The Ritual (2025)
Demonic Possession/“True Story”
A film based on what is said to be the most well-documented exorcism in US history. Al Pacino plays the exorcist
Catholicism
Catholicism refers to the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church. The church has a long history and is the largest Christian denomination in the world. Catholicism is widespread in Latin American countries, Ireland and Italy, among many others.
Catholicism has a number of essential doctrines that differentiate it from mainstream Christianity. These include a male priesthood who must remain celibate their entire lives, while women become nuns; the belief that the Pope is the appointed head of the church and God’s voice on Earth and that his teachings are infallible; the belief that the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, has a consecrated position. There is also the belief in those who lead sanctified lives can be appointed saints and have special power.
Beliefs also entail the confession of one’s sins to a priest and small penance that one must do to receive forgiveness. Controversial has been stances against divorce, contraception and homosexuality. There are many other aspects, particularly now defunct doctrines such as Latin liturgy, relics and the notion of Purgatory (a holding place between Heaven and Hell where one’s prayers and devotions can aid the dead progress on to Heaven).
In genre portrayals, Catholic priests have been seen as the frontline defenders against demonic possession in the Possession Film ever since The Exorcist (1973). The Church is also seen as funding vampire and other Monster Hunters. They are also seen as aiding in/fighting against the coming of Biblical End Times. The Vatican Library is seen as having objects of great rarity and occult value.
There have been a number of works that are critical of the church’s beliefs and practices, ranging from Witch Persecutions and The Inquisition to modern real-life accounts of paedophile priests. Some other works promote Conspiracy Theories about the church. There have also been films that feature psychopathic priests or nuns or are thrillers set around the confessional.
Immaculate (2024)
Immaculate Conception Horror
A horror film where Sydney Sweeney stars as a virginal nun who appears to be experiencing an immaculate conception. This is only a slightly better version of The Nun
The First Omen (2024)
Prequel to The Omen
Did the world ask for a prequel to the events of The Omen, explaining how Damien was born etc? It’s not an issue that has given me sleepless night, but it is a question the film sets out to answer anyway
Sister Death (2023)
Sinister Convent
Paco Plaza, co-director of the [Rec] films, shows James Wan how to do a nun horror film properly. This is a prequel to Plaza’s earlier Veronica, telling an origin story for Sister Death
The Pope’s Exorcist (2023)
True-Life Exorcist
A film based on the true-life figure of the Vatican’s official exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth this could have been great but descends into tedious hokum
The Nun II (2023)
Possessed Nun
More from James Wan’s The Conjuring Universe, this places more focus on mood and atmosphere than The Nun’s ludicrous jump effects
Resurrected (2023)
Resurrection Process
This has a fascinating premise where the Catholic Church develops a resurrection process, before one priest starts to see a darker conspiracy beneath. Shot in the Screenlife process where the film screen becomes a computer screen
The Exorcism (2024)
Possession Film on the Set of a Remake of The Exorcist
Joshua John Miller, the son of The Exorcist’s star Jason Miller, makes a film where an actor cast as the priest in a remake of The Exorcist becomes possessed. A witty and clever blend of meta reference and autobiography
The Exorcist: Believer (2023)
Demonic Possession
In much the same way as they did with Halloween, Blumhouse and director David Gordon Green offer up a sequel to The Exorcist on the original’s fiftieth anniversary. The results are a bizarre scratch of the head
Prey for the Devil (2022)
Possession and Exorcism
Daniel Stamm, the director who made the standout
Consecration (2023)
Deviltry Afoot at a Convent
Christopher Smith was a highly promising director several years ago with Creep, Triangle and Black Death. Here he returns with a film about sinister happenings in a convent
The Devil Conspiracy (2022)
Theft of the Shroud of Turin/Clone Body for The Devil
