Ask anyone what the scariest movies of all time are. Regardless of if they truly believe this or not, most people will name 1973’s The Exorcist in their lineup. And they wouldn’t be wrong. Not since Psycho have so many people been adversely affected by viewing this film. Stories of faintings and curses follow this movie to this day, and the demonic, possessed face of Regan is plastered into everyone’s mind from old-timer to kindergartener. The thing is though, I find this movie scary because people tell me it’s scary — not because I think it actually is. In other words, I can see why people find it so frightening. But I have a feeling that if this same movie were made today, it would be lost amongst the dozens of other possession movies with OK ratings. It would receive nowhere near the amount of praise as a 70s audience would give it.
Or would it? The Conjuring series seems to have revived the exorcism genre ten-fold. With an episodic set-up of the infamous Warren couple and multiple spin-offs, these demon hunters have a history that runs deeper than the witch cult in Paranormal Activity. With the major success of the series, that brings me back to the question of whether religious movies will make it in the long run. Some would argue that yes, religion will always be there, so it’s sensible to think we’d continue making movies about such a traumatic life-or-death situation. In fact, The Exorcist itself is getting another sequel this year. The Conjuring universe is expanding with another two movies in the works. The Pope’s Exorcist (releasing 2023) is already gaining traction with every trailer release.
And then there are the non-Christian “exorcism” films, many of which stem from Asia. Incantation (Taiwan, 2022), The Medium (Thailand/South Korea, 2021), and Nocebo (Philippines/Ireland, 2022) have made huge waves in the religious horror world. While they all deal to some level with evil spirits and a magical way to get rid of them, they are noticeably non-white and non-Christian. Exorcism movies will probably never go away, but they will certainly get more ethnic.
I’m no religion expert, but there are multiple reports of a dwindling Abrahamic (Christianity, Jusaism, and Islam) religious population and a slowly-growing population of other belief systems like Paganism, Satanic Atheism, Wicca, and more. It seems there is a “return to the Earth” with many followers either choosing a more science-based belief system or something that connects them more to their environment and local culture. That’s where the non-Christian exorcism movies come in.
Incantation, The Medium, and Nocebo all deal with spirits and demons in the same way that a movie like The Omen would: an evil entity is causing harm to someone, and another person is using a set of rituals to heal them. Where the difference lies is in the type of rituals presented, the intentions, and the end results. In the West, we are all generally aware of what needs to happen in an exorcism in order to be “cured” — basically, accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. But in the East, it’s not that at all, obviously because Christianity is not the majority belief system. There are a set of gods/goddesses that may be asked for help. There are special foods and drinks that need to be consumed. There are spells and incantations involved. And in the end it may not even work, or it requires a lifelong, unrelenting devotion to the ritual to keep evil at bay. To people in the West, it’s a door-opener to another world — literally.
As the movie world across countries gets ever more connected, people are exposed to differences in customs for everyday things. We want more of what we like. So while a priest asking for a demon’s name is familiar to us, a Shinto purification ritual like in Sadako vs. Kayako is fresh and exciting. Exorcism movies do make bank on occasion, especially those based on true stories. But the less people believe, the less interested they are in it. The days of Pazuzu and the 6 demons in Emily Rose aren’t quite dead, but they are dying.
What do you think of exorcism movies? Let us know in the comments!
