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I don't want to spoil the party—I've been a VeggieTales fan for years—but, I do not feel compelled to rush out and see Jonah again and again. I chuckled a few times, and the music was a blast. But to me, the film felt like a long, mediocre episode that fell short of the comedic heights of the video series. (My full review is at Looking Closer.)

Here's the biggest problem: The storytellers have given the lead role to the character I find least interesting—Archibald Asparagus. Archibald is modeled after Monty Python's John Cleese, but his snobbishness keeps him from being a hero to whom children will easily relate. Stronger and funnier characters like Bob and Larry get pushed aside throughout the film, giving this snooty, monocle-wearing character the spotlight. Thus I found myself checking my watch. Don't get me wrong—I think families will find Jonah entertaining and amusing. I just wish the movie had lived up to the hilarious precedent set by the early episodes of the show.

Also a longtime VeggieTales fan, Steve Lansingh (Film Forum) expresses similar feelings of disappointment and bewilderment. He explains, "For every great one-liner or emotional moment, there's a grating character or a needless tangent. But particularly dismaying is what it assumes of its audience: That we already know the VeggieTales gang and we already know the story of Jonah. I find it very hard to understand, since this is the characters' big venture into the mainstream, why the movie makes no attempt to introduce its premise and give some indication of the relationships between characters. I'd have been lost if I hadn't seen the video episodes."

"Nevertheless," he concludes, "I want to applaud the film for the precedent it sets for VeggieTales to leave the Christian bubble and become a topic of conversation among all moviegoers."

Bob Waliszewski (Focus on the Family) is a bit concerned about how children will interpret the differences between the Bible story and the whimsical, goofy Veggie version. "My advice? Take the time to compare the real Jonah with the Veggie variety. That will help children to not conflate the two. Both the movie and the study afterward should be a whale of a good time for everyone."

Hell House is a new independent film about one church's unique method of spreading the gospel. It is not, as the title suggests, a horror film, although some viewers might be horrified by what they see. It is a challenging documentary that is starting debates among viewers, earning raves among critics, and winning awards at film festivals as it tours the country.

Director George Ratliff takes us behind the scenes in the construction of a haunted house organized by Trinity Church (Assemblies of God) in Cedar Hill, Texas. The exhibits inside are written and performed by well-intentioned young churchgoers who want to "encourage" visitors to turn to Jesus by showing them melodramatic, bloody, nightmarish spectacles of sinful behaviors like suicide, abortion, domestic violence, and more.

The Hell House experience is drawing thousands of people, and a profit, to the church, not to mention a great deal of criticism from unbelievers and Christians alike. The head of the program responds to the nay-sayers: "Is our ministry driven by fear? Is fear a part of it? Absolutely. A part of salvation is the fear of going to hell."

Director Ratliff deserves all of the praise he earns for not taking sides in his film. He just lets the camera roll. He shows the brainstorming sessions for skits like "the Rave Scene", where someone asks "Does anybody know the name of the date rape drug?" He shows the set construction, as designers try to paint a good pentagram on the wall of the Occult Scene, and others install openings in the floor where visitors will look down and see hell-dwellers trapped in their misery. Ratliff also takes us to the Sunday morning service at Trinity Church, complete with an outburst of tongues-speaking.

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October (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46