This has an insane plot about Satanists stealing the Shroud of Turin to clone a body to incarnate The Devil and a priest possessed by the archangel Michael wading into action with a glowing sword
Hellhole (2022)
Sinister Secrets of a Monastery
This Polish film starts out seeming like a possession film set in a monastery but rather pleasingly keeps turning all the expectations on their head with increasingly wilder effect
The Communion Girl (2022)
Cursed Doll
Spanish-made film that feels like a mash-up of Annabelle and The Nun about the communion doll belonging to a girl who went missing that appears and curse everyone it touches
Midnight Mass (2021)
Vampires and Religion
Mike Flanagan returns with his best work to date. Effectively a Catholic version of Salem’s Lot, this comes with some flat out great pieces of writing
Demonic (2021)
Demonic Possession in Virtual Reality
Neill Blomkamp, the director of District 9, returns with a possession film that uniquely takes places in Virtual Reality as Carly Pope must use a device that enters her comatose mother’s dreamspace
Nr. 10 (2021)
Surrealist Black Comedy
Alex van Warmerdam makes a very strange black comedy, so deadpan you are not sure if you are meant to be laughing or not
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
Possession/“True Story”
The third of the Conjuring films, this lacks the presence of James Wan in the director’s seat while peddling an even more highly dubious Based on a True story claim regarding a demonic possession
The Exorcism of God (2021)
Possession and Exorcism Film
A possession and exorcism film from Mexico, this draws on the same tired and overly worn clichés that have been around since The Exorcist but offers some interesting twists
The Unholy (2021)
Sinisterly Ambiguous Miracleworker
Adaptation of a James Herbert book about a deafmute girl who suddenly speaks and performs miracles, which may have a sinister cause
Amulet (2020)
House of Mysterious Happenings
An interesting slow burn film about an ex-soldier who accepts a job as a handyman with a woman and her ailing mother that soon heads off in some very strange directions
Darlin’ (2019)
Feral Girl/The Woman Sequel
The Woman was one of the least likely films to ever warrant a sequel. But this is what we get here and directed/written by no less than Pollyanna McIntosh who played The Woman in the original
The Dawn (2019)
Catholic Horrors/Haunting and Possession
A passable variant on the usual haunting and possession cliches overloaded with Catholic imagery before becoming a surprise unofficial prequel to a classic horror series
Curse of the Nun (2019)
Ghostly Nun
A low-budget mockbuster that joins the horde of ghost nun films that were made following the success of The Nun. From the director of Clowntergeist.
The Nun (2018)
Possessed Nun
Another spinoff from The Conjuring films. James Wan is one of the finest horror directors of the 2010s but has had difficulty imparting his skills to the directors of the films he has produced. This feels like a fairground haunted house show of tedious and repetitive pop-up shocks that runs free of any connection to a plot
St Agatha (2018)
Imprisoned in a Catholic Convent
Saw series director Darren Lynn Bousman makes a film set at a convent for unwed mothers in the 1950s. Is there any chance this might be a work about institutional cruelty or the plight of unwed mothers in the era? Hardly, all it really is is Bousman inflicting a series of tortures on the girls
The Devil’s Doorway (2018)
Deviltry at a Catholic Orphanage
Irish made Found Footage film where the investigation into a seeming miracle at a Catholic orphanage uncovers a case of possession and assorted deviltry taking place
Nightmare Cinema (2018)
Horror Anthology
A above average entry in the recent trend of horror anthologies featuring episodes from different directors, including Joe Dante and Mick Garris, featuring at least a couple of standout entries
Demons (2017)
Possession Film
Miles Doleac is better known as an actor but also has a number of credits as a director. Here he both directs and stars as a former priest haunted by an exorcism gone wrong
The Crucifixion (2017)
Exorcism Film/"True Story"
Xavier Gens film from the screenwriters of The Conjuring films based on a supposedly true-life exorcism. One was hoping that Gens would do amazing things with the exorcism genre but he only rehashes the same cliches
The Exorcism of Anna Ecklund (2016)
