From 'The Unholy' To 'The Exorcist': A Closer Look At Religious Horror
“The Exorcist.” Photo courtesy of AMPAS.
(REVIEW) “The Unholy” made its theatrical debut on Good Friday — and it isn’t shy about contradicting the Easter season.
This horror movie about a hearing-impaired woman who’s healed and receives healing powers after a supposed visit from the Virgin Mary turns dark when townspeople question whether she’s being influenced by something more evil. Meanwhile, a journalist who shares her story sparks a worldwide movement of religious fervor: People begin traveling from all over to be healed, and her church becomes a pilgrimage site.
The movie is based on the novel “Shrine” by author James Herbert, who is often considered the Stephen King of Britain. The source material itself doesn’t deride Catholicism but serves rather as a meditation on religious themes like miraculous healing, demonic possession and the way religious ecstasy spreads through a crowd.
The horror genre has always loved religion, maybe because there are few things scarier than the supernatural forces that have always been part of Christian tradition. The devil, demons, demonic possession and other manifestations of evil have seeped into popular culture and made us afraid of what’s waiting in the dark. These are some of the most notable horror movies that center around religion. There’s a lot of possession.
‘The Exorcist’ (1973)
“The Exorcist” is widely regarded as one of the best horror movies of all time — and widely appealing to Roman Catholic viewers. It isn’t hard to see why. The original novel of the same name, published in 1971, was written by William Peter Blatty, a lifelong Catholic who even sued his alma mater, Georgetown University, for not living up to its Catholic title.
“The Exorcist” is responsible for the popularity of demonic possession narratives in horror. Regan MacNeil, the daughter of a famous actress, is possessed when she’s 12 years old and begins speaking in tongues, making threats of violence with a grisly voice and, at times, levitating and moving her furniture with her mind. Her mother, after exhausting every medical possibility, turns to two Catholic priests to save her. Expect medical horror, all that accompanies demonic possession and a triumph of good over evil.
Stream “The Exorcist” on AMC+.
‘Saint Maud’ (2019)
Maud is a nurse who worked at a hospital until the tragic death of a patient forced her into private care. She converts to Catholicism and turns toward purity and piety. She believes, as she says in her prayers, that God has chosen her for something greater. Her promiscuous patient Amanda is dying of cancer, and Maud believes her purpose is to save Amanda’s soul. As things progress, Maud believes she is talking to God himself. This movie uses the aesthetic of pious religiosity to explore mental illness and psychosis. Expect a slow burn, body horror and a conclusion that suggests God was never there at all. In fact, he may not even have been listening.
Stream “Saint Maud” on Paramount+.
‘Carrie’ (1976)
The most iconic shot of “Carrie” is that of a young prom queen covered in buckets of pig’s blood. Notable others come after this climax, in which Carrie’s psychic powers come to a frenzied head and she reigns terror on all the classmates who bullied her.
But the horror comes primarily in scenes at Carrie’s home, which is covered in religious iconography and perpetually dark. Carrie’s mother abuses her with a harmfully purist Christian worldview. She hits Carrie, calls her a sinner for starting her period and hopes to restrict her from even seeing or thinking about boys. There’s lots of (fake) blood, a psychological drama about the high school outcast and an extremist portrayal of Christianity.
Stream “Carrie” on AMC+.
‘The Omen’ (1976)
It’s a common pastime in some evangelical circles to make predictions about who the Antichrist — as foretold in the book of Revelation — is or will be. Not often, though, is their answer a five-year-old boy, as it is in “The Omen.” A plot from evil forces, or so it seems, causes the son of an American ambassador to be replaced with the Antichrist child.
People die and a rottweiler appears in the family home. Damien throws a fit about entering a church. Eventually, the boy’s father goes in search of the truth and decides he must sacrifice the boy. Expect an abundance of evil that may feel frighteningly possible.
Stream “The Omen” on AMC+.
‘The Conjuring’ (2013)
Based off of the work of real paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, “The Conjuring” takes place as a family is tormented by the demonic spirit of a witch that resides in their home. It was so successful in box offices that it sparked an entire franchise of horror movies about demonic possessions and spirits — the Warrens’ main pursuit.
It’s a modern classic that portrays many of the tropes begun by religious horror before it. And its villain behind the scenes, who isn’t the apparent spirit but instead a more overarching evil, is a demon nun. Expect the filthy apparitions of spirits, levitation, haunted objects and the true fear of paranormal activity.
Stream “The Conjuring” on HBO Max.
‘The Possession’ (2012)
“The Possession” presents many of the same familiar stories of religious horror: A young girl is slowly attached to a demon until it possesses her, leaving her family to crumble in fear as they search for the best way to exorcise it from her. But this one centers around Judaic traditions rather than Catholic ones. The demonic spirit is held in a box engraved in ancient Hebrew with the word for “demon,” and it’s revealed to be a “dybbuck,” a figure from Jewish mythology that is believed to be the malevolent spirit of a human that wanders until it can possess another human being. The movie is reminiscent of “The Exorcist” in many ways with a greater emphasis on jump scares and skin-crawling shots. Expect medical horror and a lot more demonic possession.
Stream “The Possession” on Hulu or EPIX.
‘Rosemary’s Baby’ (1968)
“Rosemary’s Baby” is another pinnacle of the genre as one of the great art-horror movies. Rosemary and her husband move into an apartment building in New York that supposedly has hosted witches and murder in the past, and they soon decide they want to have a baby. After being poisoned by her elderly neighbors one night, Rosemary experiences a vision in which the devil rapes her. She finds she is pregnant after this night, and her husband claims he’s the father of the child. What follows is a terrifying, painful pregnancy and a slow discovery of satanistic witchcraft in the building. Expect a really slow burn, Gothic-style suspense and witchcraft.
Stream “Rosemary’s Baby” on STARZ.
‘The Nun’ (2018)
“The Nun” is one of many offshoot movies considered part of “The Conjuring Universe.” This one in particular doesn’t include the Warrens, but instead is the origin story of the demon nun Valak that haunts everyone within the cinematic universe. After a nun living in an abbey commits suicide, which is believed to be a great sin by the Vatican, a priest comes to investigate. As it turns out, the nun was only committing suicide so she couldn’t be possessed by the spirit — who ends up possessing someone else and making it out into the world anyway. Expect upside-down crosses, a cold religious atmosphere and, of course, demonic possession.
Stream “The Nun” on TNT or TBS.
Jillian Cheney is a Poynter-Koch fellow for Religion Unplugged who loves consuming good culture and writing about it. She also reports on American Protestantism and evangelical Christianity. You can find her on Twitter @_jilliancheney.