Eschato-Horror Films
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ESCHATO-HORROR FILMS by David Phillip Hauka B.A., Simon Fraser University, 1999 M.F.A., University of British Columbia, 2008 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (Film Studies) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) August 2014 © David Phillip Hauka, 2014 Abstract This thesis studies American studio feature films whose narratives are inspired by the Bibleʼs Book of Revelation. I identify these films as belonging to a subgenre of supernatural horror I have named ʻeschato-horrorʼ. American eschato-horror films reflect Christian eschatology and its violent visions of cosmic war between divine and satanic forces. While supernatural horror films exploit our fear of death and evil, American Eschato-horror ups the cultural stakes through its representations of pseudo Catholic and other Christian ritual, scripture, and iconography in its mission to frighten the viewer. Other national cinemas produce their own eschatology inspired films, but the American rendering of the genre as produced and exported by major Hollywood studios and distribution companies dominates screens world-wide. In order to better understand the cultural importance and usefulness of American Eschato-horror for film fans as well as self-identifying American Christian audiences, this thesis will study three examples of the genre, Constantine (Lawrence, 2005), Knowing (Proyas, 2009) and Legion (Stewart, 2010), all of which were produced by or for major American motion picture companies and distributors. Demonstrating that the version of eschatology found in their narratives reflects an identifiable American Protestant Christianity will be accomplished though an historical overview tracing Christianity from its roots as the marginalized, millennially-inspired “Jesus Cult,” to its evolution into one of the most powerful forces shaping American history and culture. The narrative elements associated with eschato-horror (monstrous women, self-sacrificing heroes, faithless priests, etc.), will be seen to be as much an expression of our collective fear of death and evil – forces James Carse associates with religion – as the Biblical illiteracy and confused understanding of Christianity identified by Stephen Prothero and Richard T. Hughes so central to contemporary Americaʼs view of itself as being “a Christian Nation.” The reception of American Eschato- horror films as seen on film fan and Christian websites, especially in light of ii discourse similarities identified in film fan cults and religious cults, will be considered through the work of Matt Hills, Ernest Mathijs, Jamie Sexton and Jeff Hunter. iii Preface This thesis is original, unpublished, independent work by the author, David Phillip Hauka. iv Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................ ii Preface ................................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents ................................................................................................ v List of Figures .................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgements .......................................................................................... viii Dedication ........................................................................................................... ix 1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Supernatural horror and the Christian apocalypse ................................... 1 2 Methodology ..................................................................................................... 4 2.1 Religion as horror ..................................................................................... 4 2.2 Identifying Christian eschatology and its American variation .................... 6 3 Religion, the Horror Genre and Defining Eschato-Horror .......................... 11 3.1 Religion and horror: Mechanisms for navigating death and evil ............. 11 3.2 Eschatology and the millennium ............................................................. 13 3.3 The Jesus cult and the Parousia ............................................................ 17 3.4 The Roman church and the suppression of the Parousia ....................... 19 3.5 The Book of Revelation .......................................................................... 20 3.6 Reformation, Revelation and the Puritans in America ............................ 24 3.7 American individualism, noble self-sacrifice and skeptical heroes ......... 26 3.8 Puritan patriarchy and monstrous women .............................................. 27 3.9 American biblical (il)literacy—a lacunae for eschato-horror ................... 29 3.10 Old world vs. American eschatology ...................................................... 33 3.11 Eschato-horror defined ........................................................................... 35 3.11.1 Eschato-horror—summary and formulation .................................. 38 3.11.2 Eschato-horror narrative elements ............................................... 39 4 Film Analysis ................................................................................................... 41 4.1 Film selections and exporting American eschatology ............................. 41 4.2 Three expressions of eschato-horror: Constantine, Knowing and Legion .. ............................................................................................................... 43 4.2.1 Constantine: Birth of a child of Satan and imaginary Catholicism 44 4.2.2 Knowing: “Stealth” eschato-horror and hidden meaning ............... 54 4.2.3 Legion: End Time Fantasy Pastiche ............................................. 73 v 5 Reception ........................................................................................................ 84 5.1 Profiting from eschato-horror the American way .................................... 84 5.2 Worldwide profits through American eschato-horror prophecy .............. 86 5.3 American population demographics: Christians are “US - A” ................. 88 5.4 Religion, cults, fans, and ignorance ....................................................... 89 5.5 “Christian” reviews of eschato-horror ................................................... 100 5.6 “Christian” responses to eschato-horrorʼs Knowing ............................. 102 5.6.1 Positive comments .................................................................... 103 5.6.2 Negative comments ................................................................... 105 5.7 The “Usefulness” of Eschato-Horror ..................................................... 106 6 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 109 Works Cited ...................................................................................................... 113 Appendices ...................................................................................................... 117 Appendix A: Filmography ............................................................................... 117 DVDʼs and BluRays of films analysed ........................................................ 117 Films cited ................................................................................................... 117 vi List of Figures Figure 5.1 Religion, long term and cult systems of belief as defined by Carse vs. culture, established fan cultures and cult fandom .................... 108 vii Acknowledgements I am deeply grateful to the faculty and staff of the Film Studies program of the University of British Columbiaʼs Department of Theatre and Film, whose support and encouragement over these past several years have meant more to me than I can say. I owe particular thanks to my supervisor, Dr. Ernest Mathijs, for his guidance, incisive questions, and kindness during my research into what has sometimes been difficult territory. Many thanks as well to Dr. Brian McIlroy, who inspired me to undertake this degree in the first place. Many thanks to my family and friends for their bemused support of my academic adventures. Special thanks to my to my brother Donald James Hauka, who has listened patiently to more versions of certain passages than I can count. viii Dedication To my dear friend, Myra Davies, for her sharp intelligence and creative inspiration, and for catching me before I hit the ground on more than one occasion. ix 1 Introduction 1.1 Supernatural horror and the Christian apocalypse From its 19th century beginnings cinema has exploited the various narratives and themes imbedded in the text of the Christian Bible for use in multiple narrative forms. This comes as no surprise for myriad reasons, not the least of these being the central place Christianity has occupied in western culture since the Roman emperor Constantine legalized the religion in 313 CE. Humanityʼs place in the cosmos, moral and ethical constructs, turns of phrase, and evocative imagery just scratch the surface of Christianityʼs influence on the westʼs conception of the world. To quote Carl Jung from Joseph Campbellʼs edited collection of the psychiatristʼs writings in The Portable Jung: We must read the Bible or we shall not understand psychology. Our