Religion represented in supernatural horrors

Religion is a large part of supernatural horrors as there are a lot of films that have exorcisms which normally have some sort of religious figure in them, The devil inside and The exorcism of Emily Rose.

The devil inside.

We learn that the protagonist’s mother was possessed by an evil spirit and ended up killing three people, she was then sent to a Catholic Church mental asylum in Rome. This piece of information shows that he church is interested in possessions and they are presented to be open to the idea of supernatural forces working through normal people.

The mental asylum is shown to be both sterile like a hospital as it uses all white and very religious as you can see crosses everywhere. The “doctors” are portrayed to be actual doctors and not just mad men as they have proper white lab coats and they conduct themselves in a very professional manor.

 

The possessed woman speaks in strange gibberish to reinforce the idea that she is in a human form but is more than just some crazy woman. The symbols on her arms are crosses which links in with her being at a Christian mental asylum. She even has a cross either scratched or burned into the insider of her lip. This could insinuate that her demonization started in one area and then spread to different parts of her body the worse it got.

One of the priests that the Isabella has employed is young and looks very vulnerable. The other priest is a lot more experienced and says that his background in medicine will help with the possessions, as he is melding science with religion. This makes the audience believe what he is saying more as he is not seen as a crazy religious exorcist.

 Even the image if the title has been surrounded by the crosses which were scarring Maria’s body.

The exorcism of Emily Rhodes.

The priest is represented as desperate and depressed as he is thought to be reason for Emily Rose death as the court thinks that she didn’t get adequate psychiatric and medical help. We also see him as vulnerable and scared when he is in his prison cell.

 

 When he is at court he seems to be unemotional and not fazed by anything that is being said.

In one of the flash backs we hear about anencounter that Father moore had with one of the spirits at 3am which is supposedly the devils hour as it is the opposite of 3pm which is widely accepted as the time of Jesus' death. There is mention of an exorcism showing to the audience that exorcisms are generall practice in the Catholic church.

 

 

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There is still the demonic voice of the demon used and Emily’s body moving on its own.

You find out in the film that there is six demons within Emily and that they were the demons that possessed Cain, Nero and Judas Iscariot, as well as the demons Legion, Belial and Lucifer.

The audience slowly learns to trust the priest and believes his story.

This film takes a new spin on the idea of religion in supernatural films as it start with the audience doubting the priest.