Finding great fantasy movies on Netflix is a bit of a fantasy in and of itself. The king of the streamers neglects this category, and it also relies heavily on Universal Pictures’ catalog to bail out its shortcomings. That’s why it’s The Scorpion King and Van Helsing‘s turn to be on this list while Conan the Barbarian waits for yet another Netflix return.
The Scorpion King and Van Helsing aren’t bad movies, but fantasy fans deserve a better selection from Netflix than films that are two decades old. Even this month’s third addition, The Covenant, is closing in on 20 years. Netflix has made some original fantasy movies of its own, but not lately. For the most part, the best fantasy movies on Netflix are pretty stagnant. But when something new arrives, we’ll be here to add it to the list.
Need more recommendations? Then check out the best new movies to stream this week, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.
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Van Helsing2004 -
The Scorpion King2002
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The Covenant2006
Van Helsing (2004)
35%
6.1/10Is it possible for a horror movie to be too much fun? In the case of Van Helsing, director Stephen Sommers may have brought too much of his Mummy movies over to this one. It’s almost impossible to take Van Helsing seriously as a scary movie, but it works really well as a fantasy action film. Having Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale helped a lot, since both were peaking in their stardom at the time.
Jackman’s Gabriel Van Helsing is the go-to monster hunter for the Vatican, and he’s got his hands full when he’s finally sent after Count Dracula (Richard Roxburgh). Anna Valerious (Beckinsale) has a more personal reason to see the dark lord of the undead destroyed. As for Dracula himself, he’s got big plans beyond Transylvania, and Van Helsing will have to face more than just vampires before they get a chance to fight their mutual foe.
The Scorpion King (2002)
45%
5.5/10If you want to know why Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is a big-time action star, a lot of it comes back to The Scorpion King. Johnson briefly portrayed the title character as a CGI villain in The Mummy Returns, but his performance there convinced Universal to give him his own corner of the franchise.
Since this is an origin story, Mathayus of Akkad (Johnson) is simply a charismatic warrior who finds allies like Balthazar (Michael Clarke Duncan) for his struggle against the tyrant known as Memnon (Steven Brand). Memnon’s reign relies on Cassandra (Kelly Hu), a sorceress who can see the future. Mathayus rescues Cassandra and develops feelings for her, but all she can see is his impending doom if he faces Memnon in battle.
The Covenant (2006)
19%
5.2/10The Covenant has resurfaced on Netflix nearly two decades after its release. Critics hated it, but audiences were more receptive, and future MCU star Sebastian Stan has a prominent role. The Expanse star Steven Strait headlines the film as Caleb Danvers, one of the few remaining descendants of witches who has incredible supernatural powers. The other three are Pogue Parry (Taylor Kitsch), Reid Garwin (Toby Hemingway), and Tyler Simms (Chace Crawford).
As the group of friends grows in their power, they encounter Chase Collins (Stan), a previously unknown descendant who also has magical powers. Unlike the rest, Chase has a greater command of his abilities and a desire to steal their power for himself. And he’s willing to hurt the ones they love in order to make them relinquish their gifts to him.
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013)
33%
5.8/10A young woman named Clary (Lily Collins) is thrust into a supernatural war in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. Stranger Things‘ Jamie Campbell Bower co-stars as Jace, an enignatic young man who is one of the half-human, half-angel Shadowhunters.
Since Clary is also a hybrid, she becomes a target of demons after learning who and what she really is. And a former Shadowhunter, Valentine (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), won’t stop coming after Clary until he locates a mystical object that could give him enormous power.
The Curse of Bridge Hollow (2022)
38%
5.6/10The Curse of Bridge Hollow is a family-friendly horror comedy that features Marlon Wayans as Howard Gordon, a scientist who looks down at Halloween. That’s not a sentiment shared by Howard’s wife, Emily (Kelly Rowland), or daughter, Sydney (Priah Ferguson), especially after they move to a Halloween-obsessed town.
When the big night occurs, Sydney is stunned when the Halloween decorations on her house take on a life of their own. As the title of the movie implies, there is a curse on the town and Sydney’s home. If she can’t find some help from the locals, a vengeful spirit will claim a soul before the end of the night.
