Have you ever noticed how many movies there are with dark in the name? This list ranks the best movies with dark in the title, regardless of genre or rating. What is your favorite movie with dark in the name? Many people point to The Dark Knight, the second film in Christopher Nolan's modern Batman trilogy. This is kind of an odd way to categorize movies, but that's also why it's so fun! There are probably one or two movies with dark in the title that you instantly think of, but you might be surprised how many others there are too as you scroll through this list.
This ranked poll of films with dark in the title includes movies like Dark City, The Dark Knight Rises, and Thor: The Dark World. Don't forget that this list is interactive, meaning you can vote the film names up or down depending on much you liked each movie that has the word dark in it.Most divisive: Dark City
Over 100 Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The Best Movies With Dark in the Title
- 1After a flight back home, Sam Hendrix (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) returns with a doll he innocently acquired along the way. As it turns out, the doll is actually stuffed with heroin, and a group of criminals led by the ruthless Roat (Alan Arkin) has followed Hendrix back to his place to retrieve it. When Hendrix leaves for business, the crooks make their move -- and find his blind wife, Susy (Audrey Hepburn), alone in the apartment. Soon, a life-threatening game begins between Susy and the thugs.
- Released: 1967
- Directed by: Terence Young
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- 2Liza Elliott is the editor of a successful fashion magazine, but unlucky in love - pursued by three eligible bachelors, none of whom quite fit the bill, she seeks advice from psychiatrist Dr. Brooks, and her explorations of her past act as cues for musical moments.
- Released: 1944
- Directed by: Mitchell Leisen
- 3With the help of allies Lt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and DA Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), Batman (Christian Bale) has been able to keep a tight lid on crime in Gotham City. But when a vile young criminal calling himself the Joker (Heath Ledger) suddenly throws the town into chaos, the caped Crusader begins to tread a fine line between heroism and vigilantism.
- Released: 2008
- Directed by: Christopher Nolan
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- 4When Bradford Galt (Mark Stevens), a tough private investigator, realizes that he's being followed, he confronts his assailant, a shifty fellow named Fred Foss (William Bendix). Galt's encounter with Foss leads to a web of intrigue involving prosperous art collector Hardy Cathcart (Clifton Webb) and his young wife, Mari (Cathy Downs). Soon Galt is in over his head -- but luckily for him, his tenacious secretary, Kathleen Stewart (Lucille Ball), is on hand to help him out.
- Released: 1946
- Directed by: Henry Hathaway
- 5It has been eight years since Batman (Christian Bale), in collusion with Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman), vanished into the night. Assuming responsibility for the death of Harvey Dent, Batman sacrificed everything for what he and Gordon hoped would be the greater good. However, the arrival of a cunning cat burglar (Anne Hathaway) and a merciless terrorist named Bane (Tom Hardy) force Batman out of exile and into a battle he may not be able to win.
- Released: 2012
- Directed by: Christopher Nolan
- 6The Dark Avenger is a 1955 English Adventure film directed by Henry Levin. The screenplay was written by Daniel B. Ullman. The film stars Errol Flynn, Joanne Dru and Peter Finch. The music score is by Cedric Thorpe Davie. It is also known as The Warriors in the United States, and had a working title of The Black Prince in the United Kingdom. The Dark Avenger follows the adventures of Edward the Black Prince, son of King Edward III and heir to the throne of England, as he tries to liberate the people of Aquitaine from the cruel grasp of France. The film was the last historical action film Errol Flynn would ever make.
- Released: 1955
- Directed by: Henry Levin
- 7Driving through a brutal thunderstorm in Wales, three travelers take refuge in an eerie house owned by the Femm family. Reluctantly admitted by Horace Femm (Ernest Thesiger), the three sit down to a strange dinner. Horace is neurotic; mute butler Morgan (Boris Karloff) is an alcoholic; and Horace's sister, Rebecca (Eva Moore), raves about chastity. When the storm brings in an industrialist and chorus girl Gladys DuCane Perkins (Lilian Bond), Morgan's lust and Rebecca's ire are ignited.
