“The Exorcist of the Pope”, “The Nun II” and timeless classics. The best horror movies on HBO Max

Less than two months after the premiere in cinemas, HBO Max released the sequel to the famous “The Nun” – “The Nun II”. Both films are part of the “The Conjuring” universe, a horror franchise that has grossed over $2 billion to date. “The Conjuring” has nine films (in addition to the two parts of “The Nun”, the series also includes “The Conjuring”, “Annabelle”, “The Conjuring 2”, “Annabelle: Rise of Evil”, “The Drowning: The Curse of La Llorona”, “Annabelle Comes Home “, “The Conjuring 3: At the Devil’s Command”). Their creators were inspired by cases described by paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, who dealt with possessions, hauntings and other manifestations of supernatural forces.

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The year is 1952. The Vatican receives news that a young nun from the remote Saint Cartha monastery in Romania has committed suicide. The church authorities send Father Burke (Demian Bichir) to investigate. He is accompanied by novice Irene (Taissa Farminga), who is interested in the relationship between religion and science. IN “The Nuns” together they discover the secret of the convent: two sisters living there were attacked by a demon who took the ghostly form of a nun. One of them was killed by him, and the other one committed suicide to avoid such death. The Order becomes a place of battle between the living and the damned.

IN “Monks II” Sister Irene comes face to face with the demon once again. This time it’s 1956 and the action takes place in France. A series of gruesome spiritual deaths occur in churches. The Vatican asks Irene for help. He is to find out the demon nun’s motive and send her back to hell. She is helped in this by a nun, Debra (Storm Reid), who is going through a crisis. The two go to a former convent that is now a boarding school for girls.

The film was based on the memories of the Italian priest Gabriel Amorth, who performed exorcisms for the Vatican. Amorth, who died in 2016, left behind many accounts of exorcisms he performed around the world (his memories were published in a book titled “Confessions of an Exorcist”). The priest sold the rights to adapt his memoirs a year before his death and he wanted them to be faithfully reproduced. He wrote about phenomena unexplained by science and medicine, but he did not attribute any of them to demons or spirits. It’s different in the movie. Creators “The Exorcist of the Pope” introduced Amorth (Russel Crowe) as a superhero. He investigates the possession of a child and discovers a conspiracy that the Vatican tried to keep secret – both of these plots were invented by the scriptwriters.

The next premiere of HBO Max is the second season of the series “30 pieces of silver”. Eight episodes of the critically acclaimed Spanish production continue the engaging story of Father Vergara (Eduard Fernández) – an exorcist, boxer and ex-convict who is exiled by the church authorities to a remote Spanish village. Strange things start happening in the area. The mayor and the veterinarian try to find out the truth and the meaning of an ancient silver coin, which turns out to be related to a conspiracy that threatens the world order. In the second season of the series, most of the town’s inhabitants are in a psychiatric hospital. As terrifying phenomena become more intense, the heroes must face a new enemy (Paul Giamatti). Someone so corrupt that even the Devil is afraid of him.

Produced by Quentin Tarantino “Hostel 1”, written and directed by Eli Roth, was considered a “shocking and macabre” film. Two Americans, Paxton (Jay Hernandez) and Josh (Derek Richardson), together with the newly met Oli, travel through Europe with backpacks in search of unforgettable experiences. They go to a hostel in Slovakia. At first they have a great time, but then they realize that they are trapped in a trap – a place where wealthy businessmen pay to satisfy their sick desires by murdering innocents. IN “Hostel 2” we meet three young American women staying in Rome as exchange students. But heroes “Hostel 3” are men celebrating a bachelor party in Las Vegas, persuaded by two women to attend a private party away from the center.

A cult classic from 1974 that has had several sequels. “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” is considered one of the best horror films in the history of cinematography. A group of teenagers sets off on a journey through the desolate areas of Texas. They decide to pick up a hitchhiker. When he injures disabled Frank, the teenagers throw him out of their van. This is the beginning of mysterious events. The heroes come to a farm inhabited – as they soon discover – by a family of bloodthirsty and cruel cannibals who hunt tourists. Young people will have to face the most dangerous murderer – Leatherface, who wears a mask made of human skin and kills with a chainsaw. An unequal fight for life begins.

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