This tag captures films about CULTS. Any film that indicates surrender, control, and manipulation. Whether religious, ideological, or deeply personal. From groupthink horror to seductive doctrines, cult cinema explores what happens when belief turns dangerous. Movies featuring cults explore some of horror cinema’s most psychologically disturbing territory, examining the manipulation, control, and extremist behavior that define these dangerous organizations. Films like The House of the Devil, The Endless, and Holy Hell demonstrate the genre’s ability to tap into fears about losing individual identity to group manipulation and religious extremism. These productions often focus on cult recruitment tactics, ritual practices, charismatic leadership abuse, and the psychological horror of indoctrination. The subgenre spans from supernatural horror where cults serve dark entities, to psychological thrillers examining real-world cult behavior and its devastating impact on members and families. Whether exploring historical cult incidents or fictional organizations, these films serve as cautionary tales about the dangers of blind faith and surrendering personal autonomy. The horror in cult movies often derives from the very human capacity for manipulation and the terrifying ease with which ordinary people can be drawn into extremist belief systems.
n The Surfer (2024), Nicolas Cage returns home only to face spiritual and social exile from a brutal beachside cult. Set in a warped vision of Australia, the film unpacks toxic masculinity, ritualistic control, and identity collapse under the sun-bleached weight of the past.
Ti West’s The House of the Devil (2009) is a hypnotic homage to ’70s horror, filmed on 16mm, full of satanic tension, and anchored by an unforgettable final girl. What begins with a flyer and a payphone spirals into blood rituals, lunar eclipses, and a drugged pizza. A chilling cult classic now streaming on AMC+ & Shudder.
Shudder 2025s Shadow of God, by the director of KnuckleBall | Michael Peterson. An exorcism priest battles the leader of a cult. #Religioushorror
Professional wrestling takes a serious turn, when they are booked for a private Dark Match. This is one horror movie you can’t tap out of.
A girl called Hunter tracks down her family after finding out she was left in a cemetery as an infant. Leave is available to watch on Shudder
The Aviary movie follows Jillian & Blair having escaped in the middle of the night from a mysterious cult called Skylight.
