What the Hell? For Christians it has long been represented as lakes of fire where the damned are tortured for all eternity. It's interesting to note that this view is a combination of repeated incorrect translations from the original Hebrew, and visions of hell that traders brought back with them from Asia. Hell, even the Catholic Church admitted that it was a theoretical concept as opposed to a physical place. A hundred million fundamentalists seemed to have missed the bulletin.
For the past 10 years the Trinity Church in Cedar Hill Texas has put together a Hell House for Halloween. It is hoped that the graphic depiction of bloodied sinners being dragged off by demons will help to convert the unbelievers in the audience.
The project begins in August and students compete for such roles as `abortion girl', `drug dealer' and of course the much coveted `rape victim/suicide' (best because it combines acting with dancing in the rave scene). But it isn't the cartoonish performances or buckets of fake blood that I found to be unsettling.
Many of the `actors' reveal personal traumas - rape, divorce, abandonment and it is evident that the program serves as a form of catharsis (even though they are unaware of it). They can regurgitate the evangelical fire and brimstone rhetoric that they've been subjected to but when asked simple questions they make about as much sense as the `touched' few speaking in tongues.
The skewed list of `sinners' includes a passenger killed in a DUI, a gay incest victim dying of AIDS and a bullied young man who kills himself., only serves to highlight the intolerance of this group. The skits themselves range from the laughable to the ludicrous, but the standout involves a young woman who is drawn to the dark side after reading Harry Potter novels. The centerpiece in the occult sacrificial dungeon is a pentagram which upon closer inspection turns out to be the Star of David. That mistake (which I believe was unintentional) says more than any words ever could.
What makes this film even more frightening is that the designers of Hell House have converted over 15,000 to their way of thinking.
For the past 10 years the Trinity Church in Cedar Hill Texas has put together a Hell House for Halloween. It is hoped that the graphic depiction of bloodied sinners being dragged off by demons will help to convert the unbelievers in the audience.
The project begins in August and students compete for such roles as `abortion girl', `drug dealer' and of course the much coveted `rape victim/suicide' (best because it combines acting with dancing in the rave scene). But it isn't the cartoonish performances or buckets of fake blood that I found to be unsettling.
Many of the `actors' reveal personal traumas - rape, divorce, abandonment and it is evident that the program serves as a form of catharsis (even though they are unaware of it). They can regurgitate the evangelical fire and brimstone rhetoric that they've been subjected to but when asked simple questions they make about as much sense as the `touched' few speaking in tongues.
The skewed list of `sinners' includes a passenger killed in a DUI, a gay incest victim dying of AIDS and a bullied young man who kills himself., only serves to highlight the intolerance of this group. The skits themselves range from the laughable to the ludicrous, but the standout involves a young woman who is drawn to the dark side after reading Harry Potter novels. The centerpiece in the occult sacrificial dungeon is a pentagram which upon closer inspection turns out to be the Star of David. That mistake (which I believe was unintentional) says more than any words ever could.
What makes this film even more frightening is that the designers of Hell House have converted over 15,000 to their way of thinking.