Supernatural horror is a prism through which audiences can escape and stimulate their fear of the unknown. With each new era, a new crop of creative filmmakers emerges who find bold new ways of exploring these themes. Though supernatural horror has been around since the silent film age, it wasn't until 1973 when the paradigm shifted, feeding off deeper cerebral fears.
Based on a best-selling novel, William Friedkin's The Exorcist was a landmark film that shattered perceptions of what horror can be. In the half-century that has followed, demonic possession has become a lucrative staple of horror, with The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It serving as its latest blockbuster entry. Though the pantheon is long and distinguished, these vengeful demonic possessions still stand out as the genre's most enduring.
10 Sinister
When true-crime author Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) finds an assortment of grisly snuff films in the attic of his new home, he and his family are lured into an infernal snare in Scott Derrickson's 2012 film Sinister. Though it doesn't fit the mold of a conventional exorcism movie, it builds ample mythology for its primary antagonist, an ancient deity known as Bughuul.
The film concludes on a dark revelation that this demonic entity possesses children, and, in a fugue state, influences them to do his malevolent bidding. This disturbing entry blends contemporary horror elements with grainy snuff film aesthetic, creating an authentically unnerving moviegoing experience.
9 The Exorcist III
Famously known for his contortionist devilry in the original Exorcist film, Pazuzu is a Babylonian demon who, according to legend, can travel from person to person like a viral infection. This transmissibility is further explored in the third series entry, The Exorcist III. Written and directed by William Peter Blatty, the original novel's author, this entry has gained momentous appeal in recent years.
15 years after the events of the first film, Pazuzu takes dominion over Father Karras' (Jason Miller) body and uses it as a conduit for the tortured soul of a deceased serial killer (Brad Dourif). Where the first film took place almost entirely in one house and invoked dread with a claustrophobic atmosphere, this provocative sequel excels at creating moments of high tension that come to show how unrestrainable this demonic entity really is.
8 The VVitch
No film in the modern indie horror renaissance is crafted with as much detailed specificity as Robert Eggers' 2015 folk piece The VVitch. This A24 distributed low-budget film revolves around a Puritanical family in the 1600s who is banished to a secluded patch of rural farmland where they're forced to confront the dark, foreboding presence that lives in the woods.
Though it prominently features enchantresses and witchcraft, its underlying basis is rooted in well-researched demonology from traditional English folklore. One by one, the family is befallen by a fateful sequence of events, leading Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy) to a malicious proposition from Satan personified in physical form.
7 Paranormal Activity
Since The Blair Witch Project's groundbreaking success, found-footage horror remained mostly dormant until 2007 when Oren Peli reignited the infernal flames with microbudget miracle Paranormal Activity. The terrifying mockumentary follows Katie and Micah (Katie Featherson and Micah Sloat), a San Diego couple who are convinced that strange things occur while they sleep—so they set up cameras to prove it.
Made on a measly budget of $15,000, Paranormal Activity swept global box offices to become the most profitable movie of all time. The minimalist horror does a lot with a little by capitalizing on two mortal fears: demonic entities and fear of what happens in the wee hours of the night. Though the poltergeists start small, the terrors intensify, culminating in one of the most shocking theatrical endings in movie possession history.
6 Demons
For almost 30 years since the early 1960s, Italy was known for its quality horror productions. Their films were tightly constructed, with marvelous makeup effects and striking visual palates that are unique to their own artistic movement known as Giallo. Lamberto Bava, scion of Giallo royalty Mario Bava, was a particularly central filmmaker in the mid-80s when A Nightmare On Elm Street was particularly emblematic of its time.
Set to the boisterous howl of mid-80s rock, Lamberto Bava's Demons is a campy thrill ride that follows a group of moviegoers who band together to try and survive a night at the cinema as a demonic entity preys on them one by one. Similar to the Freddy Krueger canon, Demons evokes dreamlike mayhem with vivid color, eerie lighting, and, of course, boundless amounts of fake blood.
5 Noroi: The Curse
Discreetly hidden between the two totems of found-footage horror lies a low-key Japanese film that drips with subtle depravity. Koji Shiraishi's Noroi: The Curse is a chilling mockumentary that follows a paranormal investigator's (Jin Muraki) slow descent into atrocity when he delves into the case of a mythical demon named Kagutaba.
According to folklore, this dreadful entity was summoned by village sorcerers, but his influence proved too powerful to harness. As the investigator digs deeper into Kagutaba's motivations and whereabouts, the intensity ratchets to blood-curdling levels, sure to leave viewers with a highlight reel of disturbing imagery.
4 Ouija: Origin Of Evil
When it comes to the contemporary landscape, Mike Flanagan is one of the most cultivated horror directors of the last decade. His unquestionable sense for crafting a scary set-piece is second to none. Though best known for his work on prestigious Netflix horror series The Haunting Of Hill House, he really puts his stamp on what everyone thought would be a flailing franchise entry in 2016's Ouija: Origin of Evil.
This sequel follows a widowed psychic medium (Elizabeth Reaser) in 1967 who inadvertently welcomes a sinister force into her home after buying a Ouija Board. When the spirit assumes control over her young daughter (Lulu Wilson), the terror is manifested in increasingly spooky ways, culminating in a shockingly effective demonic possession sequel to a lackluster first entry.
3 Event Horizon
For entertainment that's described as Lovecraftian, their essence usually pertains to a cosmic fear of the vast, unknowable universe. Given the enormity of the subgenre's scope, their track record is not without flaws, but not many Lovecraftian films have been executed to the degree of Paul W.S. Anderson's 1997 sci-fi horror opus Event Horizon.
Driven by a pair of dynamic performances from Lawrence Fishburne and Sam Neill, this cosmic nightmare follows an intergalactic crew investigating the distress signal of a rogue ship that was lost in dimensional limbo. Upon boarding, a wicked force awakens, unleashing existential havoc on the unsuspecting crew members. This spectacular cult classic prominently features one of the most grotesque displays of demonic possession ever in a movie.
2 The Conjuring
In 2013, no one could have possibly considered the heights that James Wan's fright feature The Conjuring would eventually reach. It obliterated expectations for R-rated horror and ingeniously spawned a franchise that has grossed over $1.86 billion in worldwide revenue, officially becoming the highest-grossing horror franchise ever.
Loosely based on the exploits of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga), the inaugural entry in The Conjuring universe follows them to an antique farmhouse in Rhode Island where the Perron family are preyed upon by the malignant entities within. Structured and paced to near-perfection, James Wan's magnum opus still holds up as an incredibly effective demonic possession movie.
1 Hereditary
Widely considered the definitive voice of the millennial horror movement, Ari Aster has proven his worth as an architect of terror set to the backdrop of hard-hitting domestic turmoil. His freshman debut, Hereditary, approaches the occult with disturbing lucidity and digs into the roots of what makes demonic possession so terrifying, that being the mortal fear of losing one's soul to the inevitable forces of destiny.
This graphically unsettling film follows the Graham family (Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff, and Milly Shapiro) who struggle to harmonize when they uncover a twisted secret about their recently deceased elderly matriarch. Unrelenting and breathlessly suspenseful, Aster's inauspicious debut portrays demonic invocation with an eerie degree of detail and teeth-clenching audacity.
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June 17, 2021 at 12:00AM
