Demonic Possesion in Hollywood. Devils everywhere.
Demonic possession and the movies
There was a rise in people going to confession in 1973. There was a heightened sense of the awareness of evil, particularly within the Catholic Church. My sense of evil at the time was not really there. I was about 4 years old at the time. The same film that brought about this awareness of evil did not really hit me until I was about 12 years old.
1973 was the year The Exorcist was released in theaters nationwide. Sure, there have been Devil-related tales told in the big screen for years, but there was something different about this film, something that brought it all home to those who dared to watch it. That concept of the unknown that brought fear to the human heart finally had a name on it. It revealed itself through the helplessness of small, innocent 12 year old Regan McNeil. This revelation was of an ancient origin. A demon by the name of Pazuzu, worshipped in real life in ancient Assyria and Babylon as far back as ancient Mesopotamia 4,000 B.C. He was according to legend a demon who was in control of the air and was supposedly responsible for the dry seasons and droughts. This was the demon who took hold of poor Regan and produced the horror we eventually see in the film. It terrorized audiences. People fainted and medical attention was required. People couldn’t sleep at night. It was by far a very disturbing movie.
What happened to me when I was 12? I was spending the weekend at my grandmothers house, as I usually did growing up. My cousin Denise and my sister Marilyn were there as well. I wanted to see Them, that 1950’s film about giant ants. Yet I was interested in seeing The Exorcist, which was being put on the air for the first time on television. I at this time was developing a curiosity about the Devil and demons and spiritual things, which I believe eventually let to a strong Christian conversion later on, but for that night I got it…and I got it bad.
As soon as Regan’s eyes rolled to the back of her head and she started screaming out, I immediately changed the channel to watch Them. But it was too late. I was shocked and shaking. I could barely contain myself. I never saw anything like that in my life. I didn’t understand the concept of demonic possession, and that alone terrified me. My cousin insisted I put it back. So I did…and hid in kitchen for the rest of the movie. The sounds I heard…the demonic raspy voice….sometimes it sounded like a grown man…other times it sounded like an old woman….I couldn’t take it. My cousin and my sister….my 6 year old sister…watched this film and were just fine. It was ME who was messed up…because I already knew something at that time that I don’t think my sister and cousin really grasped yet…that demonic possession was a potential reality. I did not sleep a wink that night.
As my love for horror movies grew I got over my irrational fears and watched the film again when I rented it from Mark’s Video on 149th street when I was 16. The end result….I loved it. To this day it remains one of my most favorite horror films of all time.
Have there been other films regarding demonic possession? Oh sure. The Evil Dead series attempted to take the shock of demonic possession to a whole new level. Other films like The Last Exorcism, The Possession, Paranormal Activity, The Rite, The Devil Inside and many others have depicted the dangers and horrors of demonic possession. Yet to this day not one film…not one has come close to what the Exorcist accomplished. I am yet to see a film of that standard.
One of the reasons why demonic possession is a big money maker in the movies is because of its potential of being real. There’s nothing real about a dream killer with knives for fingers. There’s nothing real about zombies or aliens or maniacs wearing hockey masks who keep coming back after you blow them up. But spiritual beings, especially for people like myself who are religious….that’s something else. Those film tap into a different realm that other horror films don’t do…they tap into the real….at least what is real to the believer.
As a believer I believe that when a person opens themselves up to a force outside of themselves for power, for yearning or even innocently for meaning, they open themselves up to things they may not know anything about. They may do this consciously or unconsciously. Regan was playing with a Oujau board which brought about the appearance of “Captain Howdy”, her imaginary friend who turned out the be the demon which possesses her. The reason why films like this intrigue me is because I believe of its potential of really happening. As a matter of fact The Exorcist was based on a book based on a true story involving a young boy out in Maryland back in the late 1940s. The Rite was based on the accounts of a Catholic Priest who is a present day exorcist here in the States. The Exorcism of Emily Rose was based on a failed exorcism which resulted in the death of a young girl in Germany back in 1976. Whether or not you believe in spirits or demons is irrelevant to my point here. One must admit that there is something different about demon possession movies from other types of horror films. They tap into the potential for evil in a very human way. What drives the human person to commit horrific acts? We see it in the news all the time. We call such people crazy, repressed, and disturbed. When does human evil become spiritual evil? Where is that border? Is that border blurry or defined? Perhaps we will never know. There’s something to this that goes beyond chemical imbalance or pop psychology babble.
Hollywood has managed to capture the mystery of this phenomenon very well. Even though the film’s Exorcist II, Exorcist III, and the prequels (God help me forget those…the most horrifying thing about those prequels was the price I paid to go watch them….) did not do well at the box office they are still good references to the concept of spiritual evil. Call him what you will, the Devil, Satan, Bielzibub, Pazuzu, Bob….it doesn’t matter….when the camera’s start rolling, temptation to make money starts flying. The devil is in the details….
