Every Halloween, Trinity Church in Cedar Hill, Texas,
puts on an elaborate "haunted house" - only this one is more like a trip
through a Dante's Inferno. Rooms include a visit to the immediate aftermath
of a car accident and an abortion, complete with demons to take the lost
souls to eternal torment. George Ratliff approached this behind-the-scenes
documentary on the Hell House, from planning to Opening Night, like an
anthropologist surveying an exotic culture. The result is a surprisingly
objective look at a culture and its disturbing performance art that is
guarantee to horrify - though not necessarily for the all reasons the folks
at Trinity Church intended.
Every Halloween, Trinity Church in Cedar Hill, Texas,
puts on an elaborate "haunted house" - only this one is more like a trip
through a Dante's Inferno. Rooms include a visit to the immediate aftermath
of a car accident and an abortion, complete with demons to take the lost
souls to eternal torment. George Ratliff approached this behind-the-scenes
documentary on the Hell House, from planning to Opening Night, like an
anthropologist surveying an exotic culture. The result is a surprisingly
objective look at a culture and its disturbing performance art that is
guarantee to horrify - though not necessarily for the all reasons the folks
at Trinity Church intended.