Hell House (2001)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

George Ratliff

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

This church wants to scare the Hell out of you.

Plot:

A look at the "Hell House" performed annually in October by the youth members of Trinity Church (Assemblies of God) in Cedar Hill...

Plot Keywords:

Assemblies Of God | Cerebral Palsy | Single Father | Texas | Church

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Aria Adloo	...	Herself
Ashley Adloo	...	Herself
Amy Allred	...	Herself
Gabriel Allred	...	Himself
Cherie Asbjornson	...	Herself
Tim Ferguson	...	Himself
Ben Hennesy	...	Himself
Jim Hennesy	...	Himself - Trinity Church pastor
Kristen Hennesy	...	Herself
Mark Hennesy	...	Himself
Rosanna Hennesy	...	Herself
Ryan Hennesy	...	Himself
J.R. Hernandez	...	Himself
Jennifer Hillman	...	Herself
Dave Hix	...	Himself
Paula Hix	...	Herself
Carol Holt	...	Herself
Howard Holt	...	Himself
Kaleb Holt	...	Himself
Kayce Holt	...	Herself
Bill Humphrey	...	Himself
Nancy Humphrey	...	Herself
Crystal Johnson	...	Herself
Jeremy Johnson	...	Himself
Lori Johnson
Summer Johnston
Natalie Jones
Tacara Jones
Becky Jordan
Jayson Just	...	Himself
Matthew Kaewpradit	...	Himself
Josh Kester	...	Himself
Jane King	...	Herself
Paul Kovarik	...	Himself
Jonathan Wallace	...	Himself
Brad Watts	...	Himself
Stacia Webb	...	Herself
Ben Weiss	...	Himself
Crystal Weiss	...	Herself
Josh Weiss	...	Himself
Nancy Weiss	...	Herself
Amber Wells	...	Herself
April Wells	...	Herself
Jerry Wells	...	Himself
Kristen White	...	Herself
Geoff Whitmore	...	Himself
Alan Wilson	...	Himself
Amy Wilson	...	Herself
Joel Wilson	...	Himself
Dawn Wolfe	...	Herself
Desiree Wright	...	Herself
Aaron Wulff
John Wulff	...	Himself
Josh Wulff
Suzanne Wulff
Ted Wulff

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Filming Locations:

Trinity Church - 1231 E. Pleasant Run Road, Cedar Hill, Texas, USA

Company:

GreenHouse Pictures

Quotes:

Interviewee: The world is the worst that it has ever been. It's an ugly, evil world and that's a scary thing, but at the same time, it's a good thing because that means that Jesus is close to coming, and he's about to come back for his bride.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "SexTV: Asexuals/Hell House/She Comes First (#7.11)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Heaven

Scarier than most horror films

Hell House is an interesting documentary looking at a church's annual performance that demonstrates to people how easy it is to be flung into the screaming maw of Hell. The filmmakers are careful not to be too judgemental of this bizarre phenomena but in doing so miss the chance to look at the moral complexity that the story really offers.

The church's Hell House appears to condemn people who are victims of others - in one section a girl, who we discover was abused by her father, has drugs plied upon her, is raped and then in despair commits suicide - for which she is condemned to Hell. Another vignette features a young man, abused as a child by his uncle (is there a theme here?), dying from AIDS - naturally he gets dispatched to Hell too. The church don't actually bother condemning the abusers as much as they do their victims. Presumably the abusers repent and the pearly gates open wide for them whilst their victims languish in a hell of red lights, dry ice and perspex ceilings.

The film is fascinating and yet leaves the feeling that it could have been so much more. It also opens for debate the true morality and humanity of the people who organise this ghoulish performance.