ABSTRACT
In the late 1960s to 1970s, many supernatural horror films, such as Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and The Exorcist (1973), were produced and released, creating a huge fad. The outbreak of the supernatural horror subgenre is generally understood by critics as a reflection of and reaction to the following:
certain religious events or issues of the 1960s: the election of a new pope in 1964; the well-publicized notion of “God is Dead”; the crisis in the Catholic church as so many priests and nuns left the church; the explosion of interest in astrology, horoscopes, and Eastern religion; and the sense in the United States of a special need for a spiritual connection at a time when church attendance had decreased and the country was undergoing social cataclysm. 1
