Demonic Possession and Ghosts

In the last post, I took a closer look at what holds up the powerful theme of demons and demonic judgement. This is just one facet of the "Demonic" theme.

Just how many Haunting/Exorcism movies are there??

The Exorcist The Exorcist II - the Heretic The Exorcist III Dominion - Prequel to the Exorcist Exorcist: The Beginning The Exorcism of Emily Rose The Last Exorcism The Rite Paranormal Activity Paranormal Activity 2 Paranormal Activity 3 Paranormal Activity 4 Insidious The Skeptic

Constantine Exorcismo The Devil Inside The Others Devil Prince of Darkness The Haunting in Connecticut The Haunting of Molly Hartley An American Haunting The Haunting REC (remade as Quarantine) REC 2 REC 3: Genesis

The list goes on and on. There is no doubt that the theme is a popular one, and that it can support the trend of horror movies to spawn many sequels. But why are they so scary and/or popular?

It could happen to anyone

By choosing children and characters that are part of tight-knit families and who are loved, parents, children, and the rest of the population are affected by the threat that anyone could potentially turn evil. This also holds emotional weight in families with abusive family members, where a parent can become abusive at the drop of a hat, as can ordinary children.

They prey on the sense of security that people have, which is one of the most powerful tools in the arsenal of the movie or game makers. By keeping them off balance, and out of their comfort zone, the audience is much easier to scare.

Your house may be haunted too!

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs suggests that safety and habitat is high on the list of things the audience needs to be content. By merely suggesting that a participant's house may become possessed can be completely unnerving for the audience.

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Source:

Maslow, A. H. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review, 50, pp. 370.