Escape from Hell (2000)

This film is a lie. It's one big outright lie from start to finish. I'd like to start off as saying that I am NOT anti-Christian; I have nothing against Christ and believe in Him myself. What I am against is any religion, Christianity or otherwise, using fear and lies to try to frighten people into believing what they believe, and "Escape From Hell" is a prime example of just that.First of all, it's absolutely appalling how misinformed the makers of this film are regarding the concept of near-death experiences. Anyone who has any understanding of near-death experiences knows that experiencers Christian and non-Christian alike have had wonderful, heavenly experiences involving a Being of Light and tangible Love unlike anything they've ever felt. While there are also hellish near-death experiences, they typically occur to people who are filled with either hatred or fear; the majority of hellish near-death experiences in the United States alone come from people with a fire-and-brimstone Christian background. Why? Because our thoughts become manifest in the spiritual realm. Those who are dominated by love created heavenly experiences; those who are dominated by hatred or fear create hellish experiences.The second appalling thing about this movie is that the filmmakers apparently don't know all that much about what Jesus taught about spirits, considering that He said that a tree is known by its fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit (Matthew 12:33). The fruit He refers to is that of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). This test was applied to spirits to test whether they were godly or demonic (Matthew 12:35). The problem with the mentality of people like these filmmakers that is that anything that doesn't fit their extremely narrow-minded views is automatically labeled "Satanic." They really ought to be more careful about that, considering another warning given by the One they profess to worship with regards to crediting works of God to Satan (Matthew 12:31-32). I'm sure said filmmakers would undoubtedly come back with with the argument that Satan masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), but all that reminds us is that demonic forces can be deceptive, and this passage does nothing to nullify the aforementioned test Jesus has given to us. If a spirit or other paranormal being bears love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, then you have nothing to fear. If it doesn't, run like hell.If you really want to learn about near-death experiences, then start reading up on them. Don't limit yourself to the near-death experiences of people from any one religion; God is far too big of a Concept to be confined to any one religion, and so is the afterlife. As for tripe such as "Escape From Hell," the filmmakers have forgotten how one of the Ten Commandments instructs them to not lie, something they would do well to remember if they truly believe themselves to be so pious.

Well acted with some great special effects but it's too bad scriptural integrity was the first casualty. There were so many blatant errors for the sake of making a "more scary movie" that we could not recommend nor show this to our church. Satan was painted as the monarch of Hell when scripture teaches that Hell is a place of torment created for the Devil and his angels. The list goes on as Hell is portrayed as a physical house of horrors and all but denies the spiritual essence that those souls in Hell will live in the anguish of being forever isolated from God's love and provision. Menacing demons search the earth seeking to drag living souls to the abyss? My Bible teaches that men choose Hell by denying salvation. You can't blame the Devil for man's choice of eternal separation from God.When we seek to add error to increase the scare effect, we deny the power of God's Spirit to work through truth. I wish there were an accurate portrayal of Hell to offer to our church, I think it would be helpful. Movies that stretch the truth to this level only hurt evangelism through those that will laugh themselves right out of our churches and ignore the truth of genuine warning.

This film was excellent. I'm so glad to see filmmakers of faith beginning to make quality movies. This film will really get you thinking about the reality of heaven and hell. For those who believe that the Bible is truly God's Word, an instruction manual to how to live life on earth, then this film maintains the accuracy of scripture. I like the way the director took a NDE (Near Death Experience) of someone who had not accepted Christ as Savior and their eyes were opened to what Hell is really like. His use of a fictional story to make a point worked very well. I highly recommend this film to anyone interested in NDE's or to find out what the Bible says about Heaven and Hell or life after death.

This has to be one of the best films ever made on the subject of Hell. A skeptical doctor is shaken by the death of his estranged father and a fellow doctor enthralls him with tales of people going to Heaven. He believes Hell is a cruel myth and sets out on a radical course of action. He plans to kill himself in the boiler room of the hospital while providing his best friend, the tools to bring him back to life before it's too late.The drama and tension of the film begins from the opening credits and doesn't stop until it's over. The plot is clever and the acting believable. A must-see movie for Christian and unbeliever alike. I haven't seen any other films from DRC productions, but this one will be a tough act to follow.