The Best Religious Horror/Thriller Films
by BJG-Reviews | created - 17 Feb 2019 | updated - 17 Feb 2019 | PublicListed here are the commonly accepted best religious horror and thriller films of all-time. Some of these have become a series of films, and rather than list each sequel here, I will only show the original movie. Which one do you consider to be the best?
After voting, please discuss here.
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1. The Exorcist (1973)
R | 122 min | Horror
When a young girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Linda Blair, Lee J. Cobb
Votes: 455,341 | Gross: $232.91M
2. Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Approved | 137 min | Drama, Horror
A young couple trying for a baby moves into an aging, ornate apartment building on Central Park West, where they find themselves surrounded by peculiar neighbors.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer
Votes: 235,401
3. End of Days (1999)
R | 122 min | Action, Fantasy, Horror
At the end of the century, Satan visits New York in search of a bride. It's up to an ex-cop who now runs an elite security outfit to stop him.
Director: Peter Hyams | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gabriel Byrne, Robin Tunney, Kevin Pollak
Votes: 116,776 | Gross: $66.89M
4. The Reaping (2007)
R | 99 min | Horror, Thriller
A former Christian missionary, who specializes in debunking religious phenomena, investigates a small town which seems to be suffering from the 10 biblical plagues.
Director: Stephen Hopkins | Stars: Hilary Swank, David Morrissey, AnnaSophia Robb, Idris Elba
Votes: 44,652 | Gross: $25.12M
5. Lost Souls (2000)
R | 97 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A Catholic teacher meets an atheist journalist, whom a group of Catholics and Priests believes has been chosen by the devil to be the Antichrist.
Director: Janusz Kaminski | Stars: Winona Ryder, Ben Chaplin, Sarah Wynter, Philip Baker Hall
Votes: 11,375 | Gross: $16.78M
6. The Rite (2011)
PG-13 | 114 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
American seminary student Michael Kovak travels to Italy to take an exorcism course.
Director: Mikael Håfström | Stars: Colin O'Donoghue, Anthony Hopkins, Ciarán Hinds, Alice Braga
Votes: 102,663 | Gross: $33.05M
7. The First Power (1990)
R | 98 min | Crime, Horror, Thriller
A dedicated L.A. police detective and a psychic must stop a demonic serial killer who was given the powers of resurrection, teleportation and possession.
Director: Robert Resnikoff | Stars: Lou Diamond Phillips, Tracy Griffith, Jeff Kober, Mykelti Williamson
Votes: 4,886 | Gross: $22.42M
8. Mother! (2017)
R | 121 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence.
Director: Darren Aronofsky | Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer
Votes: 249,877 | Gross: $17.80M
9. The Da Vinci Code (2006)
PG-13 | 149 min | Mystery, Thriller
A murder inside the Louvre, and clues in Da Vinci paintings, lead to the discovery of a religious mystery protected by a secret society for two thousand years, which could shake the foundations of Christianity.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Jean Reno, Ian McKellen
Votes: 459,097 | Gross: $217.54M
10. Stigmata (1999)
R | 103 min | Horror, Mystery
When a young woman becomes afflicted by stigmata, a priest is sent to investigate her case, which may have severe ramifications for his faith and for the Catholic Church itself.
Director: Rupert Wainwright | Stars: Patricia Arquette, Gabriel Byrne, Jonathan Pryce, Nia Long
Votes: 72,304 | Gross: $50.05M
11. Constantine (2005)
R | 121 min | Action, Fantasy, Horror
Supernatural exorcist and demonologist John Constantine helps a policewoman prove her sister's death was not a suicide, but something more.
Director: Francis Lawrence | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz, Djimon Hounsou, Shia LaBeouf
Votes: 374,505 | Gross: $75.98M
12. The Order (2003)
R | 102 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A young priest is sent to Rome to investigate the troubling death of the head of his order.
Director: Brian Helgeland | Stars: Heath Ledger, Mark Addy, Shannyn Sossamon, Benno Fürmann
Votes: 18,476 | Gross: $7.66M
13. The Nun (2018)
R | 96 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A priest with a haunted past and a novice on the threshold of her final vows are sent by the Vatican to investigate the death of a young nun in Romania and confront a malevolent force in the form of a demonic nun.
Director: Corin Hardy | Stars: Demián Bichir, Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet, Bonnie Aarons
Votes: 170,627 | Gross: $117.45M
14. The Believers (1987)
R | 114 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
Cal Jamison, a police psychologist, is forced to deal with a series of ritualistic murders and a malevolent cult.
Director: John Schlesinger | Stars: Martin Sheen, Helen Shaver, Harley Cross, Robert Loggia
Votes: 8,118 | Gross: $18.75M
15. The Omen (1976)
R | 111 min | Horror, Mystery
Mysterious deaths surround an American ambassador. Could the child that he is raising actually be the Antichrist? The Devil's own son?
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, Harvey Stephens, David Warner
Votes: 132,750 | Gross: $4.27M
16. Bless the Child (2000)
R | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
Cody, a little girl abandoned by her mother and raised by her aunt, a nurse, is kidnapped. The girl's guardian, aided by an F.B.I. agent, learn that Cody has supernatural abilities, and the abductees are a Satanic cult willing to do anything to gain them.
Director: Chuck Russell | Stars: Kim Basinger, Jimmy Smits, Rufus Sewell, Holliston Coleman
Votes: 15,401 | Gross: $29.37M
17. The Conjuring (2013)
R | 112 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse.
Director: James Wan | Stars: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ron Livingston, Lili Taylor
Votes: 555,341 | Gross: $137.40M
18. The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
PG-13 | 119 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A lawyer takes on a negligent homicide case involving a priest who performed an exorcism on a young girl.
