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Pacts, Possession and Damnation

A run through cinema's long argument with the Devil, from silent-era Faustian bargains and medieval witch hunts through 1970s possession and Antichrist films to Catholic guilt fever dreams, all asking what faith costs when evil seems to answer back.

The anchors are the canonical crowd-frighteners (The Exorcist, The Omen, Carrie), but most of the run is cinephile and cult territory: silent classics, Polish and Japanese visions of hell, and Ken Russell's still-notorious The Devils; some of it is hard going and much of it is upsetting, so watch it on a late October night when you're ready for it.

• The Exorcist (1973)
• The Omen (1976)
• Carrie (1976)
• The Devil's Advocate (1997)
• The Wicker Man (1973)
• Faust (1926)
• Häxan (1922)
• The Phantom Carriage (1921)
• The Devils (1971)
• Mother Joan of the Angels (1961)
• Jigoku (1960)
• Don't Torture a Duckling (1972)
• Santa Sangre (1989)
• The 4th Man (1983)
• The Third Part of the Night (1972)