A popular subgenre of horror,demonic possession and exorcism moviesare a curious blend of psychological and supernatural.Unless you are a die-hard horror fan, exorcism movies generally turn away viewing audiences because they are exactly what you’d expect: the plot — usually recycled and rarely revamped — features a main character falling victim to supernatural possession. And, unfortunately, their titles are rarely creative enough to engage the viewer teetering on deciding whether the genre is for them. However, there remains a class of filmmakers and stars producing exorcism features that can make a fan out of any viewer with an open mind about horror.
Fromfound footageto franchises and the one-offs in between, thebest exorcism movies blend the standard, required elements with firm cinematic choicesthat elevate a baseline plot to a fulfilling movie-going experience. Earning praise from critics and horror audiences alike, these exorcism feats range from box-office successes to Oscar-winning icons.
13’Annabelle Comes Home' (2019)
Directed by Gary Dauberman
An interesting spin-off fromThe Conjuringmovies,Annabelle Comes Homeoffloaded the burden of nullifying the evil spirits to the Warrens’ (Patrick WilsonandVera Farmiga) 10-year-old daughter, Judy (McKenna Grace). Annabelle is safely locked away in the Warrens’ artifacts room, but abumbling friend of Judy’s accidentally sets the doll free, unleashing a wave of terror on Judy, her friends, and her babysitter for the course of one hellish night.
Annabelle Comes Homeshits all the right notesto be a taut, effective horror that offers horror fun more so than it does nightmarish scares. One of the ghosts known as the Bride possesses Daniela (Katie Sarife), leading to abrief though effective exorcism scene where Judy uses a recording of her father conducting an exorcism on the Bride to expel the ghost from Daniela’s body.
Annabelle Comes Home
12’The Pope’s Exorcist' (2023)
Directed by Julius Avery
The Pope’s Exorcistis on track to be a genre favorite, and isbased on the memoirs of thereal-life former chief Vatican exorcist, Father Gabriele Amorth, who claimed to have performed over 50,000 exorcisms and founded the International Association of Exorcists. In the film, Father Amorth (Russell Crowe) investigates the possession of a young boy and begins to uncover conspiracies the Vatican attempted to keep secret for centuries.
The drawing factor here is the star power of its Academy Award-winning lead. Drawing a divided crowd from Rotten Tomatoes as this genre usually does,The Pope’s Exorcistsurpassed the expectationsof its seasoned viewing audiences, withRussell Crowe’s effortless transition to horrorsealing the deal.
The Pope’s Exorcist
11’The Old Ways' (2020)
Directed by Christopher Alender
While it didn’t re-invent the genre, 2020’sThe Old Waysdid manage to use possession horror tropes to tell a creepy story of witchcraft and demons. With hopes of researching a story of witchcraft, American-Mexican reporter Cristina (Brigitte Kali Canales) travels to her ancestral home near Veracruz, where she is abducted by a group loyal to alocal witch who believes she is possessed by the devil.
The Old Wayshits the ground running, starting with the exorcism of Cristina’s mother and featuring anotherattempted exorcism on Cristina by the brujaearly. Interestingly, while the film was a hit with critics and has a 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes,fans weren’t so impressedwith it.
The Old Ways
Watch on Netflix
10’The Rite' (2011)
Directed by Mikael Håfström
No stranger to the horror genre,Anthony Hopkinspresented viewers with another excellent performance inThe Rite. The movie features Hopkins as Father Lucas Trevant, an experienced exorcist who takes on a skeptical seminary school apprentice, Michael Kovak (Colin O’Donoghue). Michael’s beliefs in psychiatry over exorcisms are soon turned upside down when he’s confronted with a terrifying force.
The Ritedraws from source material surrounding the experiences of real-life Father Gary Thomas, a California priest who studied exorcism at the Vatican. While Rotten Tomatoes Critics and audiences gave it a middle-of-the-road rating, the belovedRoger EbertgaveThe Ritea solid 3/4 starsfor delivering on its promise of horror with enriching cinematography and solid performances.
