On My Mind: A Lack of God in Horror Movies

I love a good horror movie.

Now when I say horror I'm not talking about slasher stories such as Friday the 13th or Texas Chainsaw, I'm not into gory slashers. The horror I'm talking about is combined with science fiction, like Alien or atmospheric supernatural stories. (Usually found footage related things.) Lately I can't say I'm truly into the genre, cause there's nothing really good anymore. But I'm not here to talk about the state of horror films, I'm here to talk about a lack of God in them.

The popular plot devices to use in horror movies are ghosts and demons. Demon possession is a very popular thing, always has been and always will be. Do you know what my problem is? God and angels are virtually never used in these movies. The word 'demon' seems to be overused and not fully understood by the people making these films. A demon is a fallen angel that sided with the Devil. Films like the Paranormal Activities highlight demonic attacks. Despite demons being used continually, you never see these characters seek out a Bible and want to learn how to protect themselves. Instead, the film is content with showing the characters' fear instead of them trying to grasp the situation. You would think being menaced by a demon would inspire them to crack open a Bible.

In all four Paranormal Activity movies, God isn't mentioned once. I find it interesting how the film industry is so eager to accept demons into their stories but won't allow Godly or angelic intervention. I also don't like how virtually all supernatural/demonic-attack movies never have happy endings. Instead of a character prevailing the attack through faith, they usually end up either completely possessed, or killed. Forbid if faith could be used in a positive light. And if there are demons, why can't angels come in? It's like the film industry doesn't want to add anything that represents Godliness and instead wants to focus on the evil. Interestingly, there was one movie three years ago called Legion. Actual angels appeared, but they are portrayed as the bad guys, sadistic, and they themselves were acting all demonic. (Even taunting the main characters.)

Yes, that is supposed to be one of God's angels. Great going Hollywood.

Really though, in today's world none of this comes as a surprise. Hollywood is so eager to use anything that would keep people's interest, but at the same time eliminate anything that is considered Spiritual or 'Biblically correct.' I'm not saying all the movies have to be preaching to the viewer, but it's sad that virtually none of the characters in these flicks knows what a demon truly is, which of course is the writer's fault. The movie House, which is based on the same book by Christian author Frank Peretti, shows us how well a dark and serious horror movie with a Christian touch works.Another example is the movie Priest, which is a dark, but really fun action movie with a Christian touch.

I'm 99% sure nothing will change. We'll keep getting movies with demonic possession without the characters thinking of asking God for help. My respect for Hollywood keeps dwindling.

Monster of the Week: Legion

Legion is the most powerful opponent Gamera has ever faced. More powerful than the Super Gyaos and even more than Iris. Legion is the queen of an alien insect-like species.They go around from planet to planet implementing overgrown 'flowers.' They are destroyers of worlds. Legion is the catalyst, the mastermind behind all this. Step aide Mothra, you have been dethroned for toughest female monster. The Symbiotic Legion had arrived on earth via a meteorite, and were hanging out in some subway tunnels. Thanks to the orders of the intelligent Queen, they had implanted a massive flower. That is where the events of Gamera: Advent of Legion take place.

The Guardian of the Universe was the one that destroyed the flower. To retaliate, the Symbiotic Legion went and covered Gamera. (I'm guessing this is what inspired the scene with the Meganulon all attacking Godzilla four years later.) Gamera was forced to retreat into the sky. What he hadn't realized was that the Mother was underground. She had risen some moments later. In this form, she had wings. She didn't sense the flower or the Symbiotic Legion, so she had risen out of the ground to see what the heck was going on. Legion's goal in life is to make those flowers so she and her swarm can take over planets As she surveyed the area, you can see she wasn't too thrilled. Now she went to start from scratch. As she flew over the ocean, two fighter jets shot missiles. They scored a direct hit, but only a wing was found...

