Product Description

Hell Houses are a distinctly American phenomenon which began in 1990 just outside of Dallas, at the Trinity Assembly of God Church. The original Hell House was conceived as a modern-day fire-and-brimstone sermon. Today, this religious ceremony of sorts is replete with actors, extensive lighting equipment and full audio-visual tech crews. Inside the Hell House, tour guides dressed as demons take visitors from room to room to view depictions of school massacres, date rape, AIDS-related deaths, fatal drunk driving crashes, and botched abortions. Hell Houses have now spread to hundreds of churches worldwide. With full access to the behind-the-scenes action, HELL HOUSE follows the process from the first script meeting until the last of the 10,000 visitors passes through the Hell House doors. The movie gives a verite window into the whole process of creating this over-the-top sermon, while showing an intimate portrait of the people who fervently believe its message. The film also features a score by Bubba and Matthew Kadane, formerly of the band Bedhead.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #55377 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-05-27
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 85 minutes

Customer Reviews

Ignorance on Parade
This is an admirably objective and well-made film, which chronicles the production of an evangelical Christian church's Halloween Hell House, an annual attraction that attempts to win souls for the church by trying to scare people with silly and misinformed portrayals of the horrors of secular life. In their attempt to construct an "occult" scene, church members actually paint a Star of David on the floor because they have no idea what a pentagram looks like, and they base their color scheme on the advice of a "warlock" who came to the Hell House some years before. No pagan or witch calls himself a warlock unless he's gotten all his information on the topic from watching "Charmed," which these churchgoers would know if they bothered to put any effort into research at all. Ignorance abounds here, from the cretinous portrayal of homosexuality as a result of childhood sexual abuse to the epic misrepresentation of the abortion pill RU-486. Throughout each revolting little playlet, the cardboard characters are taunted by a cackling Satan character who makes it sound like they deserve what they're getting and wouldn't be suffering if they'd had the correct beliefs. One gets the feeling that this church is pleased as punch to see them go to hell, and the Satan character conveys this with real glee. This kind of nastiness and cynicism has no place in a religion supposedly built on love. I was glad to see scenes of audience members giggling at all the hoary amateur dramatics, but the awful thing is that Hell Houses across the country do win converts through these showcases of bigotry and delusion. Maybe somebody should put on a Fundamentalism House. Now that would be scary.

Former Cast Member
I spent ten years working various scenes at the Trinity Church Hellhouse. Yes, it is a bit campy, and yes, it is often over the top, but I can say that the people are well intentioned, just a bit off target. I attended Trinity Church from birth until I was 22 years old. I do not attend their anymore because of the close-minded attitude that is prevalant in this documentary. I stopped doing HellHouse when they added the decision room my last year. I just felt it was an un-biblical scare tactic. I now feel that way about the entire operation. The worst feeling I get is knowing the young teenagers are blindly following the leadership without doing any research themselves. I know because I was once one of them. I have found that a growing number of former Trinity Youth Group members my age do not attend there for the same reasons I listed above. This movie will open your eyes to the way teens are herded like cattle in fundamentalist Christian Churches.

Turning the Good News into Bad News
I grew up in an evangelical church where scare tactics and repeated warnings that Jesus' return was imminent were used to keep you on the straight and narrow path.

I thought the scene where the leader confronts a group of offended teenagers who obviously didn't appreciate that rather black and white portrayal of life, and made no bones about it. As much as I agree with a theology that places Jesus at the center of life, I found myself agreeing more with those that took offense than to the leadership of this church that doesn't seem to realize what the implications of what they're doing really are.

I wonder how the members of this group would feel if there was a similar house set up that portrayed the worst aspects of church life and scared people away from every coming to church. How about a room where a Sunday school teacher is found out for cheating on his wife, or an authoritarian pastor steamrolls over the life of one of his parishioners or misappropriates church funds? How about seeing the fallout that comes after one of these Pentecostal-type pastors intimates that he knows the date of the Second Coming? How about a room where a priest is buggering an altar boy? I wonder what the reaction to that would be?

I really wonder sometimes if God appreciates his calling card being offered in the guise of fearmongering and extremism. I can think of nothing better than people having God encounters; but I am thinking that if the impulse is fear and not love, then the encounter is dimmed if not tarnished altogether. My gut feeling is that people who get scared into the kingdom are spiritual parapalegics; yes, they are in the door but they are forced to get around in wheelchairs.

Jesus... save us from your followers...