Holy hell, a documentary by will allen, is an account of an american religious cult as told by a filmmaker who was right in the middle of it in the 80s, and whose skills were put in service of glorifying it. We see the organization and planning of the event including auditions, construction, scripting and rehearsals. Hell house a haunted house by trinity church in texas lots of pics trinity church members christina hunt c, 19, and jonathan collins l, 18, act out an abortion scene as a video of a foetus is flashed on television screens overhead during hell house in cedar hill, texas october 30, 2006. Five years after an unexplained malfunction causes the death of 15 tourgoers and staff on the opening night of a halloween haunted house tour, a documentary crew travels back to the scene of the. Hell houses are the evangelical christian churchs answer to a haunted house. The movie gives a window into the whole outrageous process of. At first glance a soupedup halloween haunted house, hell houses are. Teenagers vied for the enviable roles of abortion girl or aids boy, and when the performances ended, the church held a hell house oscar night to award best suicide and best rape. The film follows the youth group of the cedar hill trinity church, documenting. Former austinite george ratliff returns to town with his new documentary, hell house, which explores the trinity churchs way of converting teens to christ by scaring the pants off them. I cant believe actual children were allowed inside. Shot at the trinity assembly of god church in texas, the film chronicles the. This documentary chronicles a full performance season at the original hell house in dallas which boasts an annual audience of more than 10,000 people and investigates whether its organizers. A house that was once the home of a family accused of mass murder.
The parish of our lady of perpetual help still exists, though in the late 1950s it moved to a more modern facility about a mile south on ilchester road. The goal is to scare you as far as what hell is like and make you. A look at the hell house performed annually in october by the youth members of trinity church assemblies of god in cedar hill, texas a dallas suburb seen by over 10,000 visitors each year. Hell houses have now spread to hundreds of churches worldwide. A look at the hell house performed annually in october by the youth members of trinity church assemblies of god in cedar hill, texas a dallas suburb. That weekend, as on most weekends, adrian went to a punk show in the dallasfort worth area where he lived. Hell house a haunted house by trinity church in texas.
This attraction was immortalized in the 2002 documentary hell house. Official site for the documentary film holy hell, directed by will allen. Hell house 2001 where to watch it streaming online reelgood. One day in may 1999, cleetus adrian was watching the apostle, the 1997 film starring robert duvall, whenas he tells ithe heard god tell him to become a pastor. Each year, the house gets over 10,000 people who watch seven morality plays. Much of it consists of video footage generated by allen when he was a member of the buddhafield, a homegrown religion led by a man named michel. It looked like a gray cement fortress with broken angles and windows similar to eyes. Though this documentary was released in 2003, the christian brainwashing of highly impressionable children and lesser intelligent adults continues to this day, and the ridiculous message of the church in charge of the titular hell house puts that well into perspective. Watch the bombing of wall street american experience. The hell house this country mansion seemingly offered an idyllic setting to educate catholic boys, but behind closed doors, rupertswood was anything but peaceful. Adrians father was a nazarene pastor, and he already attended his fathers church. Then, after some moments we saw the same pope entering a church, but this church was the church of hell. Hell house is a 2001 documentary that was directed by george ratliff that focuses on the idea of a.
Cnn is airing the documentary film holy hell which tells the story of buddhafield, a cult in west hollywood that was popular in the 1980s. Hell houses are the evangelical christian church s answer to a haunted house, a fundamentalist fight night meant to scare the bejesus out of any nonbeliever. In a scene from central baptist churchs hell house, the brother mourns the deaths of his sister and mother as his father waits to discuss where their spirits are heading. Dallas pentecostal trinity church and the controversial haunted house that it puts on each halloween called hell house depicts a gay man dying of aids and cursing god for it, a girl who attends a rave and has only herself to blame when she is raped, and a teenage school shooter all being dragged off to hell for their sins, the church hopes to make the 12,000 attendees each year see the light. Hell house trinity 27 is a christian haunted house with the agenda of presenting shocking real life scenes designed to scare you and make you aware of the devil making you make the. Article pdf available in material religion the journal of objects art and belief 43. Hell houses are a distinctly american phenomenon which began in 1990 just outside of dallas, texas at the trinity assembly of god church. The trinity assembly of god church in texas prepares for its next hell house, which entails extensive casting calls, music design, art direction, and community promotion. Clawson assembly of god will host its sixth annual hell house, which will open tonight at 6 p. Hell house follows the trinity church of the assembly of god, which i think. Its now so desperate that it needs to use scare tactics, but it is clearly on its way out. Open to everyone 1825 and all the others young at heart, the project endeavors to create an environment for young adults to connect with each other and with their community in an entirely unique way. Its a documentary about a church that creates a haunted house every halloween to teach visitors the perils. This documentary chronicles a season in the life of texas famed hell house, a haunted house designed by a texas pentacostal church to literally scare the devil and santorum out of christian teenagers by graphically recreating such horrors as botched abortions, aids death, rape, school shootings, suicide, and drunk driving accidents.