Possession and Exorcism/"True Story"
Low-budget possession and exorcism supposedly based on a true story that cycles through most of the tropes of the genre. An earlier version of the same “true-life” possession depicted in The Ritual
Backmask (2015)
Abandoned Asylum/Possession
Marcus Nispel is a director most associated with remakes of other films. In original material here, he is still rehashing moves from other films – an abandoned asylum and every shock effect in the possession/exorcism playbook
Holy Hell (2015)
Vigilante Catholic Priest/Gonzo Ultra-Violence
An outrageously demented low-budget film guaranteed to offend nearly everybody. This takes inspiration from Hobo With a Shotgun with a Catholic priest wielding a gun seeking revenge
The Vatican Tapes (2015)
Possession and Exorcism
The exorcism film has made a big comeback in the 00s. From one of the co-directors of the Crank films, this only offers up the same mix of cliches as usual – indeed, often seems like a series of random jump scares without any rationale as to why they would be happening
The Last Witch Hunter (2015)
Immortal Witch Hunter
This seemed to promise something of tv’s late lamented Constantine or the first Warlock. Instead what we end up with has been turned into a ponderous effects vehicle for Vin Diesel
The Priests (2015)
South Korean Possession and Exorcism Film
The possession and exorcism film has become a heavily exhausted one, having cycled through the same limited bag of tricks for the last 40 years. This South Korean take still mines the same territory but adds some nifty new tricks to build to a riveting climax
Bullets, Fangs and Dinner at 8 (2015)
Vampire Film
A low-budget independent vampire film set around a group of vampire hunters trying to bring down the master vampire – the local Catholic priest
The Calling (2014)
Serial Killer Thriller
Modest serial killer thriller – imagine one of the numerous Silence of the Lambs copies crossbred with Fargo. The film’s quiet pace soon segues into an absorbing thriller plot, while Christopher Heyerdahl gives a fine performance as the killer
The Borderlands (2013)
Found Footage/Haunted Church
The Found Footage horror film quickly became worn out. However, this effort about the investigation into a haunted church in the English countryside manages to generate some quite reasonable atmosphere
Hell Baby (2013)
Possession/Diabolic Pregnancy Comedy
From the creators of Reno 911, a comedy spoofing possession, exorcism and diabolical pregnancy cliches. This assembles material that feels as though it should have been funnier than it is
The Devil Inside (2012)
Found Footage Exorcism Film
Another Found Footage variant on an exorcism film. This was a big box-office hit but only ends up repeating the tired cliches of the exorcism and possession genre
Labyrinth (2012)
Cross-Historical Search for the Holy Grail
Christopher Smith is an underrated genre director but his first venture into tv is disappointing cross-historical quest for the Holy Grail story that reads like warmed over Da Vinci Code
Season of the Witch (2011)
Mediaeval Action Fantasy/Escorting a Witch
Medieavel fantasy action film with Nicolas Cage and Ron Perlman assigned to escort a witch who may be able to deliver the land from the Black Plague. The wider moral issues of the film are buried under action and CGI
Séance: The Summoning (2011)
Possession and Exorcism
Fairly by-the-books possession and exorcism film that does have the novelty of playing out in a morgue and where the entire cast has been pared down to four. There also seems an earnest strain of belief in Christianity/Catholicism that runs throughout
The Monk (2011)
Monk's Temptation by the Devil
The Monk is a sordid classic of 18th Century Gothic literature, filled with crazed lusts and Catholic guilt and damnation. However, in the hands of French director Dominik Moll, all the tortured sexuality has been watered down and the story stuffed as a costume drama
Priest (2011)
Future World of Vampires
This spends much effort creating an imaginative future where priests battle vampires who are banished to reservations only to do nothing with it other than reach for the tropes of the Western
The Rite (2011)
Demonic Possession and Exorcism/"True Story"
Full-blooded possession and exorcism that takes its Catholic cant seriously and emerges as dramatically gripping, with Anthony Hopkins delivering a tour-de-force performance. Supposedly based on a true story.
