Tag Archives: Satan

Satanism, Exorcism and Social Horror Trends

April 7th, 2011 | Posted in demonic, demonology, devil in film, possession, Satan, Satanism, Western esotericism

An article that ran in The Telegraph on 7 April titled “Rise in demand for exorcism recalls horror trend,” caught my attention, not only for its connection of concerns over the demonic and contemporary horror films, but also for some of the provocative claims it made. Looking back at The Exorcist (1973) and an increase […]

Also tagged in: , , , , , | 2 Comments

TheoFantastique Podcast 2.1 on The Rite

February 11th, 2011 | Posted in demonic, devil in film, Douglas Cowan, Paul Meehan, podcast, possession, Satan, W. Scott Poole

TheoFantastique Podcast, Vol. 2, no. 1 is now available. It involves a discussion on The Rite with past guests and contributors, including Douglas Cowan, author of a number of books including Sacred Terror: Religion and Horror on the Silver Screen; Paul Meehan, also the author of a number of books including Horror Noir: Where Cinema’s […]

Also tagged in: , , , , , | 1 Comment

Cinefantastique Online – The RITE: Satan, Possession, and Unlikely Sources of Faith

February 8th, 2011 | Posted in Cinefantastique, demonic, demonology, devil in film, horror, possession

My latest contribution to Cinefantastique Online is now available, an essay titled “THE RITE: Satan, Possession, and Unlikely Sources of Faith.” From the introduction: The Devil and the related phenomenon of demonic possession, have been the source of several horror films for the years. Previous decades offered THE EXORCIST (1973), with its Roman Catholic perspective, […]

Also tagged in: , , , , , | 1 Comment

THE RITE: Modern Exorcism in Theaters January 2011

October 23rd, 2010 | Posted in demonic, demonology, devil in film, horror, podcast, Satan

Our fascination with the devil in popular culture as informed by the Christian tradition continues, or at least Hollywood’s assumption that this figure is of interest to us, with the release of The Rite in January 2011. The film is “inspired by” the book of the same title by Matt Baglio. See the film’s website […]

Also tagged in: , , , | 0 Comments

Satan is Busy at the Box Office

September 1st, 2010 | Posted in demonic, devil in film, Exorcism of Emily Rose, possession, Satan, The Exorcist, W. Scott Poole

A consideration of recent items in popular culture reveals that Satan is a popular figure. Eli Roth’s The Last Exorcism is at the top of the box office at the time of the writing of this post, and seems to be well received by many horror film websites and blogs. In turn, the release of […]

Also tagged in: , , , , , | 3 Comments

DEVIL Trailer: The Night Chronicles

July 22nd, 2010 | Posted in horror, Satan

The trailer for the horror film Devil from Universal Pictures is now available. This supernatural thriller is based upon a story by M. Night Shyamalan as part of a Night Chronicles series. It tells the story of a small group of people trapped in a stalled elevator in a high rise who come to learn […]

Also tagged in: | 0 Comments

Scott Poole: Satan in America

November 6th, 2009 | Posted in film, horror, Satan, television, W. Scott Poole

I first heard of W. Scott Poole through the Religion Dispatches website that involves scholars interacting with pop culture and religion. Scott wrote an article on Jennifer’s Body that I commented on here, and which attracted a lot of interest at the now defunct HorrorBlips. Scott is associate professor of history at the College of […]

Also tagged in: , , , | 6 Comments

Joseph Laycock: The Exorcist, Secularization, and Folk Piety

October 27th, 2009 | Posted in demonic, demonology, devil in film, horror, Joseph Laycock, Satan, The Exorcist

Joseph Laycock is an independent scholar and doctoral candidate at Boston University, and author of Vampires Today: The Truth About Modern Vampirism (Praeger, 2009) who was interviewed here in the recent past on this book. He has returned to discuss a paper he submitted to the Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion titled “The Folk Piety […]

Also tagged in: , , , , | 6 Comments

Virginia Wexman on Polanski’s Horror and Rosemary’s Baby

September 14th, 2008 | Posted in horror, Rosemary's Baby, Satan, Satanism

  One of the very first books that I purchased wich explores horror films from an academic perspective was Gregary A. Waller, ed., American Horrors: Essays on the American Horror Film (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1987). The volume includes a number of intriguing essays, including one by Virginia Wright Wexman titled “The Trauma […]

Also tagged in: , , | 0 Comments

40th Anniversary of Rosemary’s Baby

May 22nd, 2008 | Posted in Rosemary's Baby, Satan, Satanism

One of the horror films I remember watching in the 1970s as my television flickered with a Saturday night’s ritual connected to my local Creature Features was Rosemary’s Baby (1968). Next month this film will see its 40th anniversary, and I thought I’d use the occasion to take a walk down memory lane with this […]

Also tagged in: , | 0 Comments
RSS for Posts RSS for Comments