Another flower had popped up over in Sendai thanks to Legion's handiwork. Gamera knew this and was heading there. Legion had sensed this threat coming by and surfaced to combat it. Now she was in her full form, easily dwarfing Gamera. See, Legion is a no-mercy fighter, but she doesn't really take threats personally. She has no grudges...well, unless you do something to really anger her. More on that later, but at the moment, Legion was attempting to stop Gamera from interfering with her plans. As the battle raged on, Legion started to play bloody, stabbing her horn into Gamera. She doesn't care about monster honor or anything of that sort...she just eliminates threats to her plan. At that moment she didn't exactly care about killing Gamera, she was just stalling for the seed to launch. As the battle dragged on, Legion gave herself some space to fire her beam. By this time, she had decided it was time to finish off Gamera. One blast took out a piece of Gamera's shell. Then she fired another one when she saw that this creature was a stubborn one. And then, she fired one last one that created a huge fire. Once she saw that the fire engulfed Gamera, she shook her head in taunting victory, roared, then dug into the ground even better than what Baragon could do. She hadn't bothered to see if Gamera was alive or not. I mean, why bother? She had stalled enough time for the seed to launch, so she didn't really care whether or not our turtle friend was dead. What she had not expected was for Gamera to get up, despite his injuries. He managed to knock down the flower, but not without it exploding in his face, seemingly killing him. Knowing the failures of the two previous flowers, Legion went to go do another one personally, and nothing was going to get in her way, she is by far one of the most determined monsters out there.

Legion had risen at Ashikaga. As she surveyed the area, she didn't think much of the tanks in front....until they started firing of course. A blast of her beam took care of them easily enough. Legion is not a mindless monster, you can see that as she walks and surveys the area. When a few airplanes popped in, she sent out (this is how she creates all those little annoying things) hundreds of Symbiotic Legion from her abdomen, but they weren't released to destroy the jets. Why should she have to bother with objects that pose no threat? In that sense, her and Ghidorah are complete opposites. Legion is cold, doesn't really take joy in anything, it's just a necessity in her mind to accomplish the task. Around this time, Gamera had been revived and was flying straight toward the 'Big One.' Legion turned her head to see Gamera flying around her. The way she looks is like she's saying "Oh he's still alive?" Gamera now was unleashing his fireballs. This prompted Legion to use her barrier. Gamera had stopped skidding and was now about to face the Queen. Legion really had no use for a prolonged battle, so she summoned the swarm back to take care of Gamera. As the swarm neared, the two kaiju were locked in combat. Gamera barely missed Legion's abdomen with his elbow spike. That prompted her to run a little back, that was a major weak spot. (You should see the way she ran back, whoever said all bulky Heisei monsters are immobile be shamed.) Unfortunately the little humans had been able to draw away the swarm using electricity. Legion must have knew this, by now she wanted to end this fight. Knowing how large she is compared to the Turtle Avenger, she stood up and fell onto Gamera, pinning him to the ground. Legion was finally ready to finish off her stubborn enemy as she opened her nasal horn to fire. Gamera managed to evade by ground flying, sending a confused Legion away. At this moment, Legion decided to forget about Gamera and continue on to the planned destination. See, she doesn't consider him anything more other than a nuisance. As Gamera attacked Legion once more, she was barely attacking him with her extra limbs. It's like she was bored of this fight. Those limbs also happen to be very, very sensitive. Some missiles from fighter jets managed to blow a few off! Gamera took this opportunity and shot a fireball. Legion's automatic instinctive for any projectile is to use her barrier. Unfortunately, it's not as strong when some limbs are missing.The fireball had made an explosion, Legion felt pain. She didn't fully understand, she had never witnessed such resistance before. Legion was growing tired of this unnecessary long conflict and just ran toward Gamera. The turtle decided it was time to do a turning point...

