Christian cinema! Okay, I think we all have to admit that Christian movies are lacking, in one way or another. A brief review. Tim Lahaye's "Left Behind" series, made into movies, puts forth suspect theology. I believe his fiction tends to be self-serving, to his ministry. Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ." Fabulous. However, its evangelical capability was overstated and ineffective. William Friedkin's "The Exorcist." Whatever masterpiece it is, it is universally viewed as a horror movie with no evangelical push. "Courageous" and "Fireproof"? Well done films with no appeal outside the evangelical Christian community. So how about today's feature, 2019's, "The Badge, The Bible, and Bigfoot"? Directed by Ashley Hays Wright, this is an unapologetic Christian horror film.
A small Oregon town has big budget woes and its council votes to do away with the police force. Bad timing. The chief, Harrison (David Owen Wright), is sad. The Mayor, Clair (Ashley Hays Wright), did not support the Council's action. Now Bigfoot begins terrorizing the town. He murders the sheriff, who was contracted by the town to provide policing. Then it abducts two teenaged girls. With the sheriff mauled, the Mayor asks Harrison to help find the girls and track down Bigfoot. Hesitantly, Harrison agrees to help out.
Harrison then goes into the woods to find Bigfoot and the teenagers. Uh oh...the Mayor joins him. He's not happy to be joined by a woman. Now instead of merely hunting and rescuing, he falls in love with the duly elected leader of this small Oregon town. She is more attractive than Hillary Clinton, I gotta say. Then again, so is Bigfoot. Does Bigfoot make an appearance? Oh yes. This film stays Christian in theme and evangelical in nature. Harrison and the Mayor pray a lot and quote scripture. Even more than that, just about every word of dialog is a metaphor for a Biblical principle. You may not have any desire to see any Christian movies, but if you are forced to, this is a much better film than the Tim Lahaye "Left Behind" garbage.
Can we see God in Bigfoot? Will Harrison and the Mayor swap spit, or is that somewhere a Christian movie won't go? If "Courageous" and "Fireproof" contained cryptids, would those films have enjoyed wider appeal? Ashley Hays Wright has delivered us a Christian movie that just may get broader appeal than the aforementioned cinematic efforts...thus giving it more evangelical prowess. I don't care, when I go to church this week-end, I'm going to recommend this film.
Great work and very balanced..
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