Religious elements related to Christianity used in the horror films

This study concerns the thesis asserting that the horror cinema being one of the most important entertainment tools for people especially in the present century employs some religious elements available in Christianity in order to scare the audience. The religion which has existed as from beginning of the humanity satisfies our curiosity about the unknown and also has caused us to be afraid with some of its elements. The horror which has also been with us as from beginning of the humanity has been transferred to the movie screen with development of the cinema. People are more afraid of what they believe to exist by their nature. The devil, the devil invasion, the witch, the magic, the sin have become even more frightening to the extent that they take place in the "religion", Sacred Books, words of the prophets or in the myths of those who are deemed as authorities. The horror cinema has been aware of this situation as from the date when it started to produce its first examples and presented these elements to the audience in the scariest way with opportunities enabled by the technology. This study starts with definition of the horror term and the horror cinema and continues with explanation of the relationship between the horror and horror cinema and the religion. In this regard, terms of the devil, exorcism, witch, magic and sin that exist in the Christianity and are considered as the horror element both today and in the past have been examined, and the films selected as example for subject have been evaluated in terms of Christianity at the end of each chapter. Keywords: Horror Cinema, Christianity, Devil, Witch, Sin.