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Hell House
Seventh Art Releasing
MPAA RATING: Not Rated
Starring
Tim Ferguson,
Bill Humphrey,
Pastor Hennesy,
Virginia McAlester,
and
Lee McAlester
This documentary profiles a Pentecostal church in Texas that uses a Halloween haunted house, complete with fire and brimstone, to scare teenagers about issues such as AIDS, abortion and school shootings.
| GENRE(S): |
Documentary
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
George Ratliff
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: May 27, 2003
Theatrical: November 15, 2002
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
85 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
The result is a lively, insightful look at multiple levels of self-delusion among people who truly believe their Halloween funhouse is making our fallen world a better place.

75
New York Post
V.A. Musetto
The scariest revelation in Ratliff's film is that the Texas Hell House has proved so popular that it's being copied all over the country.
Heaven help us!

75
New York Daily News
Jami Bernard
Scary, all right, but not for the reasons the Dallas church had in mind.

70
Variety
Dennis Harvey
Hell House is a slice of contempo life many viewers will find bizarre and disturbing, not necessarily in the precautionary-moral way its subjects intend. Briskly paced docu is well handled in tech departments.

60
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
For anyone unfamiliar with pentacostal practices in general and theatrical phenomenon of Hell Houses in particular, it's an eye-opener.

50
The New York Times
Dave Kehr
As a director, Mr. Ratliff wisely rejects the temptation to make fun of his subjects, most of whom seem to believe sincerely that they are doing the work of God.

50
Village Voice
J. Hoberman
Lookin' for sin, American-style? Try Hell House, which documents the cautionary Christian spook-a-rama of the same name.


The average user rating for this movie is 7.5 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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