Every year Hollywood releases at least one film about how the devil possessed a person. A BBC correspondent offers his explanation of why these films are so popular.
The same story is repeated every time. One of the characters begins to gnash his teeth and gnaw at furniture. Another finds out the reason for what is happening and comes to the conclusion: an unclean force has entered the poor man. Nobody believes him. But then a priest appears in the frame, waving a crucifix and shouting something in Latin. As a result, after about an hour, the grinding of teeth subsides and everything returns to normal.
"Horror stories" about devilry have not changed a bit since 1973, when the film The Exorcist, directed by William Friedkin, was released. It is noteworthy that now this subtype of horror films is more popular than ever.
Over the past 10 years, at least one exorcism film has been released in Hollywood every year. The latest example is the film Deliver Us from the Evil One with Eric Bana and Edgar Ramirez in the lead roles. In 2013, it was "The Spell" and "The Last Exorcism, Part 2". The picture "Obsessed" was released a year earlier. In 2011, the movie "Rite" appeared on the screens of cinemas. And so - until early 2004, when director Rennie Harling filmed the movie "The Exorcist: The Beginning."
"There is an explanation as to why exorcism has become one of the most popular subjects in modern cinema," says BBC film critic Mark Kermode, a longtime fan of the work of William Friedkin. - Because he is very theatrical. The ritual of casting out demons is, in fact, people in theatrical costumes, reading aloud rather ornate prose."
Exorcism scenes have appeared in earlier films as well. Among them is another favorite picture of Mark Kermoud - the film "Devils" directed by Ken Russell, which was released in theaters in 1971. Ten years earlier, the film "Mother John from the Angels" was shot, which received a special prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
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But the trendsetter in this genre was and remains "The Exorcist" - this is the name of the film by William Friedkin was released in Russia in the official box office. In the English version, the film is called "The Exorcist", therefore in Russia its title is often translated as "The Exorcist".
“Everyone knows that it’s impossible to use the word 'exorcism' now and not remember this film,” says Mark Kermode. - This is part of the horror folklore. It is impossible to say "chainsaw" and not think about the cult movie "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". And it's the same with The Exorcist - the title of the film becomes a meme."
The horrors of puberty
For those who did not have the courage to watch this film by William Friedkin, I will say that the intrigue begins to unfold from the moment when an evil spirit named Pazuzu infuses a 12-year-old girl (actress Linda Blair, nominated for an Oscar for this role). The spirit transforms the girl into a snarling, cursing, sexually preoccupied, pimply monster vomiting like a cannon.
If this scenario suddenly finds a lively response in the hearts of teenage parents, there is nothing to be particularly surprised about. According to University of East Anglia historian Tim Snelson, who studies mediums, exorcism nightmares have as much to do with hormones as with evil spirits.
"These films are often seen as metaphors for puberty," says Tim Snelson. "This is the time when a teenager suddenly becomes overwhelmed by strange desires and inclinations, when not only parents, but also the children themselves cease to understand their behavior, feelings and do not even recognize their own voice."
“Exorcism films ask the same questions that parents might have: 'Who is this child? Should I be worried about his behavior? “And teenagers suddenly feel unnatural pleasure to watch a child vomit in the face of mom on the screen and scold her with the last words,” explains Tim Snelson.
But demons possessing a teenager, Snelson believes, symbolize more than just hormones. They are also the embodiment of any parent's nightmare - a vicious influence that eats away at the innocent soul of their child.
The Exorcist was a real blockbuster in the 1970s because in those years parents were worried about the second wave of feminism and counterculture. And a recent string of exorcism films plays on the fears of fathers and mothers worried that the internet could ruin their child locked in their bedroom,”Snelson says.
If these theses do not convince you, think for yourself: the people who are possessed by the devil in these films are usually girls. And the priests casting out demons are presented as fatherly figures.
It's also helpful to know that The Exorcist, screenwriter William Peter Blatty, was inspired by a real-life exorcism in 1949. But in his book and screenplay, he changed the gender of the victim from male to female.
We can say that exorcism films are stories about fathers and daughters.
“In the finale of The Exorcist,” says Tim Snelson, “the priest puts a demon in his own body and is thrown out of the window. He, like a father, sacrifices himself to save the girl from bad influence and restore his authority in the house."
More than 40 years later, this storyline was developed in the movie "Deliver Us from the Evil One."
“This film is a lot about showing what a father can do to protect his daughter,” says Snelson. “And I noticed that the bad guy was played by Sean Harris, known for his morally and socially corrupt characters in films like Harry Brown and Outlaw. This time he presents us with a satanic version of the thugs he has played in other films."
Thirst for mysticism
But parental paranoia is not the only source of popularity for exorcism films. The author of The Historical Dictionary of Horror Films, Peter Hutchings, believes that these films are also associated with human religious aspirations.
“We watch films about demon possessed because they claim that there is a spiritual dimension in the world, that there is something else around us besides the purely material,” says Dr. Hutchings. "It is amazing how many skeptical characters such films have, who have to be persuaded for a long time of the value and power of the rite of exorcism."
It is also noteworthy that skeptics are always convinced in the end. In all cases, prejudice triumphs and science fails. This means that with all the curses and violence of these films, Hollywood's exorcism films end up supporting religion.
For Hollywood, this strategy is very forward-looking and beneficial.
In 2004, when the film "The Exorcist: The Beginning" sparked an explosion of interest in the topic, another film was released, perhaps no less influential - Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.
Having earned $ 600 million at the box office, the film proved that a biblical story can be accompanied by monstrous bloody scenes and bring huge profits at the same time.
Not surprisingly, exorcism films are suddenly a good investment. On Friday nights, they can attract fans of "horror", and on Sunday - respectable parishioners. This strategy works in two ways: if such films attract local temple worshipers to the cinema, they also attract horror movie lovers to church.
It's no surprise that after films about demon possessed people rush to church.
“When The Exorcist came out, crowds of people fled from the cinema straight to the neighboring church,” Mark Kermode confirms this idea. “I spoke to Catholics who told me that it was the best advertisement for them. Indeed, when was the last time you saw a film in which a priest was a hero?"
However, not all exorcism films present official religion in such a favorable light. The 2012 Oscar-nominated Oscar-nominated film Beyond the Hills by director Christian Mungiu is based on a true story of a 2005 exorcism held at the Holy Trinity Monastery in the Romanian village of Tanacu.
The unbalanced behavior of the girl who came to this monastery lost in the mountains led the nuns to think that the devil had possessed her. They put the girl in chains and started starving her.
The nuns were sure that they were driving out evil spirits. But the girl died - both in the real story and in the film. The only evil that is present in this picture is the evil of the nuns who decided to engage in exorcism. But don't expect many of these films to appear in Hollywood.