Horror movies about demonic possession may be generic, but that doesn't make them any less scary. And what's more, they clearly work; almost 50 years have passed since William Friedkin's The Exorcist sent people out of theatres on stretchers, but the demonic subgenre maintains its grip on horror.
With movies such as The Conjuring and Hereditary, modern-horror directors like James Wan and Ari Aster have reinvigorated the subgenre, building on old classics and adding their own terrifying twists. This article, which charts the five best movies about demonic possession, explores the brilliance of the titles above and others like them.
The Exorcist (1973)
It's impossible to discuss movies about demonic possession without mentioning Friedkin's The Exorcist. A cultural phenomenon, The Exorcist follows 12-year old Regan (Linda Blair) who begins exhibiting strange behaviours after using an ouija board. Inexplicably violent and speaking in tongues, her mother, Chris (Ellen Burstyn), believes she needs an exorcism and enlists two priests to do the job.
The first horror movie ever nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, it walked away with 10(!) Academy nominations and two wins: Best Screenplay and Best Sound, awarded to William Peter Blatty, and Robert Knudson and Chris Newman, respectively. The Exorcist also held a 44-year-record as the highest-grossing horror movie of all time until the release of Stephen King's It in 2017. To understand why, one only has to see Regan's head spin 360 degrees and hear Oldfield's Tubular Bells.
The Evil Dead (1981)
Another cult classic, Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead stars Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker, and Theresa Tilly as five friends who travel to a remote cabin in the woods where they find a "Book of the Dead" and a tape recorder. Messing around with the items, the group accidentally unleash a demonic entity set on possessing and killing them. Eventually, only one of the friends is left standing, and it is up to them to fight the evil dead.
Though The Evil Dead is obviously frightening — especially for its time; the movie had a similar effect on moviegoers that The Exorcist did — it is also absurdly humorous from its many over-the-top scenes. This is something Raimi exploits in his later Evil Dead movies: Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness, which are marketed as horror comedies. A couple of decades after the latter was released, Fede Álvarez directed a soft reboot of The Evil Dead that lacks the comedic elements of the original but makes up for it with terror. Both are worth a watch for different reasons.
Insidious (2010)
Directed by James Wan, Insidious is the first of four movies in the Insidious franchise. The movie stars Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson as Renai and Josh Lambert, a married couple with three children. Moving into their new home, eldest son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) suddenly falls into a coma he cannot wake from. After months of unresponsiveness, the family begin experiencing paranormal events. Unbeknownst to them, Dalton has become a vessel for a malevolent entity.
Insidious utilises a number of effective jumpscares to terrify its audience. It also relies on nightmarish visuals to do the same job. The movie's depiction of "The Further" — a purgatory realm between Heaven, Earth, and Hell — is particularly scary. In the darkness of The Further, Josh Lambert holds a lantern to smiling strangers in his living room where a man whistles, a woman cries, and loud clanging can be heard in the background. The implication is that the devil is nearby, and it sure feels like it.
The Conjuring (2013)
The inaugural movie in The Conjuring Universe, James Wan's The Conjuring stars Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. Set in the early 70s, it follows the Warrens as they try to help the Perron family rid their home of evil. After only a few days of living in their 18th-century farmhouse, the Perrons — comprised of Carolyn (Lili Taylor), Roger (Ron Livingston), and their five young daughters — experience paranormal events. When evil possesses one of them, the Warrens become their last hope.
Clearly inspired by The Exorcist, The Conjuring received just as good feedback from audiences who praised its visual effects and performances. Wilson and Farmiga outdo themselves as the Warrens, whose relationship is arguably the best thing about the movie. As Farmiga tells Vulture, "[The Conjuring] is a story about love. It's love for each other. It's love for their higher power. Love for what they do." This is what makes the movie(s) so special; people return to be scared, but they also return to be comforted by its love story. It is an odd dichotomy that works.
Hereditary (2018)
A24's highest-grossing movie to date, Hereditary stars Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff, and Milly Shapiro as a family grieving the loss of their matriarch, Ellen (Kathleen Chalfant). Collette plays Annie Graham, daughter of Ellen, who works as a miniatures artist. Byrne plays her husband, and Wolff and Shapiro play their two children, Peter and Charlie. After an incident involving Charlie rocks the family, an evil entity makes itself known through Peter. Meanwhile, Annie uncovers some dark truths about her mother.
Hereditary put Ari Aster on the map and established A24's niche for unsettling, psychological horrors. Lacking the jump scares of the previous movies, Hereditary relies on atmosphere to create a feeling of dread in the audience that persists beyond the movie's credits. It does this successfully, as although it is a slow-burning horror, it never feels dull or too long — in fact, quite the opposite. And although Hereditary is fundamentally a modern horror, its depiction of demonic possession — specifically, of levitation and contortion — is undoubtedly informed by classics such as those listed at the beginning of this article.