Homer’s Odyssey?
O Brother, Where Art Thou? is also one of the best Southern Gothic movies if you enjoy country and folk music; its soundtrack won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year (2002).
Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)
In the 1920s, young Charlotte planned to elope with her married lover, John. Before they could escape together, an unknown assailant murdered John. Found covered in John’s blood and distraught, everyone believes Charlotte killed him.
Almost 40 years later, Charlotte lives alone in an inherited Louisiana estate, tended only by her loyal maid, Velma. Charlotte’s mental state is tenuous at best. When her cousin Miriam and her husband enter the situation, they see an opportunity: can they drive Charlotte truly insane and steal her remaining wealth?
Mind games and manipulation are the aims of the game in this mystery crime drama, which features the largest collection of Hollywood Golden Age actors on this list.
Angel Heart (1987)
Louis Cyphre hires New York private investigator Harry Angel to track down a crooner named John Liebling – a.k.a. Johnny Favorite. The case takes him to New Orleans. But then the people Harry talks to for information begin to turn up dead, in gruesome ways. It seems Johnny Favorite doesn’t want to be found.
Angel Heart has all the elements to keep thriller fans happy and satisfied. Add to that some charismatic performances from lead actors Mickey Rourke and Robert De Niro, and you’ve got one of the most mesmerizing Southern Gothic horror movies around.
Night of the Hunter (1955)
During the Great Depression, psychopathic serial killer Harry Powell is working his way along the Ohio River in West Virginia when he is arrested and put in a cell for 30 days. While inside, he shares his cell with Ben Harper, a man who stole $10,000 and killed two men, but who is hanged before Powell can learn the location of the loot.
Heading to Harper’s small hometown after his release, Powell insinuates himself into the good graces of the townsfolk, including Harper’s widow, Willa. Can Harper’s children – the only ones who know the loot’s location – manage to avoid an ugly death at the hands of Powell?
Night of the Hunter is one of the earliest examples of the Southern Gothic movie genre. The main showcase here is Robert Mitchum’s performance as the murderous antagonist, who lends the film a genuinely frightening atmosphere.
Undertow (2004)
Devastated by the death of his wife Audrey and unable to cope, John Munn moves into a pig farm in rural Georgia with his sons Chris and Tim. Unfortunately, the moody and grieving teen, Chris, is acting out, drawing the attention and ire of the local police.
Nevertheless, the Munns are building a life in Georgia. But all that is upended when the uncle they never knew existed shows up unannounced for a visit. Deel Munn has just been released from prison; he’s angry and vengeful, and he has some business to sort out with John.
It doesn’t take long for the boys to realize that Deel’s intentions lean towards the sinister and are less about familial bonding, leaving the boys fearing for their lives. Trying to escape Deel’s wrath, Chris and Tim find themselves entangled in the mythical world of legends and fairytales.
Inspired in part by the stories of the Brothers Grimm, as well as local folktales, Undertow is one of the best coming-of-age Southern Gothic films.
The Beyond (1981)
Having inherited an old mansion-hotel in Louisiana, New Yorker Liza Merrill decides to move down South, renovate it, and reopen it. But strange things are happening at the hotel; the bell for Room 36 won’t stop ringing, there’s no running water, and people keep becoming inexplicably harmed in what appear to be accidents.
Little does Liza know, but her hotel lies on top of the site of one of the seven gates of Hell. And when a plumber accidentally reopens it whilst investigating a mysterious basement flood, it’s only a matter of time before the damned begin to walk the Earth!
With The Beyond, director Lucio Fulci has given us one of the most chaotic and in-your-face horror movies of the 80s. Undeniably one of the goriest Southern Gothic horror movies on this list – proceed with caution and a strong stomach.
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Not many Southern Gothic movies can claim to be modernized adaptations of the world’s first horror novel. But that’s the case with Edward Scissorhands, one of director Tim Burton’s breakout movie fables, which works, among other things, as a retelling of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
Framed as a bedtime story told by a grandmother to her granddaughter, we see an unnamed suburban American town in an unknown state that’s heavily implied to be Florida. Into this mundane and tight-knit community comes Edward, a reclusive figure with scissors for hands, who has been living alone in an old mansion up on the hill overlooking the town.
He is taken in by the friendly and welcoming Peg Boggs, an Avon saleswoman. Though he has new clothes and a place to stay, Edward cannot fit into this new life, with worsening consequences.
George Washington (2000)
Set in a rural North Carolina town, George Washington follows a group of tweens as they navigate the aftermath of an unexpected tragedy. Twelve-year-old Nasia, who has just split up with her boyfriend, Buddy, an attention seeker, narrates.
Nasia thinks Buddy is too immature for her, and instead sets her sights on George, a quiet and enigmatic boy who must wear a helmet to protect his too-soft skull. As the two grow closer, an unthinkable event upends the entire neighborhood, and Nasia, George, and their entire friend group must make some very grown-up decisions.
George Washington is one of those Southern Gothic movies that crawls under your skin and lives there – and isn’t that what gothic tales are all about?