These houses of horror dont rely on the traditional gimmicks of ghosts and goblins. Hell house was first opened in october of 1991 and is a creative alternative to the traditional haunted house. Sin city ultra presents a dark journey into a deranged universe of pure evil and absolute decadence where bizarre, unspeakable acts are the rule and innocence is just a vague memory. Documentary that makes you glad you arent these people.
Trinty assembly of god church invented hell houses. The hell house is kind of like a haunted house, except without any cackling witches, just lesbian ones who like raves. It was, as one newspaper noted, a diabolical act unparalleled in the annals of terrorism. Instead, they recreate scenes that graphically depict such modernday evils as botched abortions, aidsrelated deaths, fatal drunk driving crashes, date. The ultimate impact of watching this fascinating documentary was, for me, to have some sympathy for the hell house. Each year over 10,000 people walk through its doors with an ambiguous expectation. Within the city limits of devilin lies a home the towns folk call hell house. Judgment house how to build your own hell house, as well as locations and times of training conferences. With aria adloo, ashley adloo, amy allred, gabriel allred. Hell house is an interesting documentary looking at a churchs annual performance. On september 16, 1920, as the bells of trinity church tolled and hundreds of wall street. Thank you to the attendees, volunteers, churches, organizations, and pastors that make hell house a success.
The documentary hell house by director george ratliff who also directed the 1995 documentary plutonium circus. Looking for an excuse to sit and drink on your couch all night. On february 12, 1893, the chapel in the lower house was reopened as a parish church dedicated to our lady of perpetual help. Hell house the documentary feature the awardwinning, mustsee documentary by director george ratliff. Somethingpositive a miniarc in which an old man and actual christian goes to one expecting it to be an actual haunted house. These evangelical haunted houses are designed to show. The film follows the youth group of the cedar hill trinity church, documenting the work involved in creating the hell house.
On october 8th, 2009, a mysterious malfunction kills nearly every member of the hell house crew during a haunted house tours opening night. Hell house follows the trinity church of the assembly of god, which i think is one. It is a theatrical dramatization of real life situations. The story was also adapted as a comic book miniseries, richard mathesons hell house, written by ian edginton, with art by simon fraser. Clawson assembly of god hosting hell house church news. The hell house that i went to a few years ago would have been incredibly terrifying if i was much younger. Similar events began in several regions during that period. Such is the reasoning of the designers of the hell house, a highconcept haunted house that has been scaring people into church since 1990.
George ratliffs documentary follows the conception, construction, and performance of the halloween 2000 edition of hell house, titled hell house x. The film follows the youth group of the cedar hill trinity church, documenting the work involved in creating the hell house, the performances themselves, and the personal lives of some of the participants. The earliest hell house is thought to have been created by trinity assembly of god in cedar hill, texas, but it was first popularized by jerry falwell in the late 1970s. Its a documentary and independent movie with a very high rotten tomatoes critics score of 94%. In the hell house which is wildly popular for such a small, rural town scenes are acted out that show people making bad choices and going to hell. Since then, he has become a pastor of the abundant life church in arvada, co. In 1973, the novel was made into a film the legend of hell house, starring pamela franklin, roddy mcdowall, clive revill, and gayle hunnicutt. Not available to stream on a tv everywhere service. This is an alternative to a haunted house, said high school youth. These evangelical haunted houses are designed to show sinners that theyre going to hell. The awardwinning, mustsee documentary by director george ratliff.
The original hell house was conceived as a modernday. Documents a hightech fireandbrimstone sermon that a dallas pentecostal church puts on every halloween to scare kids into coming to services. It was published in 2004 by idw publishing and collected as a trade. Hank crane, a producer is throwing a party for his young wife and chooses an infamous, abandoned mental hospital for the festivities. Hell house is a 2002 documentary that was directed by george ratliff that focuses on the idea of a hell house, a christianthemed haunted attraction, in cedar hill, texas. The original hell house may have been created by trinity assembly of god in dallas tx. The concept was picked up in 1992 by keenan roberts. Five years later, a documentary crew returns to the scene of the tragedy. There are various incarnations of these events done during the halloween season, but most focus on what hell looks like and include sinners burning in hell. The hell house phenomenon was first publicized in hell house, a 2001 film by director george ratliff, whose movie focused on the production staged by the trinity church in cedar hill, texas. Trinity church in cedar hill, tx presents hell house 22. Through extensive documentary footage we meet the various teen actors recruited from within trinitys private school, eager to act out the gruesome drama of botched.
The event is hell house, this texas churchs annual take on the halloween haunted house, where they depict in gruesome detail their vision of the sins of the world, the terrors of hell, and the promise of salvation, trinity style. There have been a few diamonds in the rough, though, and thankfully stephen cognettis hell house llc is one of those rare gems. A more conventional haunted house gestures at the devil in new york. Not only did they have a realistic gun fight reenacting a store robbery, but the hell section was so nightmarish, it would have actually been cool if it wasnt for the purpose of.
The original hell house was conceived as a modernday fireandbrimstone sermon. More recently, the concept has been promoted and adapted by keenan roberts, originally of roswell, new mexico, who. My senior year of high school, a couple of us went to a hell house, which is a christian haunted house with the goal of scaring youth to christ aka judgment house. Even in the age of internet where global education is at its highest ever.