Rooms In Possession Films (Exorcisms)

• Though it is significantly dated, this image (right) taken from a scene from the 1973 classic horror The Exorcist gives a good and prominent example of a room where the possessed individual is being kept. In this image, the main object within the scene is the be which has no duvet or overlying layers and just a mattress. This is a commonly used object within a possession scene, especially where the subject is being exorcised. 
• The padding around the bed frame acts as a cushion and protection during the exorcism. These details make the room seem more like a setting for an exorcism or possession in general. The room is made purposefully dark with the only lighting being small lamps around the room. The darkness of the room is designed to be eerie and create suspense. The lighting created by low-lying lamps creates prominent shadows on the walls of, most notably in this image, the exorcist and the bed. 
• Overall, the room pictured is quite plain but this is done purposefully so that the lighting can create the main eerie effect. The room is also plain because the possessed subject is usually the main focus of the scene and the lack of objects in the room means that the subject has the audience's full attention.

• Similar to in The Exorcist, this screenshot from the 2010 horror film The Last Exorcism gives a good example of the setting and the contents of a typical exorcism room. 
• The room pictures uses the same main object of a double bed to carry out the exorcism. This is quite a typical piece of furniture to use during an exorcism within film. This is because it creates a composition which allows the audience to clearly see who is getting exorcised and the exorcist who is usually standing over the possessed individual.
• The setting created for this film seems to have incorporated more religious and spiritual elements including candles. This is effective as religion and spirituality is often a commonly used theme in supernatural horrors, especially when an exorcism is involved. 
• The room as a whole seems old-fashioned, notably the four-post wooden bed and the floral duvet cover. This creates a sense of, and relates to, old-fashioned ghost stories such as those of the Victorian era which is known to be effective in creating a spooky and eerie atmosphere.