I'm sure Hell House was intended by the deeply religious people who appear in it as a means of saving "the lost". Instead, what it becomes is a shocking and horrifying look at religious extremism (yes, Islam is not the only religion burdened by extremists).
The one image that kept flashing through my head was of the low-budget cult classic "Faces of Death", in which a phony "Doctor of Death" presents a series of scenes (some authentic, some obviously fake)depicting various ways living things can die, including animal attacks, footage of autopsies, etc. Hell House has the exact same low-budget, creepy feel that Faces of Death had for me.
The most frightening thing is that the participants in the actual Hell House are convinced that they are saving young people by showing them their own extreme Judeo-Christian version of reality: girls who undergo abortions will go to hell, etc. What they are really doing is unnecessarily exposing young people to horrible graphic violence.
The way the people speak to each other is disturbing as well: everything is about "The Church"... the whole thing reeks of brainwashing. The discussions going on during the brainstorming session about what to do in the Hell House this year, as well as those going on during the casting reminded me of the films Bin Laden and his toadies send in to Al Jazeera TV talking about killing the infidels. The message is a little different, but the behavior and absolute mindless devotion to the "cause" is absolutely the same.
But the most horrifying and disgusting part for me was the footage from the "Christian school", where the teacher was talking about how they teach everything from the "Christian viewpoint", while the camera panned over a pile of textbooks with titles like "Spanish for Christian schools" and such. Reality and fact know no religion.
I see little difference between Muslim extremism and Christian extremism, with the exception that Muslim extremists engage in suicide missions. In both cases, the message is "Our way is the only way and if you don't follow it, you are doomed".
Jesus taught acceptance and love for fellow creatures. However, the people who participated in Hell House missed the point and are examples of the extreme right of Christianity, just as Bin Laden and the Taliban are representative of the extreme right of Islam. Unfortunately, too many people lacking direction in their life choose these paths that inevitably lead to their complete brainwashing and, effectively, losing sight of the real and usually very helpful teachings of their prophets and/or messiahs.
The one image that kept flashing through my head was of the low-budget cult classic "Faces of Death", in which a phony "Doctor of Death" presents a series of scenes (some authentic, some obviously fake)depicting various ways living things can die, including animal attacks, footage of autopsies, etc. Hell House has the exact same low-budget, creepy feel that Faces of Death had for me.
The most frightening thing is that the participants in the actual Hell House are convinced that they are saving young people by showing them their own extreme Judeo-Christian version of reality: girls who undergo abortions will go to hell, etc. What they are really doing is unnecessarily exposing young people to horrible graphic violence.
The way the people speak to each other is disturbing as well: everything is about "The Church"... the whole thing reeks of brainwashing. The discussions going on during the brainstorming session about what to do in the Hell House this year, as well as those going on during the casting reminded me of the films Bin Laden and his toadies send in to Al Jazeera TV talking about killing the infidels. The message is a little different, but the behavior and absolute mindless devotion to the "cause" is absolutely the same.
But the most horrifying and disgusting part for me was the footage from the "Christian school", where the teacher was talking about how they teach everything from the "Christian viewpoint", while the camera panned over a pile of textbooks with titles like "Spanish for Christian schools" and such. Reality and fact know no religion.
I see little difference between Muslim extremism and Christian extremism, with the exception that Muslim extremists engage in suicide missions. In both cases, the message is "Our way is the only way and if you don't follow it, you are doomed".
Jesus taught acceptance and love for fellow creatures. However, the people who participated in Hell House missed the point and are examples of the extreme right of Christianity, just as Bin Laden and the Taliban are representative of the extreme right of Islam. Unfortunately, too many people lacking direction in their life choose these paths that inevitably lead to their complete brainwashing and, effectively, losing sight of the real and usually very helpful teachings of their prophets and/or messiahs.