The Devil Inside

The Exorcist (1973) is arguably one of the scariest movies ever made.  The concept of demonic possession is pretty scary itself.  All major religions believe in the existence of demons.  I guess that's what makes movies/stories of demonic possession so scary.  So, if one is possessed, then has the demon exorcised, but becomes possessed again, is that demonic re-possession?

What made the Exorcist so scary, aside from the great story and acting and, of course Mike Oldfield's, Tubular Bells (music), was that it explored uncharted territory that seemed possible.

www.horror.about.com lists the top 20 demonic possession movies, of which I've seen about half.  Some of them are really good and The Exorcist is rated #2, behind The Shining.  Hard to argue that.

The Rite, #19 was okay. I saw one of The Exorcist prequels (both are rated #17) and found it entertaining.  I stayed up late one night when I was a kid and watched Burnt Offerings (#15) on TV.  It gave me nightmares for years.  I liked the concept of John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness (#14) but the movie fell short. Denzel Washington in Fallen (#12) was a cool concept, too, and was entertaining.   The original Amityville Horror (1979) at #6 also gave me nightmares. Session 9 (at #4) was a really creepy and scary movie.  Very entertaining.  I'd recommend any of them, if you're into that sort of thing.

The trailer for The Devil Inside looks like an interesting take on the theme.  A young woman's mother is committed to a psychiatric hospital in Rome after she murders three people.  The woman learns that her mom may have been possessed and becomes involved in exorcisms, including the one of her mother.  To be honest, it looked pretty good.

I think I'll see this one.