10 Horror Movies To Watch If You Love The Exorcist

There’s a lot about The Exorcist that can’t be replicated by any other film. It was the first horror film to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. It caused such terror among some of the people who saw it in theaters that people claimed heart attacks and other medical emergencies were caused by it; medical papers were published about its effects on viewers.

It made more at the box office than any other film with its rating would for decades. And it yet stands as one of the greatest horror films of all time. That said, quality aside, it is at its heart a supernatural horror, and there are other films that tick many of the same boxes.

10 The Omen (1976)

This 1976 horror follows the birth of the Antichrist and his young childhood with his parents, who didn’t know his provenance after he was adopted when their own child was stillborn.

Although it was a huge success at the box office, it didn’t fare well with contemporary critics, who widely panned it. Its reputation has grown over time, with at least one scene being considered one of the scariest in film. Its commercial success and continued popularity led to several sequels.

9 The Nun (2018)

A spin-off of the Conjuring franchise, The Nun is religious horror piled on top of religious horror. Nuns are killed by a demon wearing the guise of a nun; a priest who is also a demon hunter is sent to the convent it happened at in the company of a young nun from Rome.

It is learned that the convent sits on top of a rift of some sort that a demon has come through after being reopened by bombings. Possessions and exorcisms feature widely.

8 Winchester (2018)

Based on a real person and some real events, Winchester is the story of Sarah Winchester, the widow of the founder of Winchester Repeating Arms Company. After her husband’s death, she becomes convinced that she’s being haunted by the ghosts of the people killed by her husband’s products.

She begins to build a gigantic house- just like she did in real life- that never seemed to finish construction. It deviates from the real story by the actual presence of ghosts, one of whom possesses a doctor sent to ascertain her mental health.

7 The Sentinel (1977)

A suicidal model moves into a brownstone in Brooklyn, only to begin having mysterious illnesses and an extreme inability to sleep. She attends a party for a new neighbor’s cat, only to later learn that the only other tenant in the building is the blind priest who lives on the upper floor.

After several strange- and quite dramatic- supernatural things happen, she’s institutionalized with a nervous breakdown. As the film continues, it’s learned that the brownstone is over a gate to Hell, and her future is wrapped up in it.

6 The Witch (2016)

Set in New England in the 1630s, the film follows what happens to a family that has been ejected from a pre-Salem Witch Trial Puritan Plymouth Colony.

A witch steals the infant recently born to the family, setting off a chain of events leading to the family accusing the eldest daughter of being the witch in question. As the family’s treatment of the girl becomes worse and worse, the supernatural events on their homestead grow in number and become most drastic.

5 La Llorona (2019)

A Spanish-language film from Guatemala, the titular La Llorona is a ghost in the region’s folklore who killed her children and haunts the world looking for them- although the legend takes on a more vengeful aspect in this film.

A dictator is released from prison on a technicality decades after he has been tried and found guilty of the genocide of the native Mayan people of the region. As he begins to act more and more like something is seriously wrong with him, his staff all leave. Soon, a young woman is employed to begin filling their empty places, and things begin to happen.

4 The Wicker Man (1973)

This film is a little different since the horror is all human-made and not supernatural- the human actions are inspired by a group’s adherence to Celtic pagan traditions. A devout Christian travels to the Hebrides to follow up on the disappearance of a young girl, where he discovers this practice of the ancient traditions and is put off by it.

He discovers they still practice human sacrifice and decides he has to do something about it. The film was and is still regarded as a masterwork of horror.

3 The Exorcism of Emily Rose ( 2005)

This film is loosely based on the real-life story of a woman who suffered from mental illness and epileptic psychosis, who eventually decided she was possessed and underwent 67 exorcisms, eventually dying of starvation.

The film itself focuses on a fictionalized account of the trial that happened after her death, charging the responsible priest with her death. Unlike in real life, the demon did exist and begins to affect the people involved in the trial.

2 The Rite (2011)

Based on a book which in turn is supposedly based on the real-life experiences of a priest who was an exorcist in training, this film has an outstanding cast. It follows the journey of the main character from scamming a free four-year degree from a seminary to his acceptance that he was meant to be a priest.

There are exorcisms performed, and demons banished. One of the most striking things about the film, though, is that it was fairly well accepted by the Catholic Church- other than its horror classification.

1 The Last Exorcism (2010)

An evangelical minister has lost his faith in this found footage film. He decides to expose the fraud behind his ministry, part of which focused on fake exorcisms. He cooperates with a film crew to film his last exorcism as a way of exposing the whole scheme.

He travels to visit a farmer who believes his daughter is possessed and killing his farm animals, performs a fake rite, frees the girl, and leaves. His broken faith is shaken when the events surrounding the girl continue and then rage out of control.

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