There was a rise in people going to confession in 1973. There was a heightened sense of the awareness of evil, particularly within the Catholic Church. My sense of evil at the time was not really there. I was about 4 years old at the time. The same film that brought about this awareness of evil did not really hit me until I was about 12 years old.
1973 was the year The Exorcist was released in theaters nationwide. Sure, there have been Devil-related tales told in the big screen for years, but there was something different about this film, something that brought it all home to those who dared to watch it. That concept of the unknown that brought fear to the human heart finally had a name on it. It revealed itself through the helplessness of small, innocent 12 year old Regan McNeil. This revelation was of an ancient origin. A demon by the name of Pazuzu, worshipped in real life in ancient Assyria and Babylon as far back as ancient Mesopotamia 4,000 B.C. He was according to legend a demon who was in control of the air and was supposedly responsible for the dry seasons and droughts. This was the demon who took hold of poor Regan and produced the horror we eventually see in the film. It terrorized audiences. People fainted and medical attention was required. People couldn’t sleep at night. It was by far a very disturbing movie.
What happened to me when I was 12? I was spending the weekend at my grandmothers house, as I usually did growing up. My cousin Denise and my sister Marilyn were there as well. I wanted to see Them, that 1950’s film about giant ants. Yet I was interested in seeing The Exorcist, which was being put on the air for the first time on television. I at this time was developing a curiosity about the Devil and demons and spiritual things, which I believe eventually let to a strong Christian conversion later on, but for that night I got it…and I got it bad.
As soon as Regan’s eyes rolled to the back of her head and she started screaming out, I immediately changed the channel to watch Them. But it was too late. I was shocked and shaking. I could barely contain myself. I never saw anything like that in my life. I didn’t understand the concept of demonic possession, and that alone terrified me. My cousin insisted I put it back. So I did…and hid in kitchen for the rest of the movie. The sounds I heard…the demonic raspy voice….sometimes it sounded like a grown man…other times it sounded like an old woman….I couldn’t take it. My cousin and my sister….my 6 year old sister…watched this film and were just fine. It was ME who was messed up…because I already knew something at that time that I don’t think my sister and cousin really grasped yet…that demonic possession was a potential reality. I did not sleep a wink that night.
As my love for horror movies grew I got over my irrational fears and watched the film again when I rented it from Mark’s Video on 149th street when I was 16. The end result….I loved it. To this day it remains one of my most favorite horror films of all time.
Have there been other films regarding demonic possession? Oh sure. The Evil Dead series attempted to take the shock of demonic possession to a whole new level. Other films like The Last Exorcism, The Possession, Paranormal Activity, The Rite, The Devil Inside and many others have depicted the dangers and horrors of demonic possession. Yet to this day not one film…not one has come close to what the Exorcist accomplished. I am yet to see a film of that standard.
One of the reasons why demonic possession is a big money maker in the movies is because of its potential of being real. There’s nothing real about a dream killer with knives for fingers. There’s nothing real about zombies or aliens or maniacs wearing hockey masks who keep coming back after you blow them up. But spiritual beings, especially for people like myself who are religious….that’s something else. Those film tap into a different realm that other horror films don’t do…they tap into the real….at least what is real to the believer.
As a believer I believe that when a person opens themselves up to a force outside of themselves for power, for yearning or even innocently for meaning, they open themselves up to things they may not know anything about. They may do this consciously or unconsciously. Regan was playing with a Oujau board which brought about the appearance of “Captain Howdy”, her imaginary friend who turned out the be the demon which possesses her. The reason why films like this intrigue me is because I believe of its potential of really happening. As a matter of fact The Exorcist was based on a book based on a true story involving a young boy out in Maryland back in the late 1940s. The Rite was based on the accounts of a Catholic Priest who is a present day exorcist here in the States. The Exorcism of Emily Rose was based on a failed exorcism which resulted in the death of a young girl in Germany back in 1976. Whether or not you believe in spirits or demons is irrelevant to my point here. One must admit that there is something different about demon possession movies from other types of horror films. They tap into the potential for evil in a very human way. What drives the human person to commit horrific acts? We see it in the news all the time. We call such people crazy, repressed, and disturbed. When does human evil become spiritual evil? Where is that border? Is that border blurry or defined? Perhaps we will never know. There’s something to this that goes beyond chemical imbalance or pop psychology babble.
Hollywood has managed to capture the mystery of this phenomenon very well. Even though the film’s Exorcist II, Exorcist III, and the prequels (God help me forget those…the most horrifying thing about those prequels was the price I paid to go watch them….) did not do well at the box office they are still good references to the concept of spiritual evil. Call him what you will, the Devil, Satan, Bielzibub, Pazuzu, Bob….it doesn’t matter….when the camera’s start rolling, temptation to make money starts flying. The devil is in the details….
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