Escape from Hell

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.

This movie begins with a doctor and an assistant trying to revive a man who has just suffered a massive coronary. The man's name is "Dr. Eric Robinson" (Dan Kruse) and he has purposely brought the condition upon himself. The cardiologist happens to be his best friend, "Dr. Carl Burke" (Terry Jernigen) and the woman assisting him is a psychiatrist named "Dr. Marissa Holloway" (Emilie Jo Tisdale). Anyway, as Eric is being brought back to life the first words he utters upon regaining consciousness is "Loose lips sink ships". Not long afterward he gets up out of his hospital bed and steals an ambulance. Now, rather than reveal too much of the plot and risk spoiling the film for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this is a movie about "Near Death Experiences" and how they relate to Christianity. That said, even though I think that this is an extremely interesting subject I must admit that I found the graphics, dialogue and some of the acting to be rather second-rate. No doubt the low-budget had much to do with this. In any case, although this film had its moments I thought that the end result was rather disappointing and I have rated this movie accordingly. Slightly below average.

This Christian movie does an excellent job of using out of body experience as a tool to communicate the Gospel message. I am surprised by good acting, storyline, and camera work on this low budget production. It is not a cinema movie, but captivating and it does what it was made to do. Make people think about life after death.

Some reviewers bash the movie for lack of theological integrity, but I disagree. No movie can perfectly portray heaven or hell. Books, painting, or movies can only give a glimpse of what heaven or hell might be. The movie shows hell does exist and only faith in Christ can save you, while stressing the fact that your good morality cannot save you.

I have to say, the movie's biggest theological weakness is the 70's and 80's presentation of the Gospel. There is a heavy emphasis on faith in Christ. There is a lack of communicating that living a godly life must also be integrated to your faith. James clearly says faith without works is dead.

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.

I've read most of the reviews for this movie. Some like it some hate it. I rated this movie a 10 not for quality of production but for correctness of the Biblical message. Those who reviewers who hate it seem to hate the message that there is a literal hell to be shunned, and since they likely don't believe in God they must argue away the existence of hell. I agree with the nay sayers that technically this is not a high quality production, but forget that aspect. What did Jesus say about hell in the Bible? That's the real issue. Is there a literal hell? Jesus mentioned hell 42 times. He talked about hell more than he talked about heaven. His warnings about hell were very serious. Read Luke 16:19 for one of his hellish warnings. Jesus came to earth to rescue us from hell. Hell is the default destination of all those who reject or ignore Jesus/God. But humans can avoid hell by choosing to believe in God, and asking Jesus to save them from their sins and from hell. In the movie a "good man" went to hell. That would surely shock some viewers, but that was also Biblically correct. The Bible teaches that we are not saved by good works or good deeds, but we are saved by Grace, which is God's unmerited favor towards us when we receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It's YOUR choice. Heaven or hell?