Director: Scott Derrickson | Stars: Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Campbell Scott
Votes: 140,132 | Gross: $75.07M
19. Fallen (1998)
R | 124 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Homicide detective John Hobbes witnesses the execution of serial killer Edgar Reese. Soon after the execution, the killings start again, and they are very similar to Reese's style.
Director: Gregory Hoblit | Stars: Denzel Washington, John Goodman, Donald Sutherland, Embeth Davidtz
Votes: 92,723 | Gross: $25.19M
20. The Ninth Gate (1999)
R | 133 min | Mystery, Thriller
A book broker discovers his latest find may summon Satan.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Johnny Depp, Frank Langella, Lena Olin, Emmanuelle Seigner
Votes: 197,627 | Gross: $18.66M
21. The Seventh Sign (1988)
R | 97 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Abby Quinn is eagerly awaiting childbirth but is haunted by dreams where she suffers a miscarriage. When she decides to rent a room to a mysterious stranger, she realizes a chain of events that will unleash the end of humanity.
Director: Carl Schultz | Stars: Demi Moore, Michael Biehn, Jürgen Prochnow, Peter Friedman
Votes: 15,688 | Gross: $18.88M
22. Prince of Darkness (1987)
R | 102 min | Horror
A group of graduate students and scientists uncover an ancient canister in an abandoned church, but when they open the container, they inadvertently unleash a strange liquid and an evil force on all humanity.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Donald Pleasence, Lisa Blount, Jameson Parker, Victor Wong
Votes: 50,009 | Gross: $14.18M
23. The Possession (I) (2012)
PG-13 | 92 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A young girl buys an antique box at a yard sale, unaware that inside the collectible lives a malicious ancient spirit. The girl's father teams with his ex-wife to find a way to end the curse upon their child.
Director: Ole Bornedal | Stars: Natasha Calis, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick, Madison Davenport
Votes: 63,253 | Gross: $49.13M
24. The Ritual (I) (2017)
TV-MA | 94 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A group of old college friends reunite for a trip to a most dangerous country in Europe - Sweden, encountering a menacing presence there stalking them.
Director: David Bruckner | Stars: Rafe Spall, Arsher Ali, Robert James-Collier, Sam Troughton
Votes: 119,943
25. The Rapture (1991)
R | 100 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A telephone operator living an empty, amoral life finds God and loses him again.
Director: Michael Tolkin | Stars: Mimi Rogers, David Duchovny, Darwyn Carson, Patrick Bauchau
Votes: 6,035 | Gross: $1.28M
26. The Unholy (1988)
R | 102 min | Horror
A priest battles a demon that kills sinners in the act of sinning.
Director: Camilo Vila | Stars: Ben Cross, Hal Holbrook, Ruben Rabasa, Nicole Fortier
Votes: 2,075 | Gross: $6.34M
27. The Wicker Man (1973)
R | 88 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A puritan police sergeant arrives in a Scottish island village in search of a missing girl, who the pagan locals claim never existed.
Director: Robin Hardy | Stars: Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Diane Cilento, Britt Ekland
Votes: 92,417 | Gross: $0.06M
28. The VVitch: A New-England Folktale (2015)
R | 92 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A family in 1630s New England is torn apart by the forces of witchcraft, black magic and possession.
Director: Robert Eggers | Stars: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Julian Richings
Votes: 301,293 | Gross: $25.14M
29. Incarnate (2016)
PG-13 | 87 min | Horror, Thriller
A scientist with the ability to enter the subconscious minds of the possessed must save a young boy from the grips of a demon with powers never seen before, while facing the horrors of his past.
Director: Brad Peyton | Stars: Aaron Eckhart, Carice van Houten, Catalina Sandino Moreno, David Mazouz
Votes: 14,165 | Gross: $4.79M
30. The Calling (I) (2000)
R | 89 min | Horror, Thriller
A woman is used as a pawn to bring to fruition the rule of the Antichrist.
Director: Richard Caesar | Stars: Laura Harris, Richard Lintern, Francis Magee, Alex Roe
Votes: 2,103
31. The Prophecy (1995)
R | 98 min | Action, Crime, Drama
At the scene of a bizarre murder, L.A. homicide detective Thomas Dagget discovers a lethal heavenly prophecy now being fulfilled on earth. In his fight to stop the forces of evil, he finds an unlikely ally in an elementary school teacher.
Director: Gregory Widen | Stars: Christopher Walken, Elias Koteas, Virginia Madsen, Eric Stoltz
Votes: 33,377 | Gross: $16.12M
32. Children of the Corn (1984)
R | 92 min | Horror, Thriller
A young couple is trapped in a remote town where a dangerous religious cult of children believes that everyone over age 18 must be killed.
Director: Fritz Kiersch | Stars: Peter Horton, Linda Hamilton, R.G. Armstrong, John Franklin
Votes: 57,370 | Gross: $14.57M
33. Devil (2010)
PG-13 | 80 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A group of people are trapped in an elevator and the Devil is mysteriously amongst them.
Director: John Erick Dowdle | Stars: Chris Messina, Caroline Dhavernas, Bokeem Woodbine, Logan Marshall-Green
Votes: 157,046 | Gross: $33.58M
34. The Unborn (2009)
PG-13 | 88 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A young woman fights the spirit that is slowly taking possession of her.
Director: David S. Goyer | Stars: Odette Annable, Gary Oldman, Cam Gigandet, Meagan Good
Votes: 53,353 | Gross: $42.67M
35. Case 39 (2009)
R | 109 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A social worker fights to save a girl from her abusive parents, only to discover that the situation is more dangerous than she ever expected.
Director: Christian Alvart | Stars: Renée Zellweger, Ian McShane, Jodelle Ferland, Bradley Cooper
Votes: 93,375 | Gross: $13.25M
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