Damsel (2024)
46%
7.8/10What if Stranger Things’ Eleven had to fight a dragon without her powers. Princess Elodie (Millie Bobby Brown) doesn’t have to imagine that scenario in Damsel, as it’s actually happening to her because she believed in love out of a fairy tale. As soon as she was offered the chance to marry Prince Henry (Nick Robinson), Elodie thought she was getting a happily ever after.
Perhaps Elodie would have been happy with some other prince. As for Henry, he and his mother, Queen Isabelle (Robin Wright), set up the marriage just to use Elodie as a sacrifice to a dragon. Elodie may be a bit naïve, but she’s not taking this lightly. She may not be a warrior, but Elodie is willing to pick up a sword and do whatever it takes to survive.
Monster Run (2020)
5.1/10Monsters are all too real in Monster Run, and that’s something that a young woman named Ji Mo (Jessie Li) has tried to deny for most of her life. After learning that she can see monsters, Ji Mo is only able to escape being imprisoned in an asylum by pretending that she can not. Instead, she simply tries to live an ordinary life until she runs into a monster hunter, Meng (Shawn Yue).
Once Ji Mo and Meng come together, she can no longer deny that monsters are real. Ji Mo also learns that she has a destiny to fulfill, if she can live long enough to make it happen.
Troll (2022)
62%
5.8/10Troll is a Norwegian fantasy that depicts an unusual emergence of a mythical creature in the modern world. As a young girl, Professor Nora Tidemann (Ine Marie Wilmann) was told by her father, Tobias Tidemann (Gard B. Eidsvold), that trolls may be real. Unfortunately, Tobias’ academic career was ended over these beliefs. But in the present, Tobias is vindicated when a gigantic troll is discovered in Norway before it goes on a rampage.
Since nothing the Norwegian army can throw at the troll manages to slow it down, it falls to Nora, Tobias, and their colleague, Andreas Isaksen (Kim Falck) to either find a way to communicate with the troll or to permanently end the threat that it represents.
Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical (2022)
Wendell & Wild (2022)
72%
7.3/10Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022)
The School for Good and Evil (2022)
30%
5.8/10Slumberland (2022)
40%
6.7/10Nightbooks (2021)
65%
5.8/10Don’t fancy yourself a storyteller? Well, as the saying goes, necessity can very well be the mother of invention as the young Alex (Winslow Fegley) learns in Netflix’s new dark fantasy film Nightbooks. Based on the 2018 novel by J.A. White, Nightbooks stars Krysten Ritter as a terrifying witch who imprisons Alex. In order to escape certain death at her hands, Alex must tell her a scary story every night to entertain her. Knowing his death is inevitable otherwise, Alex befriends the witch’s servant, Yazmin (Lidya Jewett), and together they try to outwit the evil sorceress to escape her mystical home. Scheduled to start streaming in the middle of September, Nightbooks promises to be both scary and family-friendly while giving Ritter a wonderful chance to play against type./dt_media]
Errementari: The Blacksmith and the Devil (2018)
6.4/10Super Me (2019)
Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018)
51%
6.5/10Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
91%
8.2/10I Lost My Body (2019)
81%
7.6/10Bright (2017)
Fullmetal Alchemist (2017)
5.2/10Okja (2017)
75%
7.3/10From Oscar-winning writer-director Bong Joon Ho, Okja is a brilliant mesh of animal rights versus big business, both operating in the body of a beautifully crazy film. The story follows Mija (Seo-hyun Ahn), a South Korean farm girl and owner of a genetically modified super-pig named Okja. Developed by the multinational Mirando Corporation, several prototypes of these genetically modified pigs were sent out into the world. After 10 years of growing to maturity, the company announces that Okja has been awarded the honor of “best super-pig.”
It’s all a ruse, though, and the company wants to move Okja from Mija’s farm to New York for (unbeknownst to the world) experimentation and eventual slaughter. Mirando’s CEO Lucy Mirando (Tilda Swinton) arranges for Mija to travel to New York to be with Okja. However, the plot thickens when the ALF (Animal Liberation Front) kidnaps Okja to expose Mirando, sending the film down a path of much greater moral weight.
A Whisker Away (2020)
6.7/10Related topics: Netflix | Hulu | Amazon Prime | More streaming services