Legion is one monster you do not want to make angry. If you do, she promises you a slow, painful death. Case in point here. Gamera had grabbed hold of her nasal horn and broke it! This disoriented Legion, and she fell to the ground. Gamera thought he had won, until Legion stood back up, eyes now red with hate. Now her task didn't matter, all that was on her mind was killing Gamera. And when I say killing, I mean killing. She had gained this new ability to shoot out these piercing laser whip things. She tested it for a bit chaotically before sending them in straight line into Gamera. These things go through, and they are painful. Legion knew this, when Gamera fell to the ground, she shot another round into him. Now Legion was walking toward Gamera. She wanted to show him that if you're going to break her nasal horn, you're going to go down hard. She shot another blast of it point blank, easily knocking down the turtle. The provoked Mother kept roaring out of anger and marched away to complete her task. See, again, Legion didn't bother making sure Gamera was dead, she just showed him what it meant to get on her bad side. After the anger had subsided, she went on to continue the task, cause that's what truly mattered to her. At this point, an explosion destroying the Symbiotic Legion made the Queen turn around. Gamera was standing up, roaring saying that he wasn't going to give up. Legion saw this glowing light going on top Gamera and walked toward it. What she had not expected was the Mana beam. In a scene like how Goku borrowed the all the humans' energy from the earth to combat Buu, Gamera used the earth's mana energy to fire one of the most powerful beams in all existence. And the scary part? Legion actually survived against it for a few seconds! While it may not sound like much, think about it. That's the WORLD'S mana energy combined into a beam, and this monster stood against it for a few seconds. Finally, the beam destroyed the Queen Legion.

And that was the end of the Mother Legion. She was a very determined monster, she didn't truly care about fighting or took any joy in it. She just wanted to complete her task. She is also one of the most powerful kaiju out there, could probably give Destoroyah a run for his money. When one thinks of Gamera villains, it's always either Gyaos or Iris. In that sense, Legion is an underrated one. It took the world's mana energy to defeat her. If that's not one for the record books, then I don't know what is. (Her vs. Keizer Ghidorah would make a very interesting match.) But really, Legion is one cool looking, powerful, and just overall awesome monster with one creepy roar.

Gamera: Advent of Legion Review

Sometimes in a trilogy the sequel is less popular than the first and third. Take the Gamera Heisei trilogy for example. When you hear about it, people usually talk about the first one and the third one, Advent gets left out. Why? Well, Gyaos was always the fan favorite, along with Iris. Somehow Legion never became a favorite, it's quite disappointing. Advent takes some new and old concepts to make a fantastic follow up to Guardian of the Universe. It's similar, yet completely different. Advent of Legion takes some of the faults from the previous film and improves upon them. No more bad CGI or fake looking props, we have a kaiju film with near perfect special effects, and a good story to back it up.

The story begins when a meteor shower comes to Japan. As expected, these aren't ordinary meteors. Soon in the sewer people are getting killed by one-eyed insectoid creatures. The military is sent in. What they find is something growing, and a bunch of these insectoid creatures dubbed 'Symbiotic Legion.' The soldiers are quickly taken out, and soon the building above is covered in a giant pod. Soon after Gamera rises out of the water to destroy the pod. After he destroys it with a fireball, the 'Big One' rises out of the ground. This adult Legion may prove too powerful for Gamera.....

The last time a kaiju film used insectoids was in the original Rodan film I believe. This time these insects are from space. Alien insects, that's a good combination. (You're probably thinking of Starship Troopers right now.) This might be a stretch, but I think Godzilla vs. Megaguirus borrowed some concepts from this film, such as all the smaller insectoids going all over the title monster. Anyways, this film is different than the previous one. Gamera has been established, and appears when there's trouble. The first fifteen minutes or so are painfully slow, but gets better later. This film has some of the best fights in any kaiju movie, a good mix of slugging around and projectiles. The final battle feels climatic, not slow, and just very well done. The characters once again do a good job carrying the film when there's no monster action happening, though I gotta say that I preferred the characters from the previous one.

Mayumi is replaced by Midori as the central human main character. While she can't compare to Mayumi, she's still pretty well-written, something the majority of the Heisei Godzilla films can't really say. Asagi returns, but got a smaller role than I remembered. She almost had no significance other than to reassure people that "Gamera is coming" and "Gamera is alright." The whole link thing still doesn't make much sense. Other characters are well enough, though Osako returns for another awful role. Truly the worst written character in the whole thing. I have to question some of the writing. In the third act, a commander says "Why should we help out a monster?" while Gamera is getting beat up by Legion. Besides that, the writing is solid.