Nude Nuns with Big Guns (2010)
Nunsploitation Homage
Film in the faux grindhouse style created by Tarantino and Rodriguez made as homage to the so-called nunsploitation genre. While operating on a low-budget, this has a great pulp energy that delivers in aces on all three title promises
Of Love and Other Demons (2010)
Possible Demonic Possession/Magical Realism
Lush Magical Realist adaptation of a Gabriel Garcia Marquez book about demonic possession that takes the view that it is no more than Church superstition
Thirst (2009)
Korean Vampire Film
Park Chan-wook film in which he rewrites the French literary classic Therese Raquin with the addition of a vampire priest with most effective results
[Rec] 2 (2009)
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Zombie Film/Found Footage
Lesser sequel to the Spanish Found Footage zombie film [Rec] that repeats the original to variable effect but needlessly breaks up the single camera point-of-view
Angels & Demons (2009)
The Da Vinci Code Sequel
Ron Howard and Tom Hanks follow up their adaptation of The Da Vinci Code by turning to an earlier Dan Brown novel concerning conspiratorial goings-on in The Vatican but the show collapses amid absurdly contrived plotting
Lost City Raiders (2008)
Tomb Raiding Adventures in a Drowned Future
A conceptually peculiar mix of Indiana Jones and Waterworld about tomb raiding adventures in a drowned future and the quest for Moses’s staff to turn back the rising waters
Blackwater Valley Exorcism (2006)
Demonic Possession/"True Story"
In the aftermath of the huge success of The Exorcism of Emily Rose, this was another supposedly true account of an exorcism. Made on a low-budget, this fails to surmount the cliches of The Exorcist
Requiem (2006)
Possible Demonic Possession/True Story
This should be mandatory viewing after watching The Exorcism of Emily Rose. While that film rewrote the tragedy of Anneliese Michel as a film about possession, this German-made production sets things straight and tells a story about a girl with mental health issues
The Omen (2006)
The Biblical End of the World/The Anti-Christ
The classic 1976 Anti-Christ film is given the remake treatment. The production look slick but quickly disappears into forgettability
The Da Vinci Code (2006)
Secret History of Christianity/Historical Conspiracy
Ron Howard directed film version of Dan Brown’s best-selling book. This is historical nonsense woven into a fancifully absurd conspiracy theory where Howard does no more than offer an illustrated version of the book
Constantine (2005)
Occult Investigator/Comic Book Adaptation
Adaptation of DC’s Hellblazer comic-book that gets the Hollywood treatment where all of the character’s background and look has been thrown out and the part badly miscast with Keanu Reeves
The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
Demonic Possession/"True Story"
This became a big sensation with its claims to be on the true account of an exorcism even if director Scott Derrickson alters what actually happened to the point of complete fiction. The rest just rehashes cliches from The Exorcist
Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist (2005)
Demonic Possession
Paul Schrader’s original version of Exorcist: The Beginning that was junked by the producers. This is a far more subtle telling of the same story that eschews shock effect in favour of a moral struggle of the soul
Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)
Demonic Possession
Prequel to The Exorcist concerning the young Father Merrin. Production company Morgan Creek dumped Paul Schrader’s original version of the film and brought in the perpetually terrible Renny Harlin to make something scarier but Harlin’s pop-effects remain tepid
Van Helsing (2004)
Monster Hunter/Famous Monster Bash
Stephen Sommers conducts a big-budget rehash of a 1940s Universal monster bash. A film so overloaded with CGI bombast and general overkill it becomes utterly absurd.
