5 Scary Movies About Demonic Possession
“Evil loves children. And children love evil.”
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People all over the world believe in spiritual warfare, a biblical belief that evil spirits are at work in our every day lives. This belief can be seen in the work of Ed and Lorraine Warren, self-professed devout Catholics and paranormal investigators whose work in demonology is portrayed in the Conjuring film franchise. Of course, many think the Warrens were grifters, but belief in some kind of spiritual warfare can be found in most cultures throughout history.
A major tenent of spiritual warfare is the belief in demonic possession — that an individual (or, more rarely, an object) can be controlled by an evil Satanic spirit. These demons can be driven out of an afflicted person by prayer and piety, or in more severe cases — by exorcism. In cinema, demonic possession took center state in the public consciousness with the release of William Friedkin’s The Exorcist (1973), a modern horror movie showing a young girl’s grotesque transformation as she becomes demon possessed after playing with a ouija board. Word of mouth spread and people waited in long lines to get tickets to The Exorcist as showings sold out. Subsequently, moral panic about devil worship and demonic possession grew into the Satanic Panic of the 80s.
This list catalogs some of the best horror movies in which demonic possession plays a role:
The Exorcist (1973)
A Hollywood actress seeks the help of a priest when her preteen daughter, Regan (Linda Blair), starts behaving in disturbing ways (like telling an astronaut party guest “You’re going to die up there.”) Father Karras (Jason Miller) and Father Merrin (Max von Sydow) perform an epic exorcism on Regan and cause everyone in the vicinity to believe in demonic possession.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
Emily Rose is your average 19-year old college student who begins to suffer from persistent terrifying visions and inexplicable physical harm. She is put on epilepsy medications by her doctor, but decides to enlist the help of her priest, Father Moore. As the church leader conducts exorcist efforts on the teenage girl, he suggests she stop taking her prescribed medications. When Emily dies, the priest finds himself charged with negligent homicide.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) is one of the scariest exorcism films, partially due to the fact that the terrifying plot was based on a true story. After battling years of epilepsy-induced psychosis, severe depression and suicidal tendencies, the young woman received 67 exorcism treatments from the Catholic church during the last year of her short life. In this case, her unfortunate battle with mental illness and strict Catholic upbringing led to an intolerance for religious objects and seeing the devil’s face throughout her school day.
The Last Exorcism (2010)
A horror comedy found-footage movie that sees disillusioned pastor Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian) inviting a documentary crew along with him as he performs his last exorcism. Cotton’s goal is to reveal that exorcisms are a scam, as he has lost his faith after his son was born disabled. Upon arrival at the Sweetzer’s farm in rural Louisiana, it looks to Cotton like a normal faux-demonic possession is taking place. He performs his services in front of the film crew and starts to head home — when he learns new information that makes him think this time the possession might be real. A return to the Sweetzer farm begins a night of horror for all involved.
When Evil Lurks (2023)
Two brothers realize their neighbor has become a “Rotten”, a possessed person who will give birth to a demon. They try to solve the problem by driving the Rotten hours away and abandoning it, but pretty much everyone they come into contact with becomes possessed. This is a dark supernatural horror movie with some pretty upsetting moments and it was one of the best horror movies of 2023.
Late Night With the Devil (2023)
The host of a late-night talk show in 1977, Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian), is desperate to get his ratings up. On Halloween night he invites a parapsychologist and her subject, June (Laura Gordon), on the show. Jack pushes for June to conjure a demon live on air but is unprepared for the consequences. The film is inspired by the mockumentary, Ghostwatch (1992), which terrified Brits who thought it was real when it aired on BBC1 on Halloween night.
