John Walliss, Senior Lecturer in the Sociology of Religion
Hope Centre for Millennialism Studies
Department of Theology and Religious Studies
Liverpool Hope University

Abstract

This article examines the contours of contemporary rapture films, examining them as cultural documents that reflect the particular religio-political worldviews of their producers, and more broadly of the evangelical Christian/premillennialist milieu in which they are produced and consumed. In particular, it argues that the films may be seen to operate on several levels simultaneously. On one level they seek to educate their viewers in the specifics of premillennial understandings of prophecy in an entertaining manner and encourage those who have not yet done so to undergo a born again experience. However, on another, equally important level, they also serve to articulate and possibly even redefine a sense of evangelical identity within the context of a late modern, increasingly globalised world through the language and imagery of the apocalypse.

Introduction

[1] Over the course of the last decade or so a small but growing literature has developed which focuses on various aspects of premillennial “rapture fiction,” specifically the Left Behind series of novels produced by leading Dispensationalist author Tim LaHaye along with Jerry Jenkins. To date, however, relatively little attention has been paid to the related genre of “rapture films,” that is films produced by evangelical Christian filmmakers in order to present popularised premillennial/Dispensationalist understandings of the End Times. Paul Boyer (1992), for example, in his magisterial analysis of American premillennialism When Time Shall be No More gives only a cursory mention to the A Thief in the Night series of films, while Timothy Weber (1987) in his Living in the Shadow of the Second Coming ignores it completely, despite the films having been seen by a reported three hundred million people. Similarly, the volumes on the Left Behind series by Forbes and Kilde (2004), Frykholm (2004), and Gribben (2006b) focus almost exclusively on the books themselves, typically mentioning the three Left Behind films (Left Behind: The Movie; Left Behind: Tribulation Force; and Left Behind: World at War) only in the context of the broader Left Behind franchise. Discussions of rapture films are also surprisingly few and far between within the literature on religion and film (although, see Ostwalt 2003), with debates focusing instead almost exclusively on secular apocalyptic films such as Armageddon, 12 Monkeys and End of Days.

[2] In this chapter, I aim to go some way towards filling this lacuna in the literature by discussing the contours of contemporary rapture films; examining them as cultural documents that reflect the particular religio-political worldviews of their producers, and more broadly of the evangelical Christian/premillennialist milieu in which they are produced and consumed. In doing so, I will argue—following McAllister’s (2003) and Frykholm’s (2004) analysis of rapture literature—that although the films are ostensibly concerned with depicting a prophetic future, they are also very much about, and indeed, responses to, the present (see also Boyer 1992, 270; Urban 2006, 7). Without wanting to suggest crudely that a variety of evangelical fears and bugbears may be “read off” from the films, I will argue that, in a similar way to rapture fiction, the films convey a series of messages about a variety of religious and geo-political issues that exercise their producers and audience, ranging from fears of a one-world global order and a resurgence of “old Europe,” questions about the nature and certainty of salvation, an ambivalence towards technology and the mass media, and last but no means least, beliefs about the nature of “true Christianity” and the place of evangelical Christians in the contemporary world.

[3] More broadly, drawing together Heather Hendershot’s (2004) work on rapture films and Amy Johnson Frykholm (2004) and Glenn W. Shuck’s (2005) analysis of the Left Behind novels, I will argue that rapture films may be seen to operate on several levels simultaneously. On one level, as Hendershot suggests, rapture films seek to educate their viewers in the specifics of premillennial understandings of prophecy in an entertaining manner and encourage those who have not yet done so to undergo a born again experience. However, on another, equally important level, following Frykholm and Shuck I will argue that they also serve to articulate and possibly even redefine a sense of evangelical identity within the context of a late modern, increasingly globalised world through the language and imagery of the apocalypse. The films thus, in a manner akin to science fiction (see, for example, Booker 2006), allow both their producers and audiences to explore their present concerns and issues by projecting them into a near future where they will all be brought into stark relief. So, for example, concerns about growing internationalism and its impact on Americans’ freedom at home are expressed by reading them forward through the lens of prophecy into the Antichrist-led United Nations and the Mark of the Beast, while issues around the nature of salvation and what is true Christianity are explored by depicting both the types of Christians who will be “left behind” following the rapture and the means by which they attempt to achieve salvation. To this end, my article will be structured in three parts. In the first, I will set the context for the subsequent discussion by sketching a brief overview of the contemporary rapture film “industry,” highlighting both the main films and key trends within the genre. Following on from this, I will then discuss several key recurring tropes found across a range of rapture films, highlighting the ways in which they reflect both the present and future concerns of their producers and audience.

The Rapture Film Industry

[4] The emergence of the contemporary rapture film industry may be traced back to the release of A Thief in the Night in 1972. While the production of films by evangelical Christians dealing with the End Times goes back further to at least 1941 with the release of The Rapture (see Wright, forthcoming), it was this film that has single-handedly defined the rapture film genre. Indeed, as one-commentator notes, “it is only a slight exaggeration to say that A Thief in the Night affected the evangelical film industry the way that sound or colour affected Hollywood” (Balmer 2006, 64). Despite being seen by an estimated three hundred million people worldwide, Thief did not receive a theatrical release, but rather was shown on 16mm film in churches and at Christian youth camps, where it was typically followed by an “altar call”; the relatively gruesome content of the film, it was hoped, providing the necessary impetus for lost souls to “give their heart to Jesus” (Balmer 2006; Hendershot 2004).[2]

[5] One person among the many millions who saw and was affected by Thief and its sequels was the Canadian Peter Lalonde, who, with his brother Paul, formed Cloud Ten Productions in the late 1990s. Since its inception, Cloud Ten has been at the forefront of the rapture film industry, producing a string of films between 1998 and 2005. In 1998 it produced Apocalypse: Caught in the Eye of the Storm, in cooperation with Jack Van Impe Ministries, which was followed by three sequels, Revelation (1999), Tribulation (1999),[3] and Judgement (2000). In the same year that Judgement was released, it also released an adaptation of the first Left Behind novel, Left Behind: The Movie (2000), which was, in turn, followed by two sequels, Left Behind II: Tribulation Force (2002) and Left Behind: World at War (2005), with a fourth film in development.[4]

[6] While clearly influenced by A Thief in the Night, the Cloud Ten films differ from it in a number of ways. Primarily, its films are produced on significantly larger budgets and, in contrast to Thief’s use of willing amateurs, feature casts of “name” actors, such as Jeff Fahey (The Lawnmower Man), Gary Busey (The Buddy Holly Story, Lethal Weapon), Corbin Bernsen (LA Law), and Lou Gossett Jr. (An Officer and a Gentleman).[5] More importantly, in contrast to the explicit evangelism and scare-tactics of Thief, Cloud Ten has attempted to market its films as “supernatural thrillers” that could appeal to mainstream audiences and “send a message to Hollywood.” The majority of its films, however, do not receive theatrical release—Left Behind: The Movie being the exception—but are instead released straight to DVD and video. When they are exhibited publicly, they are typically shown not in multiplexes but, rather, like Thief, in churches; the films receiving what are referred to as a “Church Theatrical Release” (see Hendershot 2004 and Walliss forthcoming for discussions).

[7] The most commercially successful rapture film to date, however, was not produced by Cloud Ten, but rather Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). Theatrