Director David Gordon Green has dedicated much of his work over the last decade to reinventing horror franchises, including possession movies. What he brought to the big screen, a new trilogy of the classic saga Halloween, with Jamie Lee Curtis at the helm and an apparent end for Michael Myers. Despite criticism, the additions to the original mythology allowed the story to delve deeper into its universe and open the possibility of a renewed look at a known setting. In addition, of course, to giving the opportunity to the classic final girl Laurie Strode to finally defeat the brutal murderer who pursued her for almost four decades.
Now it’s the saga’s turn The Exorcistwhich returns to the big screen with the promise of paying tribute to a fundamental plot in horror cinema. With a story that is directly linked to the legendary work of William Friedkin, David Gordon Green’s feature film is more than just a sequel. Also, it is a story that connects both the original plot and his vision of his concept of evil. To achieve this, the film tells of a diabolical possession that the church will have to fight through faith and its symbols. However, unlike the multiple sequels to the 1973 hit, this time it is about two girls. At the same time, a presence that threatens to demonstrate that evil entities are more than just sobering fantasy.
Of course, the director’s efforts to modernize the Exorcist franchise come from a long list of films with the same goal. We leave you five recommendations that managed to rethink the premise from a unique angle and also, from a completely new dimension. From a story in which what exactly a possessed person feels is finally told to a real case. The selection is a journey through the evolution of one of the best-known topics of horror cinema.
Grace’s Possession
Written and directed by Jeff Chan, this film has the particularity of showing the point of view of someone who suffers possession. He achieves this through the resource of the subjective camera and the found footage, which gives him a very rare angle from which to tell his story.
The film follows Grace (Alexia Fast), a college student who experiences a series of disturbing events. All after suffering an apparent epileptic seizure. The character begins to show strange behavioral changes, as brutal as they are terrifying. Something that leads one to suspect that he is beginning to go crazy..
But, as the plot unfolds, it is revealed that Grace is under the influence of a demonic entity. Furthermore, the event has a dark and sinister background related to her and her family’s past. The film uses the camera as a privileged witness to Grace’s intimacy, which transforms the script into an immersive experience. Between religion and the protagonist’s internal conflict, The script analyzes the paranormal event through the possibility of his character’s madness.
Exorcism in the Vatican
But the trope of demonic possession cannot be separated from its religious roots. Something that this horror film, released in 2015, does not forget. Directed by Mark Neveldine, the plot tells how Angela Holmes(Olivia Taylor Dudley), begins to decline mentally after a car accident. But what seems like part of the trauma of a violent circumstance ends up being something more dangerous and terrifying.r.
The most unique thing about the argument is its ability to analyze how demonic possession is understood today, in light of Catholic doctrine. At the same time, from the point of view of science. Much more so, when a case provokes the direct intervention of the Vatican and its methods. Halfway between the questioning of rites and dogmas, in addition to the exploration of the supernatural event through technology, the film poses a dilemma. What separates madness from the conviction of being dominated by an invisible entity?
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Despite its weak and predictable third section, the film is a good example of the way in which exorcism can be interpreted and deepened, beyond the codes of horror cinema.
Corpse
In 2018, director Diederik Van Rooijen considered an unprecedented perspective on demonic possession. What happens to the body of someone who died during an exorcism? To answer the question, the plot follows Megan Reed (Shay Mitchell), part of the night shift at a hospital morgue. After receiving the disfigured corpse of a young woman named Hannah Graceterrifying events begin to occur.
As Megan investigates the death of Hannah, discovers that the young woman was the victim of an exorcism that went wrong. So an unknown entity may have taken over her body. Gradually, supernatural events intensify, so Megan is in a desperate fight for its own survival.
Despite its interesting premise, the film fails to delve into the most relevant points about its history. Still, the mere idea that a dead body is still capable of housing an unstoppable and evil force is chilling and effective. One of those movies about different possessions, which is ideal for Halloween.
Veronica
In 2017 the call Valleca Files, which tells of a real case of exorcism that occurred in Madrid, came to the big screen by Paco Plaza. Which resulted, as a result, in one of the scariest horror films in Iberian cinema in decades.
The argument focuses on Veronica (Sandra Escacena), an ordinary teenager who lives with her mother and three younger brothers. After playing Ouija At school, the character begins to be harassed by a series of violent events of a paranormal nature. Unlike other similar films, the director chooses to narrate what happened from the perspective of the victim’s psychological changes. In addition, it shows possession as a devastating event that manifests itself progressively, like an infection. Which makes it one of the most terrifying plots of the films about possessions, filmed in recent years.
The Possession of Emily Rose
As a version of a real event, director Scott Derrickson gives the film a strange sensitivity. Especially when recounting the events surrounding the death of Anneliese Michel, from a respectful and honest perspective. The young German woman died in the middle of an exorcism, which caused her parents, and the priest in charge of her, to be prosecuted.
In fiction, the plot focuses Emily Rose (Jennifer Carpenter), a young college student who begins to experience inexplicable physical phenomena. Her condition deteriorates rapidly until she is incapacitated. So her family, after resorting to science, decides to admit the father’s intervention. Richard Moore (Tom Wilkinson). He carries out an exorcism, in the middle of which the young woman dies. Which will cause the justice system to accuse everyone of violent medical and psychiatric practices.
The film explores both the scientific angle – which shows Emily as mentally ill – and religious opinion at the same time. The latter raises the possibility of demonic possession. In the end, the resolution of the argument does not agree with any of the parties – not completely – which gives the film a strange ambiguity about the subject. With its reflection on the nature of evil, it is one of the best of the genre.