- Released: 1932
- Directed by: James Whale
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- 8As the Civil War erupts, the townsfolk of Lawrence, Kansas side with either the North or the South, and a deeply embittered sheriff allies himself to the South as a cover for his outlaw gang to pillage and intimidate those who support the North. When his wife realizes his true violent nature, he not only has to rescue her but save the town.
- Released: 1940
- Directed by: Raoul Walsh
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- 9World War I is raging, but Swedish store clerk Madeleine Goddard (Vivien Leigh) has not aligned herself with either side. When she meets German soldier Karl Von Marwitz (Conrad Veidt), she falls in love. Karl, who presents as a footman of low rank, is in fact a high-ranking official in the German army. Madeleine has secrets of her own -- she is a spy, working for the Allies. As Madeleine and Karl are pulled deeper into the war, their love may be the thing that saves their lives.
- Released: 1937
- Directed by: Victor Saville
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- Wait Until Dark is a play by Frederick Knott, first performed on Broadway in 1966 and often revived since then. A film version was released in 1967, and the play was published in the same year.
- Released: 1967
- Directed by: Terence Young
- 11John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) awakens alone in a strange hotel to find that he is wanted for a series of brutal murders. The problem is that he can't remember whether he committed the murders or not. For one brief moment, he is convinced that he has gone completely mad. Murdoch seeks to unravel the twisted riddle of his identity. As he edges closer to solving the mystery, he stumbles upon a fiendish underworld controlled by a group of ominous beings collectively known as the Strangers.
- Released: 1998
- Directed by: Alex Proyas
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- 12In 18th-century Maine, Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp) presides over the town of Collinsport. A rich and powerful playboy, Barnabas seals his own doom when he breaks the heart of a witch named Angelique (Eva Green). Angelique turns Barnabas into a vampire and buries him alive. Two centuries later, Barnabas escapes from his tomb and finds 1972 Collinsport a very different place. His once-grand estate has fallen into ruin, and the dysfunctional remnants of his family have fared little better.
- Released: 2012
- Directed by: Tim Burton
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- 14In the entrancing realm of The Dark Crystal, a 1982 fantasy film, Jen (Jim Henson), an orphaned Gelfling, embarks on a perilous quest. His mission? To restore a shard to the dark crystal, thereby saving his universe from the malevolent Skeksis. Directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz, this imaginative adventure unfolds in a world populated by mystical creatures and marred by an ancient prophecy. With its intricate puppetry and distinctive narrative, The Dark Crystal remains an iconic piece in the genre of fantasy films.
- Released: 1982
- Directed by: Jim Henson, Frank Oz
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- 15Dark Water is a 2002 Japanese horror film directed by Hideo Nakata, the director of Ring and Ring 2. Dark Water is based on Floating Water, a short story by Koji Suzuki. The plot follows a divorced mother who moves into a rundown apartment with her daughter, only to experience supernatural occurrences and a mysterious water leak from the floor above which is eventually traced back to the former tenants. Released in Japan in January 2002, the film went on to premiere at festivals in Europe and the United States. The film was remade in 2005 under the same title, directed by Walter Salles and starring Jennifer Connelly.
- Released: 2002
- Directed by: Hideo Nakata
- 16In the murky depths of the 1987 cult classic Near Dark, a young cowboy Caleb Colton (Adrian Pasdar) finds himself ensnared in a nocturnal world after an encounter with the mysterious Mae (Jenny Wright). Unbeknownst to him, Mae is part of a roving gang of vampires led by the ruthless Jesse Hooker (Lance Henriksen). With his transformation into a vampire underway, Caleb is torn between his new bloodthirsty existence and his longing for his former life. As he navigates this treacherous path, he must make a choice that could seal his fate forever. This film melds horror and western genres, creating an unusual but captivating cinematic experience.
