If you like seeing mythical beings in films like me, here are 10 movies featuring them. This article deep dives into many different fantasy movies, giving you a variety of franchises and stories. Everyone has their favorite Mythical Creature from a movie that they’ll always remember. Whether they’re heroes or villains, mythical creatures in movies add to the story’s thrill, adventure, and morale.
10 Movies featuring Mythical Creatures
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
All of the Harry Potter movies have plenty of Mythical Creatures in them, but two that may stand out most to viewers are Aragog and the basilisk in the franchise’s second installment. Further, this is the film where Harry first meets Dobby, a house-elf and mini-beast who initially causes mayhem but later becomes Harry’s close friend.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets sees Harry return to classes at Hogwarts and learn that a chamber containing a monster has been opened. The monster is a giant serpent called a basilisk, a mythical creature said to kill people who make direct eye contact with it.
Harry also meets Rubeus Hagrid’s giant pet spider, Aragog, who lives with his colony in the Forbidden Forest.
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010)
Adapted from Rick Riordan’s popular book, The Lightning Thief, this film follows Percy Jackson, a teenager who learns that he is the son of the Greek god Poseidon. Percy is trained to learn how to use his divine powers and prepare to prevent a feud among the Olympians from becoming a war on Earth.
Percy must also rescue his mother from the clutches of Hades, the god of the underworld. Throughout the film, he encounters many creatures from Greek mythology, including the minotaur, a monster with the body of a man and the head of a bull, and Medusa, a woman with a head of snakes.
Onward (2020)
Onward follows two teenage elf brothers who go on a magical journey to spend one more day with their late father. On their journey, they encounter mythical creatures such as elves, centaurs, goblins, cyclops, and pixies.
The brothers also go to Corey the Manticore for help, who is based on the creature made up of a lion’s body, a human’s face, and a scorpion’s tail.
The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (2007)
Set in Loch Ness, Scotland, a young boy named Angus finds an unusual egg that hatches and releases an unexpected surprise: a water horse, the legendary creature from Scottish mythology. While the boy tries to keep its existence hidden from his mother (Emily Watson), he and his new pet, Crusoe, quickly become inseparable.
But as the water horse grows larger, eventually becoming the fabled Loch Ness monster, Angus must protect his friend from those who would want to do it harm.
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022)
The third installment in the Fantastic Beasts series, The Secrets of Dumbledore, sees Professor Albus Dumbledore task magizoologist Newt Scamander with leading a team of wizards and witches against the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald, who is threatening to control the wizarding world.
The team encounters various new and old beasts. In this installment, you’ll see creatures such as a manticore, a graceful-looking Qilin, and a two-legged Wyvern whose appearance is constantly changing.
The Secret of Moonacre (2008)
The Secret of Moonacre follows a 13-year-old orphan named Maria who is forced to live with her eccentric uncle at Moonacre Manor. She reads a magical book and learns that she is the Moon Princess of a war-torn kingdom who must break a curse on the valley.
Maria meets mythical creatures on her journey, such as a unicorn and a black lion who guide and protect her.
Lady in the Water (2006)
In the fantasy thriller film Lady in the Water, an apartment complex superintendent discovers a young woman in the swimming pool. He learns that she is a magical sea nymph who is plagued by a wolf-like, mystical creature called a Scrunt that is trying to prevent her from returning to her own world.
The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)
After moving into the run-down Spiderwick Estate with their mother, twin brothers, and their sister find themselves pulled into a new world full of fairies and other creatures, such as goblins, ogres, brownies, boggarts, hobgoblins, and trolls.
When the siblings investigate, they find the truth about the estate and its creatures.
Clash of the Titans (1981)
In this fun adventure film, Perseus, son of the Greek god Zeus, grows up on a deserted island with the destiny of marrying Princess Andromeda. However, the satyr Calibos uses a giant vulture every night to kidnap the princess’ soul.
Perseus must travel to Joppa to defeat Calibos and other mythological monsters to rescue the princess.
The Golden Compass (2007)
The Golden Compass follows Lyra, a young girl who lives in a parallel world where human souls take the form of lifelong animal companions called daemons. Dark forces are at bay, with evil Gobblers kidnapping children.
Lyra must save her best friend Roger when he is kidnapped. She begins her quest with her daemon, a tribe of seafarers, a witch, and a giant ice bear to rescue Roger and save her world.
