Entertainment
The Best Demonic Possession Movies
List Rules
Movies with a character who is possessed by a demon.
There’s nothing more horrifying than watching a movie about a person who’s possessed by a demon. What is it about the thought of demons, supernatural visitations, darkness, and evil that fascinates to human beings so much? We must love it, as there are tons of wildly successful films where characters are possessed by scary demons and have to go through an exorcism.
Who doesn’t remember scenes from movies like these that forever haunt us every time we walk into a dark alley, a creepy haunted house, or think of a girl/boy possessed by a demon? Supernatural movies are usually even scarier than normal horror flicks because they reach an even deeper part of the soul. This list features some of the scariest films in the horror industry! Watch these at your own risk!
Get in touch with your inner demon and vote up your favorite demonic possession films.
Ranked by
- 1Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Max von Sydow
- Released: 1973
- Directed by: William Friedkin
One of the most profitable horror movies ever made, this tale of an exorcism is based loosely on actual events. When young Regan (Linda Blair) starts acting odd -- levitating, speaking in tongues -- ...more - 2Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Lili Taylor
- Released: 2013
- Directed by: James Wan
In 1970, paranormal investigators and demonologists Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) and Ed (Patrick Wilson) Warren are summoned to the home of Carolyn (Lili Taylor) and Roger (Ron Livingston) Perron. The ...more - 3Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson, Campbell Scott
- Released: 2005
- Directed by: Scott Derrickson
The Rev. Moore (Tom Wilkinson) is prosecuted for the wrongful death of a girl thought to be demonically possessed, because he administered the church-sanctioned exorcism that ultimately killed her. ...more - 4Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye
- Released: 2010
- Directed by: James Wan
Parents (Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne) take drastic measures when it seems their new home is haunted and their comatose son (Ty Simpkins) is possessed by a malevolent entity. - 5Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Madison Wolfe
- Released: 2016
- Directed by: James Wan
In 1977, paranormal investigators Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren come out of a self-imposed sabbatical to travel to Enfield, a borough in north London. There, they meet Peggy Hodgson, an ...more - 6Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, James Ransone
- Released: 2012
- Directed by: Scott Derrickson
True-crime writer Ellison Oswald (Ethan Hawke) is in a slump; he hasn't had a best seller in more than 10 years and is becoming increasingly desperate for a hit. So, when he discovers the existence ...more - 7Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd
- Released: 1980
- Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) becomes winter caretaker at the isolated Overlook Hotel in Colorado, hoping to cure his writer's block. He settles in along with his wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and ...more - 8Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Betsy Baker
- Released: 1981
- Directed by: Sam Raimi
Ashley "Ash" Williams (Bruce Campbell), his girlfriend and three pals hike into the woods to a cabin for a fun night away. There they find an old book, the Necronomicon, whose text reawakens the dead ...more - 9Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick, Natasha Calis
- Released: 2012
- Directed by: Ole Bornedal
When their youngest daughter, Em (Natasha Calis), becomes strangely obsessed with an antique wooden box bought from a yard sale, parents Clyde (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Stephanie (Kyra Sedgwick) see ...more - 10Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff
- Released: 2018
- Directed by: Ari Aster
When the matriarch of the Graham family passes away, her daughter and grandchildren begin to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about their ancestry, trying to outrun the sinister ...more - 11James Brolin, Margot Kidder, Rod Steiger
- Released: 1979
- Directed by: Stuart Rosenberg
Chiller about a family who is terrorized by supernatural forces when they move into a new house in New York State which was the scene of a recent mass killing and the home of an 18th-century ...more - 12Anthony Hopkins, Colin O'Donoghue, Alice Braga
- Released: 2011
- Directed by: Mikael Håfström
Though he is filled with doubt about the subject, seminary student Michael Kovak (Colin O'Donoghue) finds he must attend a Vatican school of exorcism. Believing possession to be the work of a ...more - 13Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci
- Released: 2013
- Directed by: Fede Alvarez
Mia (Jane Levy), a drug addict, is determined to kick the habit. To that end, she asks her brother, David (Shiloh Fernandez), his girlfriend, Natalie (Elizabeth Blackmore) and their friends Olivia ...more - 14Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon
- Released: 1968
- Directed by: Roman Polanski
A young wife comes to believe that her offspring is not of this world. Waifish Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow) and her struggling actor husband Guy (John Cassavetes) move to a New York City apartment ...more - 15Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz, Shia LaBeouf
- Released: 2005
- Directed by: Francis Lawrence
As a suicide survivor, demon hunter John Constantine (Keanu Reeves) has literally been to hell and back -- and he knows that when he dies, he's got a one-way ticket to Satan's realm unless he can ...more - 16Patricia Arquette, Gabriel Byrne, Jonathan Pryce
- Released: 1999
- Directed by: Rupert Wainwright
A young woman with no strong religious beliefs, Frankie Paige (Patricia Arquette) begins having strange and violent experiences, showing signs of the wounds that Jesus received when crucified. When ...more - 17Annabelle Wallis, Ward Horton, Tony Amendola
- Released: 2014
- Directed by: John R. Leonetti
John Form (Ward Horton) thinks he's found the perfect gift for his expectant wife, Mia (Annabelle Wallis) : a vintage doll in a beautiful white dress. However, the couple's delight doesn't last long: ...more - 18Patrick Fabian, Ashley Bell, Iris Bahr
- Released: 2010
- Directed by: Daniel Stamm
After years of gulling the faithful, cleric Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian) feels remorse and decides to expose his chicanery through filming a documentary. With a crew in tow, Marcus arrives at the ...more - 19Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Amber Armstrong
- Released: 2007
- Directed by: Oren Peli
Soon after moving into a suburban tract home, Katie (Katie Featherston) and Micah (Micah Sloat) become increasingly disturbed by what appears to be a supernatural presence. Hoping to capture evidence ...more - 20Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Mckenna Grace
- Released: 2019
- Directed by: Gary Dauberman
Determined to keep Annabelle from wreaking more havoc, paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren lock the possessed doll in the artifacts room in their house. But when the doll awakens the ...more - 21Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks
- Released: 1987
- Directed by: Sam Raimi
The second of three films in the Evil Dead series is part horror, part comedy, with Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) once again battling horrifying demons at a secluded cabin in the woods. After ...more - 22Denzel Washington, John Goodman, Donald Sutherland
- Released: 1998
- Directed by: Gregory Hoblit
After witnessing the execution of serial killer Edgar Reese (Elias Koteas), whom he arrested, police detective John Hobbes (Denzel Washington), and his partner, Jonesy (John Goodman), are soon ...more - 23Chris Messina, Logan Marshall-Green, Geoffrey Arend
- Released: 2010
- Directed by: John Erick Dowdle
Five strangers' day begins with an elevator ride in a Philadelphia office tower. But, what happens next is anything but ordinary. The elevator gets stuck, and the trapped passengers, who expected to ...more - 24Essie Davis, Daniel Henshall, Noah Wiseman
- Released: 2014
- Directed by: Jennifer Kent
A troubled widow (Essie Davis) discovers that her son is telling the truth about a monster that entered their home through the pages of a children's book. - 25Taylor Schilling, Jackson Robert Scott, Peter Mooney
- Released: 2019
- Directed by: Nicholas McCarthy
Sarah and John Blume are thrilled when their young son Miles starts to show signs of rapid development and extreme intelligence. Their family bliss soon turns into a living nightmare when Miles' ...more
