10 Dark Fantasy Movies from the 90s So Bad, They're Good

1. Mortal Kombat (1995)
Fist-flying, spine-twisting, fatality! What more can you ask for? Three Earthlings, get this, have to prevent an invasion from another dimension. A tournament of champions, you say? Exactly! And the host is this four-armed monstrosity called Goro.

Now, Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, and Liu Kang aren't just fighting for their lives; they're throwing punches for Earth's survival. Cue the techno music, because "Mortal Kombat" will rip your heart out, literally, and you'll love it.

2. The Craft (1996)
Witch, please! Four high-school girls in LA find a book of shadows, dabble in spells, and—bam!—life becomes a teen-dream carnival. Sarah, the newcomer, joins forces with Bonnie, Rochelle, and the never-to-be-crossed Nancy.

What begins as innocent sleepover magic spirals into a revenge-soaked free-for-all. And then, of course, things go south. Power corrupts, they say, and who's gonna clean up this magical mess? Sarah, the only "real" witch among them. "We are the weirdos, mister," they say, and ain't it the truth.

3. The Ninth Gate (1999)
Johnny Depp is Dean Corso, an unscrupulous rare-book dealer. The gig? Authenticate a book supposedly co-authored by the devil himself. Naturally, people around him start dropping like flies.

Hell hath no fury like a demon scorned, or in this case, read about. Dean traipses through Europe, following clues hidden in illustrations. Will he unlock the Ninth Gate to hell? The movie's so oddly captivating, it might as well be a cursed text itself.

4. Spawn (1997)
Al Simmons is double-crossed and murdered. Ends up in Hell. Makes a deal with a demon to see his wife again. Voila! He's back as Spawn, a supernatural, chains-whipping anti-hero. The catch? Lead Hell's army.

The dude refuses and faces a villain that chews enough scenery to cause indigestion. Spawn must choose: Become Hell's general or save Earth. Not your run-of-the-mill 401(k) decision.

5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)
Before Sarah Michelle Gellar picked up the stake, Kristy Swanson was the O.G. Buffy, slaying vampires in between cheer practice and mall trips. A mysterious guy named Merrick educates her in the undead-dispatching arts.

Lothos, the big bad vampire, is in town and he's got his eyes set on a high-school buffet. Buffy rises to the occasion, does some sick flips, and dusts the fanged menace.

6. Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995)
A dude named Brayker possesses the last of seven keys that hold the blood of Christ. He's up against the Collector, a snazzy demon in a suit. They converge on a run-down hotel full of misfits. Demons besiege the joint, and Brayker uses the blood to seal entrances.

The Collector tries seducing, cajoling, and outright threatening. It's a demonic chess match until Jada Pinkett Smith's Jeryline inherits the key.

7. Phantoms (1998)
Ever walk into a room and sense something's dreadfully off? That's Phantoms in a nutshell. Affleck and crew descend on a ghost town, not in the Western sense but in the "everyone's mysteriously vanished" sense. Only, they find remnants of—let's call them entities—that assimilate and learn.

The threat isn't just local; it could go global, even cosmic. Affleck plays the hero in the way only '90s Affleck can.

8. The Crow (1994)
Imagine if Edgar Allan Poe directed a music video, you'd probably get The Crow. Eric Draven is murdered along with his fiancée, but he comes back to life, guided by a crow. He's not baking cookies, folks; he's here for revenge.

With gothic aplomb, Draven takes down his killers one by one. It's angsty, it's moody, and it's laden with guitar riffs.

9. From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
Starts as a crime thriller with the Gecko brothers kidnapping a family to cross the Mexican border. They wind up at a bar that—plot twist!—is run by vampires. No time for tequila shots; it's a bloodbath.

From Tarantino dialogue to gore galore, the film morphs like a werewolf under a full moon. Is it good? Is it bad? Believe me, it's beyond such petty judgments.

10. Wishmaster (1997)
Be careful what you wish for; you just might get it. A gemologist accidentally releases an ancient evil Djinn. This isn't your Aladdin's genie, folks.

This dude twists wishes into grotesque outcomes. As he collects souls, he aims to free his brethren and start Djinn-mageddon. No three-wish limit here; the horrors are endless. It's like a bad fever dream, and you won't want to wake up.