The Witcher is one of the most popular fantasy franchises of the late 20th and 21st centuries. The character of Geralt of Rivia first appeared in the series of books by Andrzej Sapkowski. From there on, The Witcher made its transition to a Polish TV series, the successful CD Projekt Red game trilogy, and, finally, to a Netflix TV show.
Despite the plentiful amount of The Witcher-related content, fans of the franchise will inevitably run out of things to read, play, or watch. Fortunately, there are several great movies for fans of The Witcher series that will entertain them just as much as Geralt and his many adventures.
5 Interview With The Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)
One of the typical traits of The Witcher characters is their dubious morality. Nobody is entirely good or bad, they come in shades of gray. The heroes of the Anne Rice-inspired movie Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles are the same. The main hero, Louis, portrayed by Brad Pitt, is often just as torn about his actions as Geralt seems to be. The vampires here are much closer to the sophisticated, highly intelligent high vampires found in The Witcher. It’s not such a stretch to imagine that Geralt’s good friend, the high vampire Regis, could be friends with Louis if the pair ever met.
Vampires might not be the main characters in The Witcher, but they still play a major part in it, especially in the Blood and Wine DLC. Although the setting of Blood and Wine and this movie couldn’t possibly be more different, both stories excel at portraying vampires as more complex creatures than just bloodthirsty monsters. What’s more, it’s possible to seek parallels between the friendship of Louis and Lestat and the one between Regis and Dettlaff.
4 Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Even though Geralt has a knack for getting involved in political and royal affairs, his primary job as a witcher is to kill monsters, whatever form they might have. As such, Geralt would be right at home in this Tim Burton dark fantasy movie about a village haunted by a mysterious headless murderer. Johnny Depp investigates the mystery, and together with other talented cast members, such as Christina Ricci and Michael Gambon, helps create an atmospheric, scary, and memorable movie.
While Geralt would have most likely chosen a different approach to solving the murders, there’s no doubt he would have cracked the case too in the end. The plot of Sleepy Hollow has a similar feeling to it like some of the scariest The Witcher quests despite the fact that it takes place a few centuries later (in the 18th century, while The Witcher is set in the 13th century).
3 The Lord Of The Rings Series (2001-2003)
Much like The Witcher’s world, Middle-Earth is magical, full of wonders, but also dangerous. As a result, the heroes of both series have to fight for their lives, and they don’t always survive. The Witcher and The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy by Peter Jackson offer beautiful locations, fantasy creatures, as well as complex characters with developing relationships between them.
The only major difference is that The Witcher has closer ties to the Polish and central European culture in general. At their cores though, both stories are about journeys and overcoming obstacles while working together as a team despite the characters‘ individual differences.
2 Constantine (2005)
Geralt of Rivia is a monster hunter. John Constantine is a demon hunter. Despite the difference between their respective targets, both of them come into contact with the supernatural on an almost everyday basis. What’s more, they dabble in magic, even though John’s powers are much more extensive than Geralt’s since the witcher mostly relies on the witcher signs. In the movie, John has to solve a complicated case including demons and the lord of Hell himself. Geralt has dealt with demons and a possible devil too in the DLC Hearts of Stone where he was forced to do a series of tasks for Gaunter O’Dimm.
Both stories don’t spare their main characters and show that hunting dangerous creatures often puts the people closest to the hero in danger. As such, a team-up between John and Geralt would make for an equally interesting story – as long as they’d be willing to work together. Those who wish to see more of John Constantine’s adventures shouldn’t miss out on watching the show Constantine, which stars Matt Ryan.
1 Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)
One of the things that The Witcher series excels in is taking classic fairytales and turning them around. Both the books and the likes of the Land of a Thousand Fables in The Witcher 3 demonstrate this well. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters does the same thing, even though it chooses an even more action-filled approach than The Witcher.
It shows what happens when Hansel and Gretel grow up and decide to become witch hunters after their traumatic childhood experiences. Starring Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton, the movie’s heroes are more likely to kill witches than to romance them (like Geralt did), but the sense of humor, action, and changing everything the audience knows about established fairytale characters is something both stories have in common.