Hollywood has spent decades frightening audiences with spinning heads, levitating bodies and priests shouting down demons. But Catholic exorcist Father Carlos Martins says the most terrifying part of alleged demonic possession isn’t what the audience can see. It’s what they can’t.
“The thing that Hollywood doesn’t pick up well is the demonic mind,” Fr. Martins told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview ahead of Halloween, as the third season of “The Exorcist Files” podcast gets underway.
“It picks up [the devil’s] demonic power well, throwing of chairs, the screaming, levitating and so on and so forth. But his rage, his inner anger, his disgust with humans and God, that it doesn’t get well.”
FATHER CARLOS MARTINS RECOUNTS CHILLING EXORCISM, CLAIMS WOMAN MOVED OBJECTS WITHOUT TOUCHING THEM
Fr. Martins, who co-hosts the podcast with co-creator Ryan Bethea, described what he believes Hollywood misses about the psychological dimension of alleged demonic encounters, including an incident in which he said a person undergoing an exorcism threatened to bomb a flight he was scheduled to take the following day.
“Why are you here? You’re not supposed to be here. I’m going to bomb your flight tomorrow,” Fr. Martins recalled hearing while assisting another exorcist.
The priest said he subsequently changed his flight, not because of the threat, but because the session had been so productive that he offered to remain for additional appointments.
When he returned the next day, Fr. Martins said, the person appeared surprised by his presence.
CAN FAITH HELP PATIENTS HEAL? VETERAN DOCTOR REVEALS WHAT HE’S WITNESSED FIRSTHAND
“You weren’t supposed to be here,” he recalled the possessed person saying.
Fr. Martins interpreted the encounter as evidence of what he believes is the extraordinary but imperfect intelligence of the devil and demonic beings. He said the apparent knowledge of his original flight contrasted with the alleged demonic entity’s failure to anticipate his changed plans.
For Fr. Martins, the encounter was a chilling example of why he believes the most frightening aspect of demonic possession has very little to do with the supernatural spectacles audiences see on-screen.
The third season of “The Exorcist Files” launched Oct. 5, with new episodes scheduled to roll out over the next two months.
Among the new cases is an especially complicated account involving multiple family members, according Bethea.
IOWA CITY COUNCIL MEETING ERUPTS AFTER FORMER MEMBER OPENS WITH SATANIC PRAYER AND ‘HAIL SATAN’
“There is one particular episode this season that involves so many moving parts and multiple family members being demonized,” Bethea told Fox News Digital.
The case, he added, “actually spans hundreds of years.”
Bethea said the story may encourage listeners to examine unresolved trauma, mental health concerns and other personal struggles that he and Fr. Martins believe may contribute to spiritual vulnerability.
The podcast, which dramatizes purported exorcism case files, has also challenged Bethea’s own understanding of spiritual warfare.
After working with Fr. Martins and hearing similar accounts from other exorcists, Bethea said he has become more confident in his Christian faith rather than more fearful of the supernatural.
“I have walked away feeling, ironically, less scared and more confident than ever,” he said.
SACRED PAGES OF 1,000-YEAR-OLD GOSPEL REVEAL ANCIENT DNA SCIENTISTS NEVER EXPECTED
Fr. Martins warned that what he considers the greatest danger of demonic influence is not necessarily its physical manifestations, but the intimate knowledge he believes the devil and evil forces possess about their targets.
“When you’re dealing with the devil, you’re dealing with an entity that has observed you your whole life,” Fr. Martins said. “He knows your weaknesses. He knows where your soft spots are. He knows what your preferences are.”
“So he knows exactly where to press and how hard to cause maximal damage,” the priest added.
Fr. Martins cautioned against attempting to confront demonic forces without spiritual preparation, arguing that human intelligence alone is no match for the adversary he describes as the “ancient serpent.”
The priest acknowledged that the 1973 horror classic “The Exorcist” remains, in his view, a compelling depiction of what can occur during an exorcism, although he singled out the film’s famous head-spinning sequence as physically impossible.
He also described witnessing what appeared to be a person’s canine teeth growing several inches, an experience he attributed to a supernatural illusion rather than an actual physical transformation.
POPE LEO VISITS SITE OF MIRACLE CURES, MEETS PEOPLE WHOSE UNEXPLAINED HEALINGS STUNNED DOCTORS
For Fr. Martins, however, the disturbing imagery is secondary to what he described as the hatred and irrationality of the demonic mind.
“Because that is the part of him that has no rational explanation,” he said.
Despite the dramatic subject matter, Fr. Martins said the actual practice of exorcism is considerably less theatrical than its Hollywood portrayal.
“I never yell at the devil. I’ve never heard of an exorcist doing that,” Fr. Martins said.
He described exorcism as a generally calm process centered on prayer, spiritual reconciliation and helping the individual receiving assistance.
“The job of the exorcist is not to cast out the devil,” Fr. Martins said.
Rather than attempting to overpower an alleged demon through increasingly forceful prayers, Fr. Martins said he seeks to understand why he believes the entity has gained influence over an individual and how that person can return to a state of reconciliation with Christ.
The priest also described exorcist training as largely an apprenticeship process, with less experienced priests learning alongside seasoned practitioners before conducting sessions independently.
FORMER TV ANCHOR WHO PLEADED GUILTY TO KILLING MOTHER LAST HALLOWEEN GETS LIFE SENTENCE
With Halloween approaching, Fr. Martins and Bethea also addressed whether ordinary holiday traditions pose spiritual dangers.
Fr. Martins said he does not oppose children dressing up or going trick-or-treating, although he would discourage costumes celebrating evil or demonic imagery.
“Would I allow my children to go trick or treating? Yeah, I would,” Fr. Martins said. “I would never let them go dressed as something sordid. As something evil, as something devilish or demonic.”
The priest said he would have no objection to children dressing as ordinary characters or participating in family-friendly Halloween traditions, provided the costumes did not celebrate something he considers contrary to his religious beliefs.
Bethea similarly defended activities such as trick-or-treating and harvest festivals, recalling how his mother enthusiastically created Halloween costumes when he was a child.
However, he cautioned against practices he associates with occult involvement.
MASSIVE 2,000-YEAR-OLD DISCOVERY FROM TIME OF JESUS EMERGES REMARKABLY INTACT
The podcast has featured several cases involving Ouija boards, including an account in which a grandmother reportedly gave her grandson a board so they could communicate after her death.
Another case involved three children experimenting with a Ouija board, with one allegedly experiencing disturbing consequences, despite not having initiated the activity, according to Bethea.
He also identified astrology and tarot cards among practices the hosts discourage, arguing that they can expose people to what he believes are spiritual dangers.
“We would say there are plenty of fun, other games that you can play,” Bethea said.
He jokingly suggested Risk and Monopoly as alternatives, before noting that greed could also be considered a sin.
Bethea emphasized that the show’s accounts should not be interpreted as a reason to assume every unexplained experience has a supernatural cause, and pointed to psychological assessments and other scrutiny involved in determining whether someone should receive an exorcism.
The co-host also acknowledged that he had not seen evidence establishing Halloween as a universally heightened period of supernatural activity, despite hearing such claims from people interviewed for the podcast.
For both hosts, the larger message of “The Exorcist Files” is intended to be one of hope over fear.
Bethea said producing the series has strengthened his Christian faith, and listeners have contacted the show describing renewed religious commitment after hearing its stories.
Fr. Martins likewise said that although his work involves confronting what he believes to be demonic forces, he does not spend his personal life preoccupied with the devil.
“You know, the devil has a plan for you. But the good news is, so does God,” he said. “Am I afraid of the devil? No, I’m afraid of being separated from Jesus Christ.”
