Imagine you are walking into a remote village, surrounded by silence and an eerie sense that something isn’t quite right. You feel a chill, but an unconscious instinct, signs, and sounds make you fearful. But what should you do? You should pause and try to understand what’s wrong instead of fearing. Sometimes, your instincts are right. The unsettling atmosphere and the odd stillness are the elements we often see in these Indian folk horror movies.
This is a list of movies based on Indian legend and folklore that offer not just suspense and scares, but also a fascinating glimpse into the country’s mystical heritage. Let’s look at some of the best horror movies based on Indian legends and folklore.
The movies on this list, like Tumbbad, Chhorii and others represent the finest in the Indian horror and supernatural genre. These movies are not just entertaining but also emerge from mythological backdrops. These folk horror movies take material from folklore, traditions, old-world rituals, myths, and so on that may or may not be fictional with modern storytelling.
9 Indian folk horror movies
Tumbbad (2018)
Director: Rahi Anil Barve, Anand Gandhi
Cast: Sohum Shah, Jyoti Malshe, Anita Date-Kelkar, Ronjini Chakraborty
Synopsis: The movie is a folk horror and full of drama. It is a mythological story about a goddess who created the whole universe. The circumstances shift when humans build a temple for her firstborn.
Chhorii (2021)
Director: Vishal Furia
Cast: Nushrratt Bharuccha, Mita Vashisht, Saurabh Goyal, Rajesh Jais
Synopsis: This Indian folk horror movie is a thriller-drama that shares the story of eight-month-pregnant Sakshi, who moves to a village with her husband to escape from creditors. There she gets to know various truths and comes in the clutches of an evil spirit. She intends to protect herself and her unborn child from evil as well as evil society.
Chhorii 2 (2025)
Director: Vishal Furia
Cast: Nushrratt Bharuccha, Soha Ali Khan, Saurabh Goyal, Gashmeer Mahajani
Synopsis: In the sequel to Chhorii, Sakshi must save her seven-year-old daughter from a superstitious cult. She also needs to fight against societal malpractices that keep her and other young ladies like her in the same horror of baseless societal norms.
Stree (2018)
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Kriti Sanon
Synopsis: The movie revolves around an evil spirit named “Stree,” who captures men at night in a small village of Chanderi. She leaves the clothes of the abducted man behind, leaving her signature mark and everyone in horror. Vicky and friends take the charge to save everyone from Stree.
Stree 2 (2024)
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Akshay Kumar
Synopsis: This horror comedy is a sequel to the movie Stree. After taking people out from the horrors of Stree, the village of Chanderi is haunted again. Now, the women are abducted by the headless man. Once, Vicky and his friends take the responsibility to save the village.
Munjya (2024)
Director: Aditya Sarpotdar
Cast: Sharvari, Abhay Verma, Mona Singh, Sathyaraj
Synopsis: The Indian folk horror movie unveils the story of a vengeful spirit, Munjya, who wants to get married. To fulfill his desire, he captures a young man and his love in his clutches who visit his native village, where Munjya lived. Now, the young man discovers his family secrets to protect himself and his love.
Bhediya (2022)
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Varun Dhawan, Kriti Sanon, Abhishek Banerjee, Shraddha Kapoor
Synopsis: Bhediya is a story of Bhaskar, a man in Arunachal who gets bitten by a wolf and starts transforming into a wolf. As Bhaskar and his friends try to find the reason behind it, the story moves forward with various twists and turns.
Bulbbul (2020)
Director: Anvitta Dutt
Cast: Tripti Dimri, Avinash Tiwary, Rahul Bose, Parambrata Chattopadhyay
Synopsis: A man comes back to his ancestral village after years to learn about his brother’s child bride, who is now grown up and left abandoned. He also becomes aware that his village is plagued by mysterious deaths.
Pari (2018)
Director: Prosit Roy
Cast: Anushka Sharma, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Rajat Kapoor
Synopsis: In this Indian folk horror movie, Arnab tries to help Ruksahana, whom he found under mysterious circumstances in a house. He lets her stay in his house until he notices her unusual behavior. Also, Ruksahana, in the movie, appears as a pregnant lady.