Horror Movies
by Billy Hilliard
As Halloween once again rolls around, many of us will flock either to the movie theater or to a Blockbuster down the road to watch or rent a horror or suspense thriller. Many us believe that these movies are entertaining thus creating pleasure from them. However, what might be the effects, both positive and negative, after a steady diet of watching these films. Every horror film has a certain purpose or concept. We as Christians need to have the right perspective when viewing so we know when is the right time to take pleasure from them and when is the wrong time.
Every director of a horror film has a well thought out and rounded concept to how they want the story to unfold. Most of these directors do not go to a spiritual level when thinking out a movie but more to an entertainment level to see what kind of response they can receive. A horror film is constructed of characters that are obliged to instill fear into the audience. This creation is usually built upon the idea of “good vs. evil.” This idea is usually created with the intent of good overcoming evil, however; sometimes it doesn’t happen like that. This is a situation that brings up the question that if we are Christians, are we glorifying evil? If the product is gaining pleasure from evil then, yes, we are definitely glorifying evil, and our Christian perspective has been tainted.
Most producers and directors create horror films for the purpose of entertaining audiences by showing them something that is not familiar to them. Many horror films don’t do as well as others because they follow the same pattern as previous movies. By having the purpose of displaying new material, producers are always having to invent different types of evil so that a movie will “succeed.” In a Christian Perspective, this is definitely not glorifying God. Most directors have the goal of creating profit so this blinds them to the fact of the evils they are putting on display to millions of people across the world. A good reason why The Exorcist was so successful is because nothing had ever been shown like that at the time. It wasn’t the type of movie that made the audience jump every other minute. However, it revealed new evils that no one had ever witnessed before. Even though this movie shows a demon possessed girl, and the priest trying to rid the evil spirit, I don’t believe that the director is trying to give a Biblical and Christian perspective. Many horror films can be looked at as having a Biblical base. However, most of these films aren’t trying to portray the truths of the Bible, but they have the purpose of creating “success” and having as many people possible viewing the film. The purpose of horror films are portrayed exactly as what the director’s purpose is in his heart.
A Christian perspective of these movies coincides directly with a person’s Christian worldview, or lack there of. Any Christian with a good Christian worldview or perspective will know when to watch something having to do with horror and when to just leave it alone all together. Any time one feels a movie is questionable, not just horror but any movie, they should immediately know that this film is not something they should see. There are always going to be good vs. evil films. This genre is probably the most popular around the world. Ninety-Nine percent of the time good will win out over evil. Even so, this doesn’t always mean that the film is glorifying God. Good can win and the movie still glorify evil. This is when a good Christian perspective on this topic is needed. A Christian perspective will always show anyone the right actions to take, no matter if someone watches the film or not.
As we all go to reserve movies this month and go early to buy movie tickets before they sell out, I hope that we think about what we are buying and what we are putting into our minds. Our perspectives will only take us so far. When we actually get to the film, our Christianity needs to take the wheel. The further we put ourselves from God, the more our Christian worldview turns into nothing but just a worldview.