The Body and The Blood: 10 Exorcism Movies Now Streaming for Free
Chad Collins
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The news we’ve been anticipating for a while now has been confirmed. The Exorcist: Believer is not good. Early reports of disastrous test screenings had already muted expectations, though now, the broad critical consensus is that, like so many other possession films, The Exorcist: Believer does little to stand out. What’s most interesting, to me at least, is that where other subgenres have their classics, yet retain enough room for subversion and reinvention for new classics to emerge, the exorcism subgenre has been stuck in the shadow of The Exorcist since 1973. You might say even the subgenre has been possessed by its interpretation of demonic takeover.
Exorcism horror in the years since has almost exclusively been Exorcist-lite, borrowing the same soup-spewing, head-turning terror that rendered William Friedkin’s film not just a classic, but arguably the scariest movie ever made. It’s a tough act to follow, of course—nearly impossible, really. The best possession horror paradoxically acknowledges yet distances itself from what’s come before. Here, we’ll be looking at 10 different exorcism horror movies you can stream right now. I tried to pick as diverse a lineup as possible, highlighting both Exorcism franchise entries themselves and adjacent features that try, and succeed, at doing something a little different. Read on below!
Legions (Tubi)
Legions was a pleasant surprise when I caught and reviewed it earlier this year. A heartfelt homage to the filmography of Sam Raimi, Fabián Forte’s gruesome possession thriller follows a warlock who must save his daughter from a demonic entity intent on possessing and sacrificing her. It’s funny, cute, and gooey gruesome enough to satisfy the bloodhound in us all.
Deliver Us from Evil (Starz)
There were huge expectations for director Scott Derrickson’s follow-up to Sinister, and while Deliver Us From Evil isn’t anywhere near as scary, it remains a stylish, procedural riff on The Exorcist, even culling from the cult classic The Exorcist III where it counts most. A NYPD officer finds himself deep in the trenches of demonic forces in Derrickson’s possession horror film. It’s scary, stylish, and imbued with enough demonic voltage to rattle even agnostic viewers.
Eli (Netflix)
Eli is a fine exorcism thriller with a pretty sick twist. A young boy with a rare disease is housed at a remote medical facility for treatment. However, he soon begins to suspect something is amiss. Come for Lili Taylor, stay for the bonkers ending.
The Last Exorcism (Prime Video)
While most horror fans have seen Daniel Stamm’s The Last Exorcism, it’s worth revisiting again—I can promise it holds up. Ashley Bell’s terrifying, contorted performance is worth the price of admission alone. Also, while it’s certainly inferior to the original, I’m partial to the 2013 sequel, too. This is how you do a modern-day exorcism movie.
Requiem (AMC+)
As scary as The Exorcist for distinctly different reasons, Hans-Christian Schmidt’s German-language drama is a heartbreaking account of a young girl’s ostensible possession, exorcism, and death. A loose adaptation of the true story of Anneliese Michel, the terror Schmidt instills here—ranging from religious zealotry to inadequate care for mental illness—is more terrifying than anything in the other Anneliese Michel adaptation, 2005’s The Exorcism of Emily Rose.
The Devil’s Doorway (AMC+)
The Devil’s Doorway doesn’t reinvent either the exorcism or found footage subgenre, though as the bastardized child of both, it’s plenty scary in its own right. Reported miracles at a Magdalene Asylum are anything but. While director Aislinn Clarke hits all the expected notes, there’s an earnest urgency (and serious scare factor) to the tropes we’ve seen before.
Exorcist: The Beginning (Hulu)
Is Renny Harlin’s Exorcist prequel better or worse than director Paul Schrader’s version? Worse, no doubt, but still a curious exercise in corporate sabotage butting heads with an earnest vision. While both prequels are novelties more than anything else—unconventional novelties at that given both versions were released—there’s value in a Father Merrin origin story. For all the hooey schlock, Harlin delivers a few lasting scares. Everyone talks about The Exorcist III for good reason, but Exorcist: The Beginning is far from the disaster it was considered at the time.
Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist (Freevee)
Which, of course, brings us to Schrader’s take on the material. While marginally better than Harlin’s, both films feel unequivocally constrained by studio demands and irreconcilable visions. Like The Beginning, Dominion nonetheless manages a few genuine chills, and for any Exorcist fans out there, it’s worth watching at least once.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (Max)
The worst The Conjuring movie somehow has the best exorcism in the franchise. The introductory sequence is as strong as anything in James Wan’s first two movies. While it’s downhill from there, Michael Chaves’ kinetic assemblage of possession tropes was a stellar way to open the third Conjuring movie with a bang.
The Medium (AMC+)
The Medium is scripted by Na Hong-jin, so you know it’s gonna be incredibly scary. And I can confirm that. It’s super, super scary. A mockumentary format, melding of genre, and gangbuster scares coalesce into a terrifying take on local customs and the forces that threaten to possess us all. Definitely check it out if you haven’t yet.
What do you think? Which of these have you seen or plan to check out? Let me know over on Twitter @Chadiscollins where I’ll no doubt be possessed by The Exorcist: Believer discourse for the coming weeks.
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