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.
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.