10 Underrated Fantasy Movies That Can be Called Masterpieces

Fantasy is a genre which includes aspects of magic, sorcery, or witchcraft, often also including mystical creatures from folklore. It's been a pretty popular genre in recent years with the dawn of streaming platforms and on-demand viewing, which allows networks to develop their own exclusive fantasy films and television series as an incentive to subscribe. This is because fantasy is, by definition, an escapist genre, providing audiences with worlds more interesting than that of their own. These worlds are almost always hard to capture on film, which means they're bound to have larger production values.

With so many fantasy films coming out since the birth of cinema as a medium, not every single movie is going to get its 15 minutes of fame. Some, despite being marvellous, are going to be left in the dust. These brilliant works of fantasy don't deserve this kind of shabby treatment, which is why they should be talked about more. These are the most underrated masterpieces in all of fantasy cinema.

10 'Mad God' (2021)

Taking a full decade to make, Mad God is a stop-motion animation film that brings viewers to a vast, twisted world that is sure to make your skin crawl. The plot concerns a nameless protagonist simply called "The Assassin," who descends into the Underworld in a steampunk-esque diving bell. His mission is unknown, as the story is made intentionally obtuse and hard to decipher. In fact, there isn't a single line of dialogue in the movie. Or at least, none that's in any real language.

The horrors of the Underworld range from the science-fiction to the fantastical, blending the two genres with horror to create a truly weird and wonderful experience. Mad God is one of the most interesting movies ever made, and definitely gives off the vibe that it was the director's passion project. So much effort went into crafting the movie, yet it remains relatively unheard of. If you're into dark fantasy and twisted creations, Mad God is a movie that really needs to be seen.

9 'Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic' (2010)

Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic is based on the 2010 hack-and-slash video game Dante's Inferno, which, of course, is based on the epic poem written by Dante Alighieri in the Middle Ages. The movie follows the same plot as the game and the poem: a Crusader travels through the Nine Circles of Hell in search of his lover, who was taken from him by the Devil himself. Each level of Hell is distinct, and presents different types of punishment based on the severity of one's sins.

This movie completely goes against the stereotype of all video game movies being awful. To clarify, it's absolutely brilliant. It's an action-packed dark fantasy with a really unique gimmick: each circle of Hell is handled by a different animation studio, meaning no two scenes look exactly the same. It's probably one of the best adaptations of the epic poem out there, and is an enthralling and violent ride from start to finish. Even though it's pretty mature and not at all family-friendly, it's very exciting and even a little disturbing.

8 'The Secret of NIMH' (1982)

The Secret of NIMH is a movie that appears fairly innocuous at first. It's about a widowed mouse whose only son falls ill, and who must seek help from a group of rats. Simple, right? Well it turns out this story is deceptively one-dimensional, and actually bears a much deeper narrative. It's also one heck of an emotional rollercoaster, with kids and adults alike describing how disturbing and dark it can be, as well as how emotionally touching it is.

Even though it seems like a tale of anthropomorphic animals, there are still a lot of fantastical aspects, mainly involving magical artifacts and such. Ask any child of the 80s who saw this film and they'll likely tell you how traumatizing, yet how incredibly addicting it is. It's definitely not just for kids, as adults will likely find enjoyment in it, too. Though it never got very popular, there is no doubt that this movie is a timeless treasure.

7 'The Green Knight' (2021)

The Green Knight is an adult retelling of Arthurian legend, centring on the tale of Sir Gawain (Dev Patel), one of the Knights of the Round Table. In his travels through Medieval England, Sir Gawain comes across a mythical Green Knight, deciding to make a gamble with him. The catch is that the price of losing means death. To his shock and horror, Sir Gawain loses the bet, and is informed that he will need to return to the Green Knight in a year's time for his execution.

This movie is one of the greatest Medieval fantasy films ever made. Not only is it visually intriguing, mystifying, and deeply engrossing, but it also grapples with a lot of interesting moral and existential concepts. The movie emphasizes the futility of running from death, and importance of duty and moral obligation, and the nature of life itself. This is one of the most underrated films of the century, and is begging for the attention it so dearly deserves.

6 'The Adventures of Prince Achmed' (1926)

The Adventures of Prince Achmed is a German animated film that is approaching its 100th anniversary. The animation is pretty simplistic by today's standards, and looks pretty similar to shadow puppet theatre. Since many other animated films have come out in the last century, it's unfortunately been kind of swept under the rug and forgotten about, which is really a shame because it's a huge part of cinema history.