Rent on Apple TV
9’The Exorcism of Emily Rose' (2005)
Directed by Scott Derrickson
Headlined with Hollywood star power,The Exorcism of Emily Roseis an excellent blend of courtroom drama and demonic possession story.Laura Linneystars as defense attorney Erin Bruner, who is tasked with convincing a jury that Father Moore (Tom Wilkinson) is not guilty of homicide after the woman he performed a church-sanctioned exorcism on died. The prosecution claims that Emily (Jennifer Carpenter) was a person with schizophrenia andnot demonically possessed.
Co-writer and directorScott Derricksonopted to pull back on the gore factor with this exorcism installment, a typical standard within the genre’s formula.Based on a disturbing true story,The Exorcism of Emily Roseisn’t over-the-top but calculated in presenting logic versus religion with its high-profile leads.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose
8’The Medium' (2021)
Directed by Banjong Pisanthanakun
An Asian horror movie,The Mediumpays homage to the likes ofseveral iconic found footage featuresthat came before it. In a co-production between South Korean and Thai filmmakers, the possession feature centers around a family in a village in Thailand where, within each generation, one person inherits the powers of a spirit they perceive to be a Goddess. When a young girl seems to inherit something more sinister, thefamily attempts to rid her body of the negative entity.
Teetering between mockumentary and found footage,The Mediumholds its fair share of shock factorthroughout its over two-hour runtime. Underrated within the horror and exorcism genre, this feature is a creative take on an otherwise predictable genre.
The Medium
Watch on Shudder
7’The Blackcoat’s Daughter' (2017)
Directed by Oz Perkins
The Blackcoat’s Daughterbecame something of a critical darling upon release, with the film sporting a 75% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The eerie psychological horror movie follows a disturbed young woman with a worrying past as she ventures to an isolated prep school wheretwo girls must battle a mysterious evil as they are left behind for the long weekend break.
The film waslauded for its atmospheric tensionand the performances of its cast, which includesEmma Roberts,Kiernan Shipka, andLucy Boynton.The Blackcoat’s Daughteralso provides a spin when it comes to its exorcism scene, withthe victim begging the demon not to leave her after it is exorcised.
The Blackcoat’s Daughter
Watch on Max
6’The Last Exorcism' (2010)
Directed by Daniel Stamm
The found footage style feature,The Last Exorcism, is definitely a must when it comes to the exorcism genre. After years of deception, a troubled evangelic minister, Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian) invites a film crew to document what he contends will be his last exorcism. Upon meeting Nell (Ashley Bell), a farmer’s daughter he believes to be possessed, Cotton performs his usual stunts to no avail before quickly realizingthe dark spirit possessing Nell requires him to summon real faith to save her.
This Is Why Horror Movie Exorcisms Are So Scary
Could you be eligible for an exorcism?
For audiences that can ignore the breakdown in editing (switching from single-camera documentary to multi-camera) toward the film’s conclusion,The Last Exorcismexceeds expectations with multiple well-timed thrills and scares.Its plot inspired a slew of sequel “parts” that many audiences of the time recognized from the dollar section of their local video rental store.
The Last Exorcism
5’The Exorcist III' (1990)
Regarded by horror fans as a welcome installment after the rather unmentionable sequel,The Exorcist IIIconcludes the original franchisecreated by the novelist and screenwriterWilliam Peter Blatty. The iconicGeorge C. Scott stars as Police Lieutenant Kinderman, who begins to connect the dots between a current murder investigation and the patterns of a serial killer executed over a decade prior.
His investigation leads him to a hospitalized psychiatric patient convinced he’s the executed killer while displaying similarities to a priest Kinderman knows died in an exorcism. It’snowhere near as excellent as the first film, but it’s a pivot from the second film.The Exorcist IIIappeals to the genre audience that sees the good in the bad and appreciates the legacy the movie stems from.
The Exorcist III
4’The Conjuring 2' (2016)
Directed by James Wan
Certified fresh by Rotten Tomatoes critics, thissequel overcame the sophomore slumpthat plagues many horror franchises. Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) return to the big screen, this time in London, to aid a single mother and four children tormented by a supernatural spirit that begins to possess one of the daughters.
The Conjuring 2uses the dreary London weather to emphasize the chilling nature of the family’s hauntingand Lorraine’s internal struggle against the malicious demon threatening her family. There’s a classic horror feel to this exorcism film, proving once again that horror can be cinematic. This is just another epic installment in horror masterJames Wan’s filmography.
