Religious
horror is a sub-genre that relies greatly on showing realistic religious
motifs of certain religions. Religious horror is originally a western sub-genre
so Christianity, the religion
of this region dominates the majority of these films. Religious horror films
are usually situated in small communities or isolated areas; settings that
connote a feeling of isolation and being alone. A common setting for religious
horror are buildings with a dark and mysterious history, such as hotels,
abandoned houses and asylums.
The majority of films in this genre use the basic plot of good
vs. evil, light against dark, God vs. Satan. This is a main and obvious plot
for these types of film, but occasionally there is an underlying theme that God
is evil, this is more controversial and opposes the typical beliefs. There is
usually a hero/ protagonist who is the man or 'final girl' that solves or kills
the problem.
Another common theme of religious horror film is possession of a character,
who is usually female, they speak in unusual or foreign languages, and act
extremely abnormally, (e.g. bending their bodies into strange shapes). Religious
groups then interfere to try to overthrow this
Possessive demon with many differing outcomes depending on
the film.
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| "The Exorcist" (William Friedkin, 1973) |
Because horror films often include supernatural occurrences
that seem absurd it is an easy link for religion. Another point to
note whilst thinking how horror and religion go together so well and create
such an impact is that the Bible is in fact a book full of stories about death
and violence.
Dark colours are often used throughout this sub-genre for
example black and red, this links to danger, evil and murder. This is done by
low key lighting to help create shadows and dark figures which seem scary and
strange in the dark surroundings.
This link shows a few iconic and well know religious horror
films, some recent but mainly older films:
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