8 Possession Horror Movies That Broke All The Rules

By Josh Brown / February 21, 2022

Of all the horror sub-genres, the demon possession niche is perhaps the most formulaic. If you throw on one of these movies you probably already know the kind of things to expect: someone (probably a young girl) contorting her body and speaking in latin, a priest who isn't sure if what he's seeing is the work of the devil or just the failures of mental health services and, of course, an exorcism to finish everything off.

Now, that's not an inherently bad thing, and there have been plenty of solid horrors that have followed the possession rulebook and succeeded in delivering scary, compelling tall tales.

Hell, The Exorcist, The Last Exorcism, and plenty of other films with a variation of 'exorcism' in the title all played it straight and caught the attention of audiences.

However, the reliance on this formula does make those few flicks that deviate from the norm and attempt to present the possession narrative from a completely different perspective all the more special.

Whether they're subverting expectations, taking inspiration from other sub-genres or simply using the formula to tell a more emotional story, these are the possession horror movies that broke all the rules.

8. Starry Eyes

Body horror and possession go hand in hand. After all, a huge part of the horror of the latter films comes from how the demonic entity transforms its host physically. Facial scars, forked tongues and green skin all reflect the manifestation of the evil housed within the human body.

So, it's no surprise that eventually directors would take this idea once step further, and forefront the Cronenberg-style body horror.

Enter Starry Eyes.

Here, an aspiring actress named Sarah is noticed by a creepy looking casting director. She's invited to a couple of auditions, but in each one she experiences some kind of supernatural phenomenon. After this, the closer she gets to bagging the role, the more her body starts to degrade and her sanity starts to slip. Ultimately, it turns out she isn't being courted for a role, but rather to be the vessel for a demon

It's a supremely chilling story with enough gross-out moments to keep your head in the toilet for a whole month afterwards, but Starry Eyes is undeniably an original spin on the classic cult possession horror trope.