Beyond Leprechaun: 12 great Irish horror films to watch this St. Patrick’s Day

It’s St. Patrick’s Day time again, which means only one thing for a lot of horror movie fans: Mainlining the Leprechaun films for yet another year. Yes, it’s a tradition, and for many viewers that tradition still hasn’t lost its charm, but let’s be real: It’s not all there is.

While the Leprechaun films have their value as products of a particular place and time in the horror landscape, they can get repetitive, not to mention culturally insensitive, along the way, which might lead some fans to go in search of other scary movies that embrace Irish culture, performers, and even the landscapes of the Emerald Isle. If you’re one of those fans, we’re here to help. Here are a dozen Irish horror movies (meaning both movies set in Ireland and movies made by Irish filmmakers) worth checking out this St. Paddy’s Day.

Rawhead Rex (1986)

If you want to move into other areas of Irish horror while still retaining at least a little of the cheesiness of Leprechaun, George Pavlou’s Rawhead Rex might be your gateway. Based on a Clive Barker short story and made from his screenplay, it’s the story of an Irish community stalked by the title creature, a massive monster from the depths of folklore who kills anything and anyone in his path and can only be defeated by a mysterious ancient weapon. The merging of folk horror with old-fashioned creature feature—bulky monster suit and all—didn’t work well for initial audiences, but the film has gained a cult following for a reason. For all its silliness, there are moments of genuine savage intensity in here, and they’ll stick with you.

The Hallow (2015)

One of several films on this list to tackle some version of changeling folklore, The Hallow announced director Corin Hardy (The Nun) to the world with loads of creepy atmosphere and imagery. The film, which is about a family who moves into a secluded Irish country house so the researcher dad (Joseph Mawle) can have a look at the local plant life, is an icky descent into madness fueled by a strange, alien-looking fungus that keeps creeping in, driving the whole community mad as a local legend seems to be coming to life around them. It’s a twist on classic Irish folk horror tropes that’s perhaps at times a little too familiar, but makes up for that familiarity with some truly squirm-inducing effects work.

A Dark Song (2016)

One of the best single-location horror films to emerge in the 21st century so far, Liam Gavin’s A Dark Song is an intimate, tense chiller that begins with a very straightforward premise. A grieving mother (Catherine Walker) convinces a grumpy magician (Steve Oram) to help her perform a months-long, extremely strict ritual from a well-known occult text, so she can summon a guardian angel who will connect her with her dead son. On the page, it’s a movie about two people following an instruction manual to the letter. On the screen, thanks to two great performances and some very clever visuals, it’s a meditation on grief, determination, and the tricky nature of real magic.

The Devil’s Doorway (2018)

Irish horror and Catholic horror are two subgenres bound to intersect at various points, and one of the most interesting crossovers in that realm is this film from director Aislinn Clarke. A found footage affair following two priests investigating a supposed miracle at a Magdalene asylum, The Devil’s Doorway gets a lot of mileage out of the interplay between the skeptical, disillusioned priest and the true believer, and takes its story to some truly dark, uncomfortable places. It’s one of the lesser-seen found footage films of the post-Paranormal Activity boom, and it deserves a bigger audience.

The Hole In The Ground (2019)

Another riff on a changeling story, Lee Cronin’s The Hole In The Ground takes a very direct approach to the metaphor of losing a child by manifesting it as a literal sinkhole threatening to swallow up a single mother’s (Seána Kerslake) world when she realizes her son isn’t who he appears to be. That metaphor, and what Cronin does with it, might feel a little heavy-handed to some viewers, but the tension the film creates is still palpable, and Kerslake’s performance does the rest.

Boys From County Hell (2020)

Working-class people taking on the supernatural is always fun with the right cast, and Boys From County Hell absolutely delivers on that front. In the film, a group of friends and coworkers get roped into a battle with an old Irish legend that may have been the inspiration for Dracula. It overcomes certain predictable formulas through the sheer force of chemistry between its stars, which include former Derry Girls scene-sealer Louisa Harland and Hawkeye’s Fra Fee.

Caveat (2020)

Damian Mc Carthy’s Caveat begins with one of the most unsettling premises you’re likely to find in modern horror: A man (Johnny French) is asked to look after a woman in an old house, with the caveat that he has to be chained into a harness that will only let him walk so far in any direction within the confines of that house. Naturally, this and other strange occurrences prompt him to investigate his surroundings, and what happens next is one of the wildest indie horror rides of the last five years. Caveat is 88 minutes of pure, strange tension, and it’s best to go into it as blind as possible.

Let The Wrong One In (2021)

A loose spoof of Let The Right One In, this horror-comedy follows what happens when a young man named Matt (Karl Rice) encounters his estranged brother Deco (Eoin Duffy), who’s just been unwittingly turned into a vampire during a drunken night out. This problem, naturally, ignites a series of events that neither of them is prepared for, including a would-be vampire hunter (Anthony Stewart Head), a coven of bloodsuckers out to take over the town, and more. In some ways, it’s exactly what you think it is, but when a horror-comedy works this well, that doesn’t really matter.

You Are Not My Mother (2021)

Another changeling narrative, as the title suggests, Kate Dolan’s You Are Not My Mother might seem to be trafficking in something quite familiar. As the film digs deeper into the emotional journeys of its characters, though, it’s clear that there’s still a lot to be mined from this particular bit of folklore. The story of a girl (Hazel Doupe) who must navigate the strange shifts in her family dynamic when her mother disappears and then reappears as a changed woman, it’s full of creeping dread, wonderful character moments, and very palpable tension.

The Cellar (2022)

Like a lot of horror films, The Cellar begins with the premise of a family moving into a creepy old house where weird stuff starts happening. Unlike a lot of other horror films, The Cellar moves into a supernatural mystery centered on, of all things, an ancient mathematical formula that may or may not be able to summon demonic beasts from another dimension. Elisha Cuthbert gives a wonderful performance as a mother pushed to the edge by her daughter’s disappearance, and the film’s ability to merge classic Irish haunted house tropes with something much more cosmically terrifying is certainly convincing.

Mandrake (2022)

If you want an Irish horror film that will drag you deep down in folklore and the damp, dark countryside, look no further than Mandrake. The story follows a probation officer (Deirdre Mullins) who’s tasked with looking after a recently released murderer (Derbhle Crotty) with a bloody reputation among the locals. It’s a scary assignment to begin with, but when things start to get spooky, the film weaves an atmosphere that’s truly the stuff of nightmares.

Unwelcome (2023)

We’ve had several changeling stories on this list, but Unwelcome is the first to feature another Irish legend: The Red Caps. The film follows a couple (Hannah John-Kamen and Douglas Booth) who move to an inherited home in Ireland after London proves too rough a place to start their new family. Soon they find that local superstitions and some truly unsettling contractors are plaguing their every waking moment, but of course, the superstitions are more than just old beliefs that die hard. It might take a while to get going, but once the creature elements of this one kick in, it’s a lot of fun, and might send you running to the internet to do some folklore research of your own.