The award-winning documentary “Hell House” takes a look at the controversial Haunted House that has become, over it’s decade long existence, something of a legend. Located in Cedar Hills, Texas (just outside of Dallas), Hell House depicts scenes of unspeakable violence, abortions, homosexuals dying of AIDS, and the like… all in the name of God. I live in the Dallas area, and oddly enough, have been involved in the haunted house business on and off over the last 14 years. I had often heard of Hell House, but being busy during the Halloween season, had never found the opportunity to see it first hand. At one point, early during its inception, it was considered a myth that it even existed. That myth became a reality in our minds one year when the house chose to depict a re-enactment of the Columbine Shootings and brought down upon themselves the wrath of media attention. Reports starting coming in from everywhere that Hell House, quite simply, scared the Hell out of you.

The idea behind Hell House is to present visitors with extreme, yet realistic interpretations of the various sins and bad decisions people who have not accepted Christ make every day. The hope is that by having people confront these situations, they may see the error of their ways, accept Christ, and become God-fearing members of society. Hell House is in essence, an evangelical sermon.

I had read last year of the existence of a documentary that was making the festival circuit that focused on the house, as well as the members of Trinity Church that make it come to life every year. When the DVD became available recently, I jumped at the chance to review it, not only from a filmmaking perspective, but also from a haunted house perspective.

Having finally had the chance to watch “Hell House”, my first reaction is that it is a very well made documentary. It certainly deserves the many accolades and awards it has received. It is well put together, and offers quite a bit of the behind the scenes activity that goes on in order to open it every year, considering its 86 minute running time. The film covers everything from the belief system the creators lean on, the writing of the scripts, the auditions, and the construction of the sets. In the end, we get a fairly good look at many of the house’s scenes, including the final confrontation that allows visitors the opportunity to accept Jesus.

What I found even more fascinating than the house itself though, were the personal stories by many of the church members who work on the house. There are moments spent with some of these people that are quite emotional as they speak about their experiences that led them to Christ. One gentleman in particular who had to deal with the loss of his wife, and almost his children, to an Internet affair is especially poignant as he watches a scene in the house depicting that same situation.

As I watched the church members come together to build something they truly believed in, I experienced some very mixed feelings. I was impressed and a little intimidated by how strongly they felt about what was evil in this world. To see some of their conviction towards the idea that Harry Potter books and Magic: The Gathering cards somehow led to sin, at times made them seem a little like religious extremists. The film even touches upon some of the church’s sermons, which shows speaking in tongues. While I admire their sincerity and passion, I believe they undermine what they set out to do by being a little too off-putting.

I was also somewhat surprised by some of what they showed in the documentary. Most noticeably a scene that takes place after the house opened, where some little punks start mouthing off to one of the church members about how they were offended by some of the scenes. One of the punks kept stroking his almost non-existent beard and spouting (non-censored) obscenities, attempting to pontificate great snippets of wisdom about religion, rarely shutting up to hear the church members comments. I say ‘little punk’ by the way, because having worked in the haunted house business for many years, I’ve dealt with many of these idiots in my time. They always have a whole lot of nothing to say, but at least provided a good laugh for us at the end of the night.

As for the Hell House itself, I’d have to say I was a lot more impressed than I thought I would be. Though this is NOT the case for the one I work for, most haunted houses throw stuff together every year and staff them with anyone they can get to work. There is very little actor preparation, and generally the only thing you hear is a muffled “grargh” through cheap masks. The people involved with Hell House actually put together scripts and have auditions, and though it sometimes felt like I was watching “Waiting For Guffman” as I watched small town America auditioning, some of these kids were actually pretty good. These kids are expected to perform, and to be able to do that every night for incredibly long hours, I applaud them.

Speaking for the quality of the effects, well, you have to keep in mind that these people are not professional effects artists. But in spite of the rubber masked ‘demons’, they really do a good job at putting the scenes together, with the possible exception of the Jewish Star of David that was supposed to be a Pentagram. However when the scene called for a botched abortion, let’s just say I cringed a little.

It was interesting for me to see how it all came together and what kind of team they were able to assemble. At times, it appeared to be a perfect case of organized disorganization, which in their defense is always the case n any haunted house endeavor. I was, however, really impressed with the closed circuit TV setup they used, rudimentary as it was.

The DVD of “Hell House” adds to it appeal by including a couple of really good extras. The best by far, was the 1999 short documentary that director George Ratliff created about Hell House that was used to generate funds to make the full documentary you see here.

What is so great about “Hell House” is that, while it often deals with the religious aspect of what these people do, it does not itself become preachy. It is a very objective documentary that presents the church members beliefs only to explain their reasons for doing the haunted house, while not asking us to necessarily buy into them.

Directed by: George Ratliff
Extras: Deleted Scene, “The Devil Made Me Do It” Director George Ratliff’s 1999 Short Documentary that was the basis for “Hell House”, “The American Life” Public Radio Broadcast about Hell House, Trinity Church’s Academy Award Ceremony
Specifications: Full Screen
Studio: Plexifilm
Release Date: Available
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give Hell House an A.