Possessed - Diving into the Sub-Genre of Possession Films and a Heavy Metal Playlist!
A fantastically unique quality about the horror genre is that it has a little bit of something for everyone in each of the myriad sub-genres. Ghosts and haunted houses not really your thing? Well then there is Body Horror and Cosmic Horror to accommodate you. Looking for something with a little more substance, a film as opposed to a movie? Slow burn horror and the more artsy modern horror will have the character development and story-line you’re looking for.
In each of the numerous sub-genres there is further division and deeper niches to dive into. It reminds me of the heavy metal world in a way. Sure, you may like the sub-genre of Death Metal but which branch of that sub-genre? Slam? Brutal? Blackened? Old School? Technical? Death n Roll? The possibilities are endless and it’s all up to your taste.
Today in this special article for Horror Bound we will be exploring the multiple branches of the Possession sub-genre. Get your watch-lists ready, I mention tons of movies.
The devil is very sexually seductive and for the most part he sticks to impregnating unsuspecting women as opposed to possessing them. The Omen, The Visitor and To the Devil a Daughter just to name a few, follow the tale of the devil courting young women in the hopes of passing along his in the hopes of taking over the world and destroying humanity. Very rarely in film does Satan do the actual possessing, but when the little red bastard does decide to inhabit a human body the stakes are always much higher. The 2010 film Devil is about such a case where Satan possesses an elderly woman who becomes trapped in an elevator with some unsuspecting humans, what follows is pure claustrophobic panic. As much as people talk about Pazuzu or The Legion, The Exorcist is most certainly about Satan himself making an appearance, or at least the prequel sequels make it seem that way. There have been tons of possession and exorcism films after its release and no demon or lesser imp has ever shown such a vulgar display of power as was shown in this classic.
Now satanic possession is not limited to the Christian world filled with holy water, crucifixes and the power of Christ compelling people, Satan is much more. The origins of the word Satan finds its root meaning as the enemy or the adversary and the Arabic word Sheitan, it’s no wonder the big red guy can be found in other parts of the world. First there’s the scene for scene recreation of The Exorcist from Turkey Seytan aka Turkish Exorcist. This one is a super low budget film, quality less than HD, but the idea is the same. Essentially it’s the exact same movie, with a Turkish actress that looks shockingly like Linda Blair, but with God copy-pasted with Allah. More recently there is the 2014 Egyptian found footage film Warda which follows a young girl possessed by Satan. Instead of crosses spinning and bibles bursting into flames the Quran is thrown out of the family home and the strength of Allah is used to coax the beast out.
The power of Satan certainly has no geographical or theological bounds but his appearances are limited. The demons and lesser imps on the other hand, they are a near constant presence in horror cinema.
Demons seem to do the bulk of the possession work in film. There are the eponymous demons in 1985’s Demons who resemble zombies more than they do your standard demons. The main foes of Ash Williams in the Evil Dead films show a more standard means of possession. The evil entity climbs into the mind of an unsuspecting person and commands them to kill! and most famously to get others to “JOIN US”...also big fans of swallowing souls, but I digress.
Now I’m not certain if filmmakers are trying some underlying symbolism, copying the formula of The Exorcist or just capitalizing on what works but it seems that the biggest target of demonic possession is young, innocent girls. The Possession of Hannah Grace, The Exorcism of Emily Rose (check out our deep dive on this film HERE), The Exorcism of Molly Hartley and many more films explore this concept in great depth but what about my bros? I’ve seen my fair share of horror movies and the only demon possessed dude I can think of is in Amityville 2: The Possession and that’s probably the reason we don’t see many more. Following on the success of Amityville and based on the real life stories of Ed and Lorraine Warren Amityville 2 follows a young man possessed who eventually succumbs to evil and kills his whole family in a rage. A great story and fantastic special effects make this film excel but it’s the extended and graphic use of incest that really make you say yikes! Maybe we let the ladies get possessed from now on, when the guys do it, it tends to get weird.
Now it’s not just the residents of Hell who have all the fun. Sometimes a possession is done by other kinds of spirits and for different reasons all together.
The entire series of The Conjuring and its associated universe is built upon the idea of ghosts and evil spirits doing the possession. Not so much demons and Satan. The same can be said for Insidious and that series of films. Numerous other films explore this idea from Paranormal Activity to Jennifer’s Body but I’m going to show some love to the Devon Sawa Classic, Idle Hands. What an amazing concept for a film! Lazy stoner gets his hand possessed by an evil spirit? Unique indeed! This one has no ulterior motive for the possession, no ideas to rule the world, have others join or destroy mankind, it’s simply chaos and sometimes horror movies just need to be good old fashioned chaos.
Now earlier in the article I mentioned different sub genres for different folks and if late 90’s stoner comedy horror isn’t your speed then I offer to you an alternative, and a different kind of possession altogether. The 1981 psychological horror film Possession has nothing to do with demons, imps, ghosts or Sumatran Rat-Monkeys but instead focuses on the possessive nature of humans in long term relationships. Starring the incomparable Sam Neill, Possession follows an international spy who hires a private investigator to keep an eye on his wife who starts acting weird after he asks for divorce. This one has a fair bit of insanity including mind bending cinematography, a reality warping story-line complete with doppelgängers and enough gore to get the film banned completely as part of the Video Nasty panic in 1984 (check that out HERE). A true masterpiece for the horror fan looking for something with a bit more substance.
The last kind of possession I’d like to cover is the non human type. Sometimes the best type of horror movies are those where an evil thing is going to kill you. Whether it’s dolls in Dolls, Puppet Master and Annabelle or cars in The Car, Christine and I bought a Vampire Motorcycle it just seems to up the scare factor when a seemingly innocuous object is now trying to kill you. Possessed technology is one of my favorite sub-genres here, especially when that technology is basically dead. For instance, The Ring, when this film was released VHS as a medium was basically dead as everyone moved on to DVD but the haunting effects of the movie still remained. Granted, the tape wasn’t trying to kill you but it was haunted nonetheless.
If you want a possessed object that kills you, look no further than the voodoo possessed Good Guy doll in the Child’s Play franchise (check out my deep dive HERE). This one is doubly unique as it’s not just an inanimate object possession but also a non demon possession as well. With a different type of possession the goals are different and with a different body of possession the creep factor can truly escalate into the stratosphere. All you need to see is the melted Chucky scene from the end of the original Child’s Play to confirm that.
There are also numerous objects that are possessed that can summon all sorts of demons, jinn, leprechaun, cenobites and ghosts but that’s a different article for a different time. For now, I hope this article serves as a launching point for you to explore the various branches of the possession horror sub-genre. From satanic possession like Belzebuth to demonic possession like The Rite. Even further to different types of possession like The Shining and different things being possessed like Oculus, truly something for everyone.
Digging the music attached to this article? Well you'll love this Spotify Playlist that has those songs plus a few others about possession that you might like. Check it out and give us some feedback on Twitter, we might make this a regular thing.
