Fundamental to Radical: 6 Religious Extremism Horror Movies
2021 began with a bang: There was a violent insurrection staged at the Capitol building by groups tied to religious extremism right before the highly anticipated Saint Maud finally got a release date after being delayed six months due to, shocker, the ongoing pandemic. Rose Glass’ debut feature’s release ended up closely coinciding with one of the boldest examples of radicalized people stepping up to the plate to serve God in a way that will disturb and haunt us for years to come—and it’s hard not to think the timing cosmic after watching the film. It’s almost as if it had something to say. Religious extremism horror isn’t new, but it certainly made its mark this year.
When we meet Morfydd Clark’s Maud, she is returning to her job as a private carer for the infirm under the guidance of the Lord, with whom she regularly engages in one-sided communication amid her lonely daily life after a traumatic incident with a former ward. She’s convinced God has a larger purpose for her, which is an obvious part of the driving force behind her taking drastic action in the name of religion. But before Maud unearths that purpose—or before real-life folks who allow religion to drive their urges to dangerous heights uncover their passion for things like pro-life advocation, anti-gay marriage lobbying or attempting to overturn an election—she needs a reason to find it in the first place.
Her new ward is the fiery Amanda, a 40-something retired dancer with spunk, a distaste for religion, and terminal cancer. Something about the woman compels Maud to protect Amanda’s soul from eternal hellfire at whatever cost, giving the devout Christian the grounds (in her mind) to go as far as necessary to achieve her cause. As they say, there will be blood—that of Maud and others. This realization is not unlike ones that real-life extremists have in the throes of their most volatile and vicious acts. It’s the kind of rhetoric we’ve seen in right-leaning Facebook groups, Parler posts and directly out of the mouths of our politicians. The concept might be scary in the heightened world of the film—and it is—but the violent potential is even scarier in real life.
However, Maud isn’t the only pious zealot to take center stage in the horror genre in recent years. The following six films also radiate the same overwhelming sense of dread that real-life religious extremism breeds, so say a prayer and watch…if you dare.
What You’re In For: Karyn Kusama’s 2015 stunner slowly dips the viewer into a honey pot of paranoid trepidation as Will (Logan Marshall-Green) and his girlfriend Kira (Emayatzy Corinealdi) attend a dinner party peppered with old friends and unexpected guests at his ex-wife Eden (Tammy Blanchard) and her new husband David’s (Michiel Huisman) home. Something unnerves Will from the start, though, and sets him down a path of suspicion that leads to an unholy secret that threatens the evening.
How Extreme Is Extreme? Friendships are tested at the end of the barrel of a gun—and the night certainly does not end without mass bloodshed—all in the name of a supposed higher power.
What You’re In For: Three rowdy guys find themselves in a living Hell when a fanatical pastor’s daughter drugs their beers after a group sex invitation in this underrated 2011 horror. The men wake up on her father’s altar at the local extremist church, minutes away from being ritually murdered—but can they figure out a way to escape their sadistic fate?
How Extreme Is Extreme? Writer/Director Kevin Smith told Rotten Tomatoes that Fred Phelps, infamous leader of the Westboro Baptist Church, “really informed” the late Michael Parks’ character, Pastor Abin Cooper—so you know this one’s a doozy.
