With the release of Harmless, it appears the Christian film genre has come a long way since the popular “Left Behind” series.
Onslaught Media recently announced the completion of a ‘faith based horror film’ “Harmless.” The premise involves how the demonic bondage of pornography unleashes spirits that terrorizes a family. The following is the synopsis:
‘Harmless’ is the story of a husband and father and his battle with pornography. He unknowingly releases an entity that begins to torture his family, friends and relationships. ‘Harmless’ is a social commentary on how pornography can destroy someone’s life.
Shot in Colorado utilizing the ‘found-footage’ style, “Harmless” looks to be one of the most edgy Christian films to date. Pornography is taboo subject that is very risky for the particular Christian film genre. Recent play-it-safe, faith based films “October Baby” and “Courageous” were box office hits, but a film such as “Blue Like Jazz” which thinks outside the box has struggled to connect with the faith-based audience. Though a faith-based, found footage horror film about pornography should garner a lot of attention. How could it not?
One interesting perspective producer/director Rich Praytor conveys is to not show the pornographic images themselves keeping it appropriate for congregational viewing. “We had to be very creative on how we portrayed the pornography in the film, Praytor said. “We couldn’t just show images of magazines and video. We took a page from the Steven Spielberg’s school and didn’t show the monster, just eluded to it like in Jaws.”
Not showing pornography in “Harmless” is stylistically consistent with other ‘found footage’ film that builds tension to acquire audience attention. No flashes of shock images are necessary for cheap thrills. Besides, keeping it clean of smut would be an obvious requirement for the horror film to be suitable for the intended audience.
Onslaught Media plans a limited release in theaters during the fall of 2012 with a worldwide DVD release to follow early 2013.
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Kickstarter campaign: http://www.kickstarter.com/