- Released: 1987
- Directed by: Kathryn Bigelow
- 17In the third installment of the Transformers series, Transformers: Dark of the Moon is a sci-fi action spectacle. The plot centers around the Autobots, led by Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen), as they discover a hidden spacecraft on the moon and race against time to reach it before their archenemies, the Decepticons. With humanity's fate hanging in the balance, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) joins forces with the Autobots once again. This cinematic extravaganza, directed by Michael Bay, showcases stunning visual effects and high-octane action sequences that won it an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects.
- Released: 2011
- Directed by: Michael Bay
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- 18Don't Be Afraid of the Dark is a 2010 American dark fantasy horror film written by Matthew Robbins and Guillermo del Toro, directed by comic book artist Troy Nixey and filmed at the Drusilla Mansion in Mount Macedon, Victoria and Melbourne, Australia. The film stars Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce, and Bailee Madison, as a family moving into a 19th-century Rhode Island mansion, where the withdrawn daughter begins to witness malevolent creatures that emerge from a sealed ash pit in the basement of the house. It is a remake of the 1973 ABC made-for-television horror film of the same name that starred Kim Darby.
- Released: 2010
- Directed by: Troy Nixey
- 19Following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden becomes one of the most-wanted men on the planet. The worldwide manhunt for the terrorist leader occupies the resources and attention of two U.S. presidential administrations. Ultimately, it is the work of a dedicated female operative (Jessica Chastain) that proves instrumental in finally locating bin Laden. In May 2011, Navy SEALs launch a nighttime strike, killing bin Laden in his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
- Released: 2012
- Directed by: Kathryn Bigelow
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- 20A satiric look at the problems experienced by a crew of bumbling astronauts on a mission to destroy rogue planets.
- Released: 1974
- Directed by: John Carpenter
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- 21Set in the Los Angeles Police Department in 1992, "Dark Blue" is a thriller that takes place just days before the acquittal of four white officers in the beating of black motorist Rodney King and the subsequent L.A. riots. In this racially charged climate, the LAPD's elite Special Investigations Squad is assigned a quadruple homicide. As they work the case, detective Eldon (Kurt Russell), tutors SIS rookie Bobby (Scott Speedman) in the realities of police intimidation and corruption.
- Released: 2002
- Directed by: Ron Shelton
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- 22Bruce Wayne (Peter Weller), now 55-years-old, comes out of retirement to don the cape and cowl. As Batman, he fights his old enemies, the Joker and Two-Face, for the final time. Then, an old ally arrives and is looking for one last fight.
- Released: 2012
- Directed by: Jay Oliva
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- 23In ancient times, the gods of Asgard fought and won a war against an evil race known as the Dark Elves. The survivors were neutralized, and their ultimate weapon -- the Aether -- was buried in a secret location. Hundreds of years later, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) finds the Aether and becomes its host, forcing Thor (Chris Hemsworth) to bring her to Asgard before Dark Elf Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) captures her and uses the weapon to destroy the Nine Realms -- including Earth.
- Released: 2013
- Directed by: Alan Taylor
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- 24Two married couples find only trouble and heartache as their complicated lives unfold. After 40 years of marriage, Alfie leaves his wife to pursue what he thinks is happiness with a call girl. His wife, Helena, reeling from abandonment, decides to follow the advice of a psychic. Sally, the daughter of Alfie and Helena, is unhappy in her marriage and develops a crush on her boss, while her husband, Roy, falls for a woman engaged to be married.
- Released: 2010
- Directed by: Woody Allen
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- 25Socialite Judith Traherne (Bette Davis) lives a lavish but emotionally empty life. Riding horses is one of her few joys, and her stable master (Humphrey Bogart) is secretly in love with her. Told she has a brain tumor by her doctor, Frederick Steele (George Brent), Judith becomes distraught. After she decides to have surgery to remove the tumor, Judith realizes she is in love with Dr. Steele, but more troubling medical news may sabotage her new relationship, and her second chance at life.
- Released: 1939
- Directed by: Edmund Goulding
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- 26Inspector Clouseau is called to a house where a murder was committed and finds that every clue points to the beautiful maid, Maria. As more people are killed, each set of clues always points to Maria, and Closeau continues to release her and escort her around town.
- Released: 1964
- Directed by: Blake Edwards
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