Gamera is looking once again fantastic. It's just an amazing suit, truly one of the best from any kaiju film. It's just fluid, menacing, yet not too menacing, it still gives off his heroic demeanor. Legion is the new opponent here. Her design is one of the most unique I've ever seen, truly a highlight of the film. She has some really interesting abilities, and a cool, yet creepy roar. Something this massive could have been not displayed well, but the film does it, and does it well. The CGI sequences with it look fantastic, especially when she rises out of the ground. Its just a treat to watch this massive creature on the screen. The Symbiotic Legion soldiers are also very good, some of the best props I've ever seen in a kaiju film. Legion is probably one of the most underrated kaiju of all time, which is disappointing since she is the toughest opponent Gamera has ever faced.

The soundtrack isn't much different from the previous one in terms of quality. That' means it's a solid soundtrack, but could have been better. Granted, it has some thematic themes, but can't compare to any of the Heisei Godzilla films' themes. Even though this is a giant monster movie, there are some intense scenes with the humans This is probably one of the grittiest Japanese kaiju films ever. To this day I find the train scene near the beginning brutal. Whoever said Japanese monster movies can't be this hardcore hasn't seen Advent of Legion. Both Gamera and Legion have personality, it's good stuff.

Overall, Gamera: Advent of Legion does exactly what it set out to do: be a worthy successor to Guardian of the Universe. It took some of that film's faults, (some of the bad special effects) and improved upon them. It features one of the most interesting kaiju of all time in the form of Legion, fantastic monster fights, and a good story. Truly, this film is one of the best in the genre.

8/10.

Interlude: Legion

Two years ago I came across the trailer for supernatural horror film LEGION. It looked interesting, I thought it was about demon possessed people with some angels thrown in for good measure. (I was wrong on all accounts.) I didn't really follow the film, it came, and it went. (It kinda bombed in the box office.) Fast forward a year later and I see this short clip from the film with two angels fighting, and I decide I will one day put this on Netflix. That day was yesterday, and......well, read on.

The plot as follows.

Apparently God doesn't like us anymore, so He's going to destroy all of humanity again. The archangel Micheal however sees hope for us, so he leaves Heaven. Meanwhile, there's this woman carrying this child that is said to be "humanity's last hope."

Yeah, it's as confusing as it sounds.

Archangel Micheal states that "God once sent a flood because He lost faith in humanity. Now he's doing it again with angels." Alright, true with the Flood but Genesis 8:21 clearly states that "Never again will I destroy all living creatures." So basically the whole premise of this film is inaccurate. I also don't get why Micheal and Gabriel show their forms while the other angels possess people. Speaking of that....

It would have made a heck lot more sense if those were demons instead of angels. Like, a lot them taunt the characters, I don't think angels from Heaven would taunt the humans. And what's with this baby?!

According to the Netflix description, the woman is carrying "the Messiah." I don't buy that, it was never said in the film. Even if it was, what on earth is that supposed to mean? Does this film take place after the End Times and that's supposed to represent the Second Coming? That doesn't make sense either, Revelation clearly states how He will come, and it's not like that.

I don't know if the script writers were making this without reading some of the Scripture for accuracy. There's a lot of references if you look deep. The guy that is the father of the baby is technically not really the father, but steps up to the plate anyway. (Reference: Joseph.) The part with the senior citizen lady saying that "All of them will burn." (Reference: King Herod.) So this film has a lot of those things, but it still doesn't make any sense. O_O

This film is interesting because we get to see the archangels painted in a new light. They each have character, and it was fascinating. Micheal is the general, but is really attached to the humans. Some great backstory he gives about being the first one other than the big G to witness the humans come about. Gabriel is the loyal one, eager to prove himself. It's quite interesting with these dynamics, I've never seen something where the angels have roles such as this.

Overall, Legion is interesting and has some pretty cool scenes. (One scene I'll never forget is the one with the ice cream man.) But the film itself doesn't make much sense and will have you scratching your head for the accuracy of it all. The film is trying to say something, but the only thing I got out of it was that don't lose hope, no matter how bleak the situation looks. Maybe this whole thing was just a test of faith for the characters?

With a little more backstory and explaining, LEGION could have been a really good biblical action horror film. It has a lot of hidden references, but whatever it's trying to tell you, it gets lost in the mess. Go watch Priest instead.