Two things you should know about Hell House right up front: first, it has no relation at all to the Richard Matheson classic horror novel as it's a documentary about a 'Hell House' (among many) that's run by Christian evangelicals. Second, it's not as frightening as Jesus Camp. That film had a much more stricter and crazier form of indoctrination in its focus of kids at a camp to become the next big evangelical leader. Hell House isn't quite like that, and in its own warped way is a little more humbling. The people who make the Hell Houses, as seen in George Ratliff's documentary, are pretty open about their intentions to scare and scar the bejesus out of anyone who walks in with graphic and precisely melodramatic scenes detailing incestual rape, drug addiction, homosexuality, AIDS by homosexuality, and usually with a demon-devil thing following around a character. The ultimate message is "Come Be Saved!", but that's not why so many non-evangelicals go there.
They're not quite as uncommon as you might think, though it may depend on where you're situation in the USA (or, now happening, in other parts of the world). Certainly if one is near a big mega-church it's more likely, or in an area that is rabidly Christian (you know around whereabouts as it's the realm of people who talk-in-tongues, blabbering and gibberish meant to signify the Lord's presence through him/she/it). What's wonderful though in Ratliff's documentary is that he presents all of this without any strong bias; he's like a fly on the wall in the lead-up to a film or theater production, and the first thing I thought of during it was Waiting for Guffman, the mockumentary about a very- amateur theater group putting on a show.
To be sure these actors they hire and the writers and producers are *very* amateur, but that's a big part of the curiosity and charm. We see some of the looniness that pervades the Church, the anti-Gay and super-strict tenets of their faith. But it's also about the creative process and seeing how it unfolds. It may be a little scary to see these freak-show scenes put together for the Christian Right's version of Halloween, and it's also a lot of fun. It's like a carnival, and there's a reason it's so huge among non-Super-Christians. That is, some anyway; the one scene where we see some dissent comes from a few kids who argue with one of the Hell-House producers about how offensive it all is. They're not wrong, though they should have known what they were getting into in the first place.
The production of the Hell House, from its casting and rehearsals to the actual construction, is contrasted with a kind of sad story of one of the members/heads of the Hell-House organization with his family, one of whom has chronic seizures. It's sad, perhaps, that the kid is in the lot of life that he has, but also sadder still that the father puts God totally on call as the reason his son pulls through in one scene just because the ambulance doesn't show up quite right away. A story like this helps to humanize some of the people documented in the film, whether we'd like to have a cup of tea with them or not (which we probably wouldn't). Ratliff also has one-on-one shots with people who speak to the camera directly about what led them to where they are in the scope of the Church they're at, the pain that brought them to such a place. It's moving to see this, and I really respected the director's attempt to put a sympathetic light to these folks.
This is not to say some of Hell House isn't silly, or a little strange or, yes, a bit offensive if, say, you have AIDS or might be gay or an actual victim of abuse or drug addiction. It trivializes them into a carnival atmosphere, but hey, you can buy the ticket and take the ride, or not. I'm reminded of the line from Training Day as the cop looks at the newspaper: "This is 90% bull***... but it's entertaining."
They're not quite as uncommon as you might think, though it may depend on where you're situation in the USA (or, now happening, in other parts of the world). Certainly if one is near a big mega-church it's more likely, or in an area that is rabidly Christian (you know around whereabouts as it's the realm of people who talk-in-tongues, blabbering and gibberish meant to signify the Lord's presence through him/she/it). What's wonderful though in Ratliff's documentary is that he presents all of this without any strong bias; he's like a fly on the wall in the lead-up to a film or theater production, and the first thing I thought of during it was Waiting for Guffman, the mockumentary about a very- amateur theater group putting on a show.
To be sure these actors they hire and the writers and producers are *very* amateur, but that's a big part of the curiosity and charm. We see some of the looniness that pervades the Church, the anti-Gay and super-strict tenets of their faith. But it's also about the creative process and seeing how it unfolds. It may be a little scary to see these freak-show scenes put together for the Christian Right's version of Halloween, and it's also a lot of fun. It's like a carnival, and there's a reason it's so huge among non-Super-Christians. That is, some anyway; the one scene where we see some dissent comes from a few kids who argue with one of the Hell-House producers about how offensive it all is. They're not wrong, though they should have known what they were getting into in the first place.
The production of the Hell House, from its casting and rehearsals to the actual construction, is contrasted with a kind of sad story of one of the members/heads of the Hell-House organization with his family, one of whom has chronic seizures. It's sad, perhaps, that the kid is in the lot of life that he has, but also sadder still that the father puts God totally on call as the reason his son pulls through in one scene just because the ambulance doesn't show up quite right away. A story like this helps to humanize some of the people documented in the film, whether we'd like to have a cup of tea with them or not (which we probably wouldn't). Ratliff also has one-on-one shots with people who speak to the camera directly about what led them to where they are in the scope of the Church they're at, the pain that brought them to such a place. It's moving to see this, and I really respected the director's attempt to put a sympathetic light to these folks.
This is not to say some of Hell House isn't silly, or a little strange or, yes, a bit offensive if, say, you have AIDS or might be gay or an actual victim of abuse or drug addiction. It trivializes them into a carnival atmosphere, but hey, you can buy the ticket and take the ride, or not. I'm reminded of the line from Training Day as the cop looks at the newspaper: "This is 90% bull***... but it's entertaining."