Do horror movies scare Hell out of us?
Horror points us to our need of salvation.
See “Horror (Part One) from last week.
1. “Good” comes from The Good God (Mk 10:17-18; Jas 1:17)
2. “Good” people follow laws, rules, and principles that come from The Good God (1 Jn 3:7, 9, 11-20)
3. “Good” will triumph in the end, evil vanquished by righteousness (Eph 1:20-22; Col 1:19-23; 1 Jn 3:8; Rev 12:10-12)
Guillermo del Toro is a Catholic obsessed with evil, horror, and salvation. He believes “truth is best told in fables.” In his magnum opus, Pan’s Labyrinth, del Toro shows that both this world and the fairy tale world exist. To del Toro the intersection of natural-supernatural worlds is key: “When you have the intuition that there is something which is there, but out of the reach of your physical world, art and religion are the only means to get to it.”
I believe that the horror genre of film is the closest to the Christian view of life and things. The horror genre acknowledges the supernatural, evil, hopes for salvation, and asks the question, “Is there someone to whom I must give an account?”
But honestly, I cannot watch many horror movies. The Exorcist and The Conjuring are much too real for me. I know these people and events exist. But I am still drawn to horror. Why? Because horror speaks to the evil I know in myself and the salvation I need which can only come from outside of myself.
William Peter Blatty, screenwriter for The Exorcist, said it best. Blatty’s research into exorcism convinced him the movie could
compel people to see “that the spiritual world is real.” Demon possession should drive moviegoers to confession.
“My logic was simple: If demons are real, why not angels? If angels are real, why not souls? And if souls are real, what about your own soul?”
Horror points us to the need for salvation.
Scott Derrickson, director of The Exorcism of Emily Rose, asks the right questions.
“Does the spiritual realm exist? Is there a devil? Is there a God? What are the implications? I don’t care what you believe — those are questions to be reckoned with. Everyone lives their life based on what they believe about those questions.”
An actress in the film, Laura Linney said the goal was to open up “one of the big mysteries: Where does evil come from? Is it stuff in our brains or is it something outside of ourselves?” In the end Scott Derrickson, the director, said he hopes moviegoers will dare to ask tough questions about good and evil, God and Satan.
John W. Morehead, creator of Theofantastique.com, shows our need for better theology.
“Evangelicals lack theological depth in a creation theology, a pneumatology that connects the Spirit to creation and all of life, a lack of a theology of fantasy and imagination, and a deficient thanatology.”
Jonathan Ryan, author of Three Gates of the Dead, agrees,
“This is why horror movies often feel so hopeless. It’s not the horror, it’s the worldview.”
Chad and Carey Hayes, writers for The Conjuring, are involved in the horror genre because the film’s message matches Ephesians 6:11. Horror movies point to our need of salvation.
The friendship between Stephen King and Jerry Jenkins demonstrates the obvious connection between movie horror and biblical salvation. King is the king of horror for the past three decades. Jenkins made his mark with a series of books anticipating apocalyse and salvation. King admits, “Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us and sometimes, they win. It’s better to be good than evil, but one achieves goodness at a terrific cost.”
People know there is evil, horror, and another world to which we are accountable.
Our responsibility for evil necessitates Jesus’ salvation because “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them at the cross” (Colossians 2:15). The triump of Jesus over sin at The Cross leads to His triumph over the horror of evil and death. “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).
The horror we fear, is the horror defeated by Jesus at The Cross.
So we claim this benediction: May we never forget that monsters exist and evil is real. May we understand that only Jesus can defeat evil eternally. And may we rest in this, “Greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world.” Amen.
Mark is convinced that without a standard for good, evil cannot be overcome. Dr. Mark Eckel teaches the intersection of culture with theology for Capital Seminary and Graduate School.
Dr. Eckel,
Thank you so much for writing this. Grammatically, your work is basically fine. However, in the line “the triumph of Jesus over sin”, triumph is missing its “h”. It’s “triump” right now. Just thought you might want to fix that for a spotless finish. 🙂
The quotes were insightful. I’m glad to see Christians taking death, horror, and evil so seriously. They’re very serious things!
It is true that people know there is evil. They may have their “high talk” and “high philosophy” of subjectivity–but everybody believes in evil. If people didn’t believe in evil, why do they get so upset when things that are evil happen? We find abortion disasteful. But to those who are pro-choice, taking away abortion means taking away the rights of women, and that’s evil. Everyone fights against something that they perceive as wrong–it’s inherent in us. And it didn’t come about through evolutionary purposes. Altruism in the Bonobo is not morality. Morality is more than just “do good, not bad”. You’re right. The fact that we even HAVE horror movies betrays an inner realization of the existence of good and evil, no matter what kind of fancy speech you try to use.
1 Corinthians 1:20, “Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?”
And Colossians 2:8, “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”
Their wisdom is folly. And though they have taken captive many with their foolishness, we who stay focused on Christ will not be taken captive.
I agree. I cannot watch The Exorcist. I saw it once and was like “I’m done!” They are TOO REAL for me as well. Nevertheless, I enjoy horror movies with demons and/or with slashers–just not demonic possessions. They capture supernatural evil and human evil. They show our need for a savior.
It’s nice to see that Christians work in the horror genre. I agree–horror that is hopeless is only hopeless because of the worldview behind it. This is why I think horror should be heavy but should have a good ending. Cliff hanger endings and other bad endings serve only a hopeless purpose. When it is said and done, the monster has been defeated. The sun rises, and there is hope once more. Good has vanquished evil.
Thanks for writing this. 🙂