Dracula II: Ascension (2003)
Dracula in the Modern Day
The first of two sequels to Dracula 2000. This is based around the idea of trying to scientifically examine a vampire’s body, sort of a vampire film by way of CSI
The Sin Eater (2003)
Catholic Horror Film
Catholic horror film with Heath Ledger miscast as a priest that was a flopped. This is a fascinating piece of theological horror that plays out with an unusually strong and original script
The Body (2001)
Archaeological Discovery of Christ's Body
Thriller in which Antonio Banderas is a Catholic priest dispatched to Jerusalem to deal with the apparent archaeological discovery of Jesus Christ’s body
Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001)
18th Century Beast Hunt
From regular genre director Christophe Gans, this is a head-scratching mix of French historical drama, monster movie and imported Wu Xia action moves
Possessed (2000)
The "True Story" That Inspired The Exorcist
Steven E. de Souza directs a film that supposedly tells the true story that inspired The Exorcist but in practice is just another excuse to trot out the possession and exorcism cliches
Bless the Child (2000)
Satanists Pursue Divine Child
Reasonable budgeted film that does no more than rehash Devil Child cliches from The Omen – or even more so the basic plot of Servants of Twilight. Chuck Russell throws in lots of CGI effects to little effect
The Convent (2000)
Splatter Comedy/Zombie Nuns
Early Mike Mendez film that quickly abandons being a standard venture into a haunted convent and launches into an entertainingly over-the-top splatter show filled with zombified nuns
Lost Souls (2000)
Demonic Possession
Steven Spielberg’s regular cinematographer Janusz Kaminski takes the director’s chair and conducts a modest and effective revival of the 1970s occult/Anti-Christ film
A Twist of Faith (1999)
Catholic Serial Killer Thriller
Dull serial killer thriller with Andrew McCarthy tracking a killer that has a Catholic fixation
Desecration (1999)
Catholic Nightmare
This is a surreal and plotless Catholic horror film from Dante Tomaselli that seems full of fairground horror house jumps and overloaded with tortured Catholic imagery but makes no real sense
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999)
Historical Epic
Luc Besson takes on the Joan of Arc story with then wife Milla Jovovich in the title role but in Besson’s hands it becomes a crazed historical action film that unquestioningly accepts Joan’s visions as real
The Divine Ryans (1999)
Family Saga/Father's Ghost/Surreal Dreams
Canadian family saga told through the eyes of a young boy growing up amid a strange extended Newfoundland family. Featuring a number of fantastical elements.
The Third Miracle (1999)
Catholic Sainthood and Miracles
Agnieszka Holland film with Ed Harris as a Catholic priest who has lost his faith who is asked defend the authenticity of a supposed miracle
Dogma (1999)
Angel War/Catholic Irreverence
Kevin Smith makes a film about Catholicism. Smith’s irreverent humour caused considerable controversy when the film came out, although this is also an interesting and thoughtful work that does make a number of thoughtful theological points
End of Days (1999)
The Devil Returns to Earth at The Millennium/Action Film
Arnold Schwarzenegger takes on The Devil on the eve of the millennium. This is essentially The Omen and one of its ilk having been reworked as a mindless big-budget action and effects movie
Stigmata (1999)
Possession/Catholic Conspiracy
This seems caught between offering an earnest theological debate about Catholicism and being a standard possession film. The results are not entirely uninteresting
The Minion (1998)
Body-Hopping Demon
Low-budget action film with Dolph Lundgren as a modern-day Knights Templar tasked with preventing The Devil returning to Earth at the millennium
Extraordinary Visitor (1998)
Divine Visitor Comedy
Quirkily appealing Canadian fish out of water comedy where John the Baptist is sent to present-day Newfoundland just before the turn of the millennium to prevent the End of the World
Vampires (1998)
Vampire Hunter
John Carpenter revitalises the vampire film with a sharp action edge as James Woods heads a team of vampire hunters. Woods gives a ferociously determined performance way above and beyond the call of duty
Ultraviolet (1998)
Vampire Hunters
A British mini-series that offers an ingenious modernised reconeptualisation of the vampire genre, depicting the activities of a secret agency of vampire hunters
The Butcher Boy (1997)
Disturbed Irish Childhood
Neil Jordan makes a film about an abusive childhood that actually ends up asking us to cheer on the central character’s emergence as a murderer. Maybe the most cheerfully entertaining film ever made about child abuse.
The Addiction (1995)
Nihilist Vampire Film
Abel Ferrara takes on the vampire film and delivers a work loaded with weighty, nihilistic philosophical meditations and creates startling reinventions of vampire imagery
Night of the Demons 2 (1994)
Campy Supernatural Retribution
Sequel to a film that few people remember, this is all campy one-liners and gory set-pieces conducted with a silliness that boggles the mind
Household Saints (1993)
Catholicism and Miracles
Warm and appealing film filled with great performances that takes place across two generations of an Italian-American family. An obsession with Catholic miracles takes over in the second half, although the film remains ambiguous to their actuality
Dark Waters (1993)
Sinister Convent
A film about a woman’s journey to a convent of sinister secrets that is aswim in religious imagery, although the film itself eventually proves to be all imagery with no coherent plot
Dark at Noon (1992)
Village of Miracles/Surrealism
Incomprehensible surrealism from director Raul Ruiz about a doctor sent to investigate a village where miracles occur with commonplace regularity
The Pit and the Pendulum (1991)
Edgar Allan Poe Adaptation/Inquisition Horrors
Stuart Gordon’s adaptation of the Edgar Allan Poe story gets full marks for being set during the Spanish Inquisition. On the other hand, Gordon’s unserious splatter heavy approach and a campy performance from Lance Henriksen deflates the material
Hudson Hawk (1991)
Gonzo Caper Comedy
Madcap slapstick caper comedy with Bruce Willis as a cat burglar. This was a massive box-office flop at the time but remains a lunatically out-of-control mess that is frequently hilarious
Cold Heaven (1991)
Mysterious Resurrection
Nicolas Roeg was one of the great directors of the 1970s, making works like Performance and Don’t Look Now. This was one of Roeg’s last films where Mark Harmon is killed in an accident but makes a miraculous resurrection
The Monk (1990)
Monk's Temptation by the Devil
An adaptation of a classic 18th Century Gothic novel about a priest who faces diabolic temptations in the form of a woman disguised as a novice monk amid much tortured guilt and damnation
The Kiss (1988)
Sinister Aunt
Hilariously nonsensical horror film with Joanna Pacula as a sinister aunt. The plot throws in laughable novelty effects, including a killer cat, absurdly overwrought symbolism and some voodoo rationale
Catacombs (1988)
Evil Stirs Beneath a Monastery
An almost quite good film from Charles and Albert Band’s Empire Productions about imprisoned evil stirring beneath a monastery. The build-up is well done and the film only falters at a weak ending
Freeway (1988)
Freeway Serial Killer
Thriller where widow Darlanne Fluegel and radio talkback host Richard Belzer team up to hunt a serial killer shooting people on the L.A. freeways
Prince of Darkness (1987)
The Devil and Quantum Physics
One of the less successful, nevertheless underrated John Carpenter films where he pays tribute to Nigel Kneale in a conceptually mind-boggling mix of deviltry and quantum physics
The Rosary Murders (1987)
Catholic Serial Killings
Extremely good thriller from an Elmore Leonard script with Donald Sutherland as a Catholic priest who tries to stop a serial killer without violating the sanctity of the confessional
Psycho III (1986)
Psycho Sequel
Well worthwhile Psycho sequel directed by Anthony Perkins himself who makes an assured, even at times dazzling debut. The film has a playfulness and outrageousness that quite takes you aback
Hail Mary (1984)
Modern Day Immaculate Conception
A controversy-laden Jean-Luc Godard film that offers an irreverent modern-day retelling of the Immaculate Conception. An amusing idea that vanishes under Godard’s pretensions
Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)
Christmas Slasher Film/Psycho Santa
Not the first but the most famous of the psycho Santa films. At the time, it was just another slasher film exploiting a holiday title. However, this does the slasher movie formula rather well while digging into Christmas sentiment with a bite that takes you aback