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 Christian Mythos 

 

“Your war is arrogance.  That makes it evil.  And that's mine.”

The Christian mythos is a fascinating one, filled with heroes, powers, strange angels, and twisted devils.  Films in this tradition assume the existence of God, Jesus, angels, Heaven, the Devil, and Hell, and usually latch on to a modified version of Catholicism (note that it's always a priest who is called in to cast out a demon).  It makes for a deep and complex background, but you have to have an interesting set of beliefs for it to work as actual frightening horror.     

Christian mythological horror generally ignores Jesus (oh, he exists, but is rarely a player) and takes a more Old Testament version of God.  This is a God who is more concerned with letting prophecy play out than stopping the Antichrist from destroying the world.  He doesn't mind devils possessing and torturing children, and if called upon to help, he will, but only after everyone has suffered for a while.  People who believe that Jesus is love are unlikely to be frightened by these tales. 

Older Biblical horror tended to revolve around a witch (or coven) with magical powers from Satan and one or more heroes destroying her (sometimes him).  Things have changed, with a majority of recent films following in the footsteps of either The Omen or The Exorcist

My Christian Mythos Horror film reviews: 

The Amityville Horror
Amityville II: The Possession
Amityville 3-D
Blessed
Child of Darkness, Child of Light
Constantine
Darklight
The Devil's Advocate
The Eighteenth Angel
Exorcist II: The Heretic
Fallen
Frailty
Night Train to Terror
The Omen
The Omen II
The Omen III: The Final Conflict
Prince of Darkness
The Prophecy
The Prophecy II
The Prophecy 3
Revelation
Rosemary's Baby
The Sentinel
The Seventh Sign
Spawn
Stigmata

 


Sorted by year:

1960s
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
1970s
The Omen (1976)
Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)
The Sentinel (1977)
The Omen II (1978)
The Amityville Horror (1979)
1980s
The Omen III: : The Final Conflict (1981)
Amityville II: The Possession (1982)
Amityville 3-D (1983)
Night Train to Terror (1985)
Prince of Darkness (1987)
The Seventh Sign (1988)
1990s
Child of Darkness, Child of Light (1991)
The Prophecy (1995)
The Devil's Advocate (1997)
The Eighteenth Angel (1997)
Spawn (1997)
Fallen (1998)
The Prophecy II (1998)
Stigmata (1999)
2000s
The Prophecy 3 (2000)
Frailty (2001)
Revelation (2001)
Blessed (2004)
Darklight (2004)
Constantine (2005)

Scale:

(see it)

 (matinee)

(wait for TV)

(skip it)

(toxic)

 

 

 

 


Copyright © 2005 Matthew M. Foster