Say Your Prayers! Movieline's Halloween 25 Takes On the Devil

· The Sentinel (1977)

A disturbed model moves into a beautiful Brooklyn Heights apartment and discovers that the only other inhabitant of the building is a blinded priest. So wait: Who were all of those strange people down the hall who had her over for a party the other night? And what's with all the ominous satanic omens? The story eventually takes on epic and slightly convoluted proportions, but getting there is a creepy, nerve-racking journey not recommended for lone late night viewing. Upon release, the film came under fire because director Michael Winner used actual deformed human beings to stage the terrifying finale.

· Evilspeak (1981)

Hooo boy. So in Eric Weston's early-'80s techno-Satanic-revenge thriller, Clint Howard plays a bullied military student who stumbles across a computer that has been possessed by the soul of of some Satanist who was executed in the middle ages. The computer promises Howard the powers of black magic in exchange for the blood of his classmates. I'll admit that despite this amazing set up, a lot of the film plays like a Carrie rip-off with Howard in Sissy Spacek's role -- although one scene where a naked woman gets attacked in the shower by wild boars is the stuff of legend. But the film really kicks into gear during the last half-hour, which involves Howard flying around with a giant sword, chopping off the heads of the bullies who wronged him. Words can't begin to do this sequence justice. You must see it for yourself.

· House of the Devil (2009)

Ti West's slow-burn throwback to the Satanic panic of the '80s is a masterpiece of mood and tension, which... Well, let's not spoil the finale. Shy and strapped for cash, Samantha shows up for a babysitting job, only to find out from the eerie family that there isn't actually a baby. Instead, she's just supposed to stay at the house for a few hours and make sure nothing goes wrong with their mother, who is resting upstairs. You can probably guess from the title that there's more to the story, but what really gets under your skin about this film is how expertly West evokes abandonment and fear of the unknown during the build-up. The result is a film that taps into audiences' deeper subconscious fears rather than relying on twists, gore or "gotcha!" moments for scares. It received a number of accolades when it opened last year -- if you haven't seen it yet, get to it!

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