The Adventures of Prince Achmed is actually the oldest surviving animated film. It wasn't the first one ever made, it's just the oldest one to still have surviving copies. The fairytale-based film is completely silent, and has no cast whatsoever. Yet it's still not difficult to piece together the story, which is remarkably enchanting. It tells of a young prince who rides a magical flying horse across the world, encountering many strange and wondrous sights, both good and bad. This is most certainly a masterpiece, and shouldn't be forgotten about quite so easily.

5 'Castle in the Sky' (1986)

Japanese animation company Studio Ghibli is known for producing some really memorable and award-worthy films such as Spirited Away and My Neighbour Totoro. But while some are pretty famous, there are also some that never really got the same level of attention, even in spite of being at about the same level of quality. Castle in the Sky is one such example of this. Castle in the Sky is actually the very first Studio Ghibli animated film, so it's not quite as refined as some of their later projects. But it's still amazing in every aspect.

The story follows a girl who possesses a magical amulet, which is highly coveted by a group of pirates. These pirates begin chasing her, knowing that the amulet will lead to a forgotten kingdom filled with untold treasures. But this is no typical pirate story, as these pirates use airships rather than traditional ships. Visually stunning and remarkably emotional, Castle in the Sky is one of the greatest, yet most underrated films in Studio Ghibli's repertoire.

4 'Wolfwalkers' (2020)

Wolfwalkers hails from Ireland, created by independent filmmakers Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart. The movie did get a theatrical release, but failed to break even on its production value. Granted, this was almost certainly due to the newly-emerging pandemic, and is not at all a reflection of the movie's inherent quality. Regardless, this meant that it flew relatively under the radar, much to the dismay of the people behind it.

The movie follows a father and daughter who work as wolf hunters, but their world is turned upside-down when they encounter a tribe of humans that are rumoured to transform into wolves at night. This movie has excellent critical and audience reviews, with very few criticisms surrounding it. To its credit, it did receive an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature, but it was sadly snubbed of this title. Regardless, this film is really something special, and feels much more personal and passionate with it being independent and all.

3 'The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf' (2021)

The name of The Witcher has been kind of tarnished lately, what with how poorly Netflix is handling the IP. Based on a novel series by Andrzej Sapkowski, the Netflix TV show started off good, but began to decline in quality after the first season. This is likely why the animated film The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf never really took off as much as it should've, despite being an absolutely incredible film.

This film is more of an expanded universe story, following a different professional monster hunter, or Witcher, in a new, exciting adventure. The movie is handled by Netflix, but it did a much better job of things than the creators of the TV show did. Even though it's animated, it's just as mature as the TV show, featuring lots of violence, but it more than makes up for the steep disappointment the TV show became after the first season.

2 'Raya and the Last Dragon' (2021)

In the wake of some of Disney's more popular animated films, Raya and the Last Dragon never really had the chance to shine. Part of the problem is that it's not a musical, like many of Disney's animated flicks. There's also the fact that the release was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which certainly didn't due it any favours. This movie is primarily a kid-friendly action film, set in a high fantasy world based on Southeast Asia.

There's quite a bit of lore that goes along with this movie, and it takes a bit of an unconventional approach by essentially being an animated martial arts film with aspects of fantasy. Yet, this is easily one of the greatest films Disney has produced in recent years, though it wasn't promoted nearly as heavily as some of the company's other projects. While it's not the most underrated film on this list, it's still not super popular. Or at least, not as popular as it should be.

1 'The Head Hunter' (2018)

The Head Hunter follows a nameless warrior who makes his living hunting monsters and collecting their decapitated heads. However, there is one monster in particular that he really wants: the one who killed his daughter. Aside from hunting these creatures, he also seeks to develop an elixir that will bring his daughter back from the dead, a potentially dangerous prospect that adds a new layer to the nameless protagonist's character.

This movie got incredible reviews from critics, but not with audiences. Why? Mainly because audiences were hoping for more action, but the movie opts not to show the fights between the warrior and the monsters. But truth be told, this isn't the point of the movie. This is not a movie everyone will like, definitely not, but the fact still stands that there are a lot of hidden subtexts in this movie, which make it that much more profound. Aside from that, all the technical aspects of the film are spot on, making this an underappreciated gem.