Possession
and a loss of personal control, as I said earlier elsewhere in this series, are
one of the things that most scares me in horror movies. It’s no surprise, then, that I approach the
subject of demon possession movies with some trepidation. I think with these
movies, the phrase “Your Mileage May Vary” is terribly appropriate, because if
you aren’t scared by these movies, or the ideas they contain, your list will be
very different from mine.
Demons
and devils in movies seem to be of two different varieties: The havoc-wreaking
kind, and the possessing and controlling kind. There is frequent cross-over,
too, as some uglies will possess a victim and then use that person to wreak
havoc.
Curiously,
there are very few “deal with the devil” movies, although that motif is still
widespread in literature and short stories. I wonder why that is. I love those
stories, myself. But these movies below kept me up at night, thinking and
wondering, and concocting elaborate contingency plans for what to do if I ever
come across a moldering old tome in a deserted cabin.
5. Frailty
(2001)
I
don’t know if this strictly qualifies, but I think it does; not just the
subject matter of the film, but also the way in which it’s presented. Two
brothers are put into an abusive situation because their father thinks he’s
been tasked by God to kill demons in human form—with an axe. Because, um,
that’s more Christian? It’s shuddersome, is what it is.
We
bounce back and forth between scenes of the boys growing up in fear of their
father and one of the brothers talking to the FBI, claiming that his dead
brother was the “God’s Hand” serial killer they have been chasing. Demonic
possession factors heavily into the story and colors our perceptions of what
we’re seeing with our own eyes. Frailty
was Bill Paxton’s directorial debut (he also plays the father) and it’s full of
great actors giving great performances, and a couple of twists you won’t see
coming.
4. Curse
of the Demon (1957)
Adapted
successfully from the M.R. James story, “Casting the Runes” Curse of the Demon (the slightly longer Night of the Demon is the British
release of the same movie) is high on the list despite being mostly atmospheric
and moody until the big reveal at the end.
As a
story, it’s well-done, even if every single still and ad campaign I’ve seen for
the movie insisted on spoiling the surprise at the end. Gifted director Jacques
Tourneur filmed Night of the Demon
like a film noir movie, which really helps with the atmosphere. Emphasizing
form over function, Night of the Demon
is evocative, if not terrifying, but it’s still really good and satisfying as a
movie.
 |
| Add caption |
3. Rosemary’s
Baby (1968)
Arguably
Roman Polanski’s most famous movie, and the film that made Mia Farrow a star, Rosemary’s Baby is a study in paranoia
straight out of the Cornell Woolrich playbook, even though the book was written
by Ira Levin. Maybe my favorite thing of all about the movie is that it’s
produced by the legendary William Castle, who should need no introduction to anyone
reading this list.
Unfortunately,
while the paranoia is spot on, the pacing is positively glacial. If you’ve
never seen it before, you’ll sit on your hands wondering what’s going to happen
next. After you’ve seen it, you may want to fast forward through the middle
hour of the film. However, the payoff, when it finally comes, is pretty
disturbing.
2. The Evil Dead (1981)
The
movie that put Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi on the map is also a cult classic
by any definition you’d care to use. Like the other horror movies in Raimi’s
canon, the first Evil Dead movie has a little bit of everything, including
humor. Maybe the humor is there because Raimi also chose to include a scene
wherein a demonic tree rapes one of the girls. Who can really say?
This
movie takes the “Five kids head out to a cabin in the woods” to new levels, which
the recent remake thankfully kept intact, and the brilliant Cabin in the Woods referenced so
reverently. The Evil Dead is violent, bawdy, colorful, funny, and yeah, it’s even
scary in places. The shoestring budget and subsequent effects may turn off new
viewers, but if you’re going to call yourself a horror movie connoisseur and you haven't watched The Evil Dead trilogy, then you’re not
doing it right.
1. The Exorcist (1973)
Two
priests, one young and one old, a little girl with an imaginary friend, and a
concerned high society mother are the focus of William Friedkin’s version of
William Peter Blatty’s novel. It’s a long film, with lots of apparent side
trips, but in the end, you’ll see, it all comes together. Special effects
legend Dick Smith created the complicated and subtle make-ups for the movie,
and it’s mostly through the special effects that the jacked-up horror comes
across, and very convincingly, at that.
The
movie is legendary, and widely considered to be one of the scariest movies of
all time. It benefited at the time from the trend in Hollywood filmmaking
towards realism and a kind of stylized “no style,” which gives the movie a kind
of dull flatness to it. When the demon hits the fan, it’s such a marked
contrast to the rest of the movie that it’s legitimately shocking and
off-putting. Despite numerous attempts to make a franchise out of the success
of the first film, the original movie remains the best by a considerable
margin. All other possession movies are compared to it, as a result.
