12 Best Horror Movies About Demonic Possession
10. Event Horizon
Event Horizon exemplifies the diversity of the possession movie. It’s a sci-fi with a decent smattering of action, but it’s driven by possession, caused by science venturing too far and literally stumbling into hell.
The mark of a good possession movie is difficult to quantify. Like the elusive demons themselves, what makes them good is somewhat intangible. However, if the movie breathes malice, unseen but woven throughout, that’s a good sign. Event Horizon certainly does that. As order and hierarchy descend into chaos and torture, the colour plate morphs from the black and grey of space and machinery to the red and orange or blood and fire. Things escalate quickly into an extra-dimensional hellscape.
Like The Exorcist, we are not sure when the demon’s influence begins. Subtle at first, the evil presence seamlessly merges into the central character until we’re not sure if he was ever who we thought he was. For many, it’s a sci-fi movie they just won’t touch, this opus of fear is just a bit close to the devil.
It didn’t get the acclaim enjoyed by The Exorcist, far from it. But it’s one of the most original and memorable possession movies around.