In the 1970s, movies like The Exorcist and The Omen set the standard for demonic horror movies. While William Friedkin's The Exorcist slowly builds toward its shocking conclusion, Richard Donner's The Omen dives head-first into gore and mayhem. Both did well in theaters, thanks in large part to their controversial subject matter, and both were critically acclaimed.
Every subsequent film about possession and devilish entities builds upon and capitalizes on the filmgoing expectations established by these two genre-defining films. While some do well at the box office, others fail miserably — even those appreciated by critics for their fresh takes on the genre.
The House Of The Devil (2009)
Labeled one of the 21st century's best horror movies, The House of the Devil did not fare well in theatres. Ti West's Satanic Panic throwback follows Samantha, a financially struggling college student in the 1980s who decides to take a bizarre job babysitting an elder woman who resides in a large rural home.
Little does Samantha know what the home's devil-worshipping tenants actually have in store for her. Due to its limited theatrical release, The House of the Dead only earned about $100,000 during its box-office run.
Event Horizon (1997)
Event Horizon is a nightmarish tale of necromantic, fiendish insanity set in space. The film, which stars Sam Neill and Lawrence Fishburne, centers around a rescue crew in the near future questing after the lost titular ship.
Once onboard the Event Horizon, the team realizes the ship's experimental engine has ripped a hole through the universe's space-time continuum, giving a demonic, supernatural entity free rein to possess the vessel and its inhabitants. This cerebral film cost $60 million to make, and it only made about half that in theatres.
The Autopsy Of Jane Doe (2016)
The Autopsy of Jane Doe is an under-the-radar indie film starring two great actors: Brian Cox and Emile Hirsh. They play a father-and-son coroner team tasked with finding the cause of death for an unidentified woman whose corpse is discovered at the scene of a bloody mass murder.
As the coroners conduct their autopsy, a series of escalating and strange occurrences lead them to believe the woman's body is possessed by something otherworldly. Even though the film only attained about $10,000 domestically at the box-office, it ultimately did much better internationally.
Demon (2015)
The only thing more stressful than getting married is getting married while being actively possessed by an unhappy, malicious spirit. This is the basic premise for the Polish horror gem Demon, which centers around a young man whose body taken over by a dybbuk, a ghost-like evil entity in Jewish folklore.
Demon debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival, and it only received a small distribution in the United States. This stand-out horror movie netted about $104,000 worldwide.
The Taking Of Deborah Logan (2014)
Far from the best found-footage film of all time, The Taking of Deborah Logan is still a solid fright fest that makes demonic possession a metaphor for Alzheimer's disease. As a medical film crew documents the title character's descent after being diagnosed with the destructive neurodegenerative disease, they come to believe the woman may actually be possessed by a malevolent demon.
Free of pretension but generous with scares, The Taking of Deborah Logan makes for an engaging 90 minutes. That being said, it grossed a mere $400,000 against its estimated $1.5 million budget.
Session 9 (2001)
Since its release in 2001, Session 9 has gained a large cult following due to its talented ensemble cast and emphasis on eerie atmospherics over gore and carnage. During its original theatrical run, though, this film about an asbestos abatement team working on an old mental hospital in Massachusetts barely broke even.
Session 9 stars Peter Mullen, Davis Caruso, Brendan Sexton III, and Josh Lucas as members of the removal team. As tensions rise between them, it becomes clear that an unseen demonic spirit stalks the hallways of the sanitorium.
The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015)
The Blackcoat's Daughter is a gory, blood-soaked feature from Oz Perkins. A distressing film about two young women with connections to a boarding school whose basement furnace may or may not house an ancient demon, it stars Emma Roberts and Kiernan Shipka.
The movie landed a limited release, bringing in just $40,000 internationally. Its reputation as a chilling horror film grew, though, thanks to its inclusion on streaming and VOD services.
Dominion: Prequel To The Exorcist (2005)
The making of Dominion: Prequel To The Exorcist is mired in controversy and setbacks. After director Paul Schrader finished filming and editing his faithful adaptation of William Wisher Jr. and Caleb Carr's script, production company Morgan Creek decided to scrap the film, working with another director to rework Schrader's content into 2004's Exorcist: The Beginning.
Schrader's cut was eventually released the next year, but it only received $250,000 against its $30 million budget. Despite this, Schrader's much more visceral origin story was hailed by The Exorcist novelist William Peter Blatty.
Requiem (2006)
Even though it tells the same harrowing story explored in 2005's The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Requiem failed to receive the same attention as Scott Derrickson's film. This German-language film centers around Michaela, an epileptic college student who comes to believe she's been possessed by a demon when she starts hearing voices and experiencing visions.
In lieu of jump scares, Requiem relies on an intimate look into Michaela's life. With its small distribution, the film made about $500,000 internationally.
Pumpkinhead (1988)
Part creature feature and part demonic romp, Pumpkinhead is a prime example of a horror movie released way before its time. Relying on special effects from guru Stan Winston, the film stars Lance Henriksen as a bereaved father who summons the titular demon in order to avenge the teens who accidentally killed his son.
While it sometimes suffers from too many B-movie aesthetics and subpar supporting performances, Pumpkinhead is a one-of-a-kind feature that received seriously mixed reviews. It only exceeded its budget by about $1 million with earnings, bringing in about $4.3 million in theaters.