Say Your Prayers... And Die Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Exorcist

In this horror classic, the first of the genre to be nominated for an Oscar (it received 10 nominations, including Best Picture, and won two), Father Merrin (played by Max von Sydow) was one of the Catholic priests called in to exorcize a demon, later discovered to be named Pazuzu in a sequel, from a young Washington D.C. girl by the name of Regan. Merrin's fate is inevitable from early on; both he and Father Karras risk their lives during the battle of good vs. evil, ultimately saving Regan. The movie was a huge success earning over $440,000,000 in the box office and joining the U.S. National Film Registry. Director William Friedkin was nominated for Best Director, an award he won two years earlier for "The French Connection".

Answer: The Fog

Released two years after Carpenter's hit slasher flick, "Halloween", "The Fog" was set in a seaside town cursed by the ghosts of sailors who were killed a century earlier. When Father Malone (played by Hal Holbrook) found a journal outlining the event he feared that the ghosts would return to kill the descendants of the men who sunk their ship.

The movie also starred Carpenter's then-wife Adrienne Barbeau and scream queen (and frequent collaborator) Jamie Lee Curtis. The film earned over $20,000,000 in the box office and received the remake treatment in 2005 (to critical panning).

The original has since become a cult classic.

Answer: Freddy Krueger

"Dream Warriors" was the third film in the "Nightmare on Elm Street" series. In this movie, a group of kids experiencing deadly nightmares are helped by none other than Nancy Thompson, the survivor of Freddy's first attacks, as she has become a doctor specializing in night terrors.

While she and the kids enter the dream world and use magic dream powers to fight off their burnt enemy, her colleague, Dr. Gordon, investigates the words of a cryptic nun, Sister Mary Helena, who is revealed to be none other than Amanda Krueger, Freddy's mother. Said nun reappears in the fifth movie as well, "The Dream Child" (1989).

Answer: Prince of Darkness

In one of Carpenter's many 'evils that could end all humanity' films, the Anti-Christ is unearthed as a liquid in a small cylinder. This, in turn, traps a number of scientists and religious figures in a church as they try to determine what to do (and what exactly it is).

Unfortunately, the liquid is able to use its powers to possess many of the characters (and more), causing odd psychological harm and opening ways into other dimensions. The film starred Donald Pleasence and only made $14,000,000 in the box office after critical panning.

It was one of the director's lower-grossing releases.

Answer: Vampires

One of Carpenter's more successful horror releases, "Vampires" was a western-styled horror placing James Woods' priest/vampire hunter into a desolate New Mexican environment to rid the area of blood-sucking fiends. Based on a book by John Steakley, it ended up reaching the top of the box office, the first of Carpenter's films to do so in a decade (since "They Live" in 1988).

His subsequent releases were considered box office bombs and flops, but he would find renewed audiences on TV's "Masters of Horror"; his "Pro-Life" episode would tackle abortion specifically, and partly take into account the religious argument behind it.

Answer: Frailty

Oddly underrated, "Frailty" didn't strike gold in the box office but ended up being a noteworthy horror-thriller in the early 2000s. Bill Paxton starred as a father of two children who, after allegedly receiving the word from God, was given gloves, a pipe, and an axe with which he would be able to dispose of people whose crimes and sins he had the gift of seeing.

The movie also starred Matthew McConaughey and earned just over $17,000,000 internationally.

Answer: Silent Hill

Directed by Christophe Gans, "Silent Hill" was a surprising success (considering the fate of most video game adaptations) earning nearly $100,000,000 in the box office and receiving a sequel in 2012. The film starred Radha Mitchell and Sean Bean as parents of an adopted girl named Sharon whose night terrors and sleepwalking pointed to a past in a town called Silent Hill. Rose, the mother, brings her there, gets trapped in the dangerous fogs of the city, loses Sharon, and discovers a horrible past of religious fanaticism leading the locals to sacrifice outsiders to save themselves.

Answer: Orphan

"Orphan" was a surprise success story in terms of horror films. Starring Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard, the movie featured a family looking to adopt a young child. When they brought well-behaved Esther home, things started going wrong. As Farmiga's character delved deeper into knowing the truth, Esther started lashing out more and more, killing several people (including the nun in charge of her previous orphanage, nearly murdering the children, etc.).

As it turned out, there was something much more sinister behind the young girl's facade.

The movie earned over $75,000,000 internationally.

Answer: The Last Exorcism

"The Last Exorcism" was highly-anticipated due to its association with "Hostel" creator Eli Roth and it ended up grossing nearly $70,000,000 in the box office debuting at #2 in the U.S. The film followed Cotton Marcus, a minister who had fallen out of the faith to an extent, following a family's pleas to rid their daughter of the demons inside her. Over the course of the film, Marcus debunked his exorcism procedures but discovered that perhaps something was amiss out on the farm.

The movie was filmed with a handicam as though it were a documentary following his final exorcism.

The movie received a sequel in 2013; due to poor awareness of the movie, it only grossed $15,000,000. It was also critically panned.

Answer: The Devil Inside

Regarded as having one of the worst endings of any horror film ever released, "The Devil Inside" was horribly panned. After one week at the top of the box office, earning over $30,000,000 in the first week of releases in 2012, "The Devil Inside's" appeal dropped dramatically when viewers got to the end of the movie and were told that they could learn more about what happens, in essence, the end of the film, by visiting a website. Up until that point, the movie followed Isabella Rossi as she traveled to Rome to meet with her institutionalized mother who, possessed by many demons, sparked murders, additional possessions, and hi-jinx in Italy's capital.

The movie was, like many of the time, shot in the found-footage style.