10 Exorcism Horror Movies That Will Scare You Back To Church

The Nun II is possibly even scarier and gorier than the first film. The Nun ( Bonnie Aarons) is a tremendous and terrifying presence throughout the film. Bonnie Aarons is the scariest Nun in history. You might not see her in the flesh, but the film effectively implies that she could be anywhere. Michael Chaves directed the film and stars Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet, and Storm Reid. One of the characters is possessed throughout the movie, and while there isn't an exorcism per se, the fight against the Nun is a fight for this person's soul. Read more: The Best New Horror Movies We Can't Wait To Watch This Fall.

Not all possession movies are about traditional religion. The belief in spirits that can possess a human being is part of more than one belief system. The Empty Man is one of those films. From its shocking opening sequence to its surprising and hopeless finale, this film has different ideas that you are used to from movies about possession. It concerns a cult and power in the universe that doesn't have a name. There is no way to exorcise this power, and that's what is so frightful about it.

David Lynch's opus, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, is the magnificent and surreal answer to the series that was rushed to a conclusion on network television. Without the pressure of executives who think that they know art better than Lynch does, he could tell the story the way he wanted to. In the film, beautiful and popular high school student Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) is the envy of everyone, but no one knows that she is being stalked by a killer and tormented by a loved one possessed by an evil and hungry spirit. It's a possession film that stands outside of religion entirely and a meditation on the nature of evil itself.

Don't Kill It is not like most exorcism movies in another way. The demon jumps from person to person after being released into the world. The rule is that it can only jump to the next host when the person dies. If you kill the demon, you can become the demon's next host, and you will kill everyone around you. Dolph Lundgren plays the demon hunter, Jebidiah Woodley, and Kristina Klebe plays the local FBI agent, Evelyn Pierce, investigating the case. Only Woodley knows how to rid the earth of the demon properly. Is it an exorcism? Technically, he is freeing the human host of a demon in whatever way he can. Mike Mendez's newest work will be seen in the upcoming release of Satanic Hispanics.

Indonesian director and writer Timo Tjahjanto's sequel to his film May The Devil Take You is a possession film that is chock full of people being possessed by the god Moloch. Are there exorcisms? Not really, but the character was brought into the story by a group of orphans who killed the man, Ayub (Tri Hariono), who ran the orphanage where they grew up and kidnapped Alfie (Chelsea Islan). Because Alfie defeated a demonic presence earlier in her life, the group demands that she use the Black Bible to defeat Ayub and Moloch and free them from Moloch's power. Read more: Chris Carter And Frank Spotnitz On 30 Years Of The X-Files.

Writer and director Brad Anderson, soon to be directing the final film in George Romero's Living Dead franchise Twilight of the Dead, made Session 9 in 2001. It wasn't a big hit then, but it has become a classic in the genre over the years. It is a possession film because the killer was possessed by a spirit, who, in a tape found at Danvers State Mental Asylum, says it lives "in the weak and the wounded." He has no idea what he has done and how many people he has killed, which is one of the most chilling parts of the story. The film has many memorable moments, including a quip by David Caruso's character and the scene in which a man who is terrified of the dark is pursued by darkness down a long hallway. Read more: Brad Anderson To Direct George A. Romero's Twilight of the Dead.

The Pope's Exorcist is about as religious as a film about exorcisms and possession that exists. The film was directed by Julius Avery and stars Russell Crowe as Father Amorth, the official exorcist of the Pope and the Vatican. He admits that possession cases usually have more to do with psychological issues than demons, but he still tries to help whoever he can, even if demons aren't involved. He finds one of the rare cases that does need his help in Spain, where a young boy has been possessed in an old abbey. Thanks to Russell Crowe and Daniel Zovatto's (Father Esquibel) performances, the film is charming and scary.

Alucarda is a Mexican film directed by Juan López Moctezuma that stars Tina Romero, Claudio Brook, and Susana Kamini. It is loosely based on Sheridan Le Fanu's Gothic novella Carmilla, about an orphan, Alucarda, who lives in a convent and becomes obsessed with a newly arrived orphan girl named Justine. The two girls fall in love and are unwittingly possessed after opening Alucarda's mother's grave. The strange behavior that the girls exhibit includes pledging themselves to Satan and other blasphemies, so Justine is subjected to a cruel exorcism that kills her. So this is a very Catholic exorcism movie with possession and Satanic rituals.

Ah, the 80s, so many demons who like to party, so little time. Kevin S. Tenney's film starring Cathy Podewell, Amelia Kinkade, and Linnea Quigley has a sequence that horror fans love, where Angela Franklin (Amelia Kinkade) dances sensually to Bauhaus as the demonic presence is taking her over. Angela invited her friends to Hull House for a raging party, not knowing that the rumors about the place were true. As the demons take over each party guest, no exorcist is in sight.

Shock stars Daria Nicolodi, in a completely unhinged performance, as a mother who might be losing her mind for the second time or might have a son possessed by her violent and dead husband. Spoiler alert: It's both. It was maestro Mario Bava's last film before his death and is a bit different from his beautiful Giallo and other supernatural films. It's set in the modern day, at the time, and is much more gritty and realistic. It has one of the most incredible optical illusions jump scares ever put to film.