Hell House
Christianity Today Movies did not review this film, but here's what other critics are saying ...
compiled by Jeffrey Overstreet | posted 1/01/2002
 1 of 3
from Film Forum, 09/19/02
A new independent film called Hell House is beginning to get a lot of attention from mainstream and religious media critics. It is a documentary about a sort of shock-theatre tradition that has been going on in some churches for some time. In the "Hell House," actors portray horrific scenarios of sin and judgment—for instance, a rape, an abortion, or domestic violence—in hopes of terrifying their audiences into accepting Jesus Christ as their savior.
Michael Elliott (Movie Parables) describes the film: "Director George Ratcliff … takes his cameras behind the scenes of the 10th annual Halloween Hell House production offered by the sincere and well-meaning fundamental Christians of the Trinity Church (Assemblies of God) in Cedar Hill, Texas. This surprisingly unjudgmental documentary gives us an extended look into an extremely controversial and oftentimes distasteful exercise in evangelical fervor."
The film has been showing at various film festivals recently. Mixed reviews are coming in from both mainstream critics and religious media reviewers. Many, even some Christian critics, applaud the film's carefully neutral tone, but the same writers express bewilderment at why anyone would engage in such propagandistic theatre.
Have you seen the film? Are you familiar with the "Hell House" tradition? I'd be interested in hearing from you.
In the upcoming weeks, Film Forum will include links to reviews and responses regarding this film that is leaving so many viewers bewildered and disturbed.
from Film Forum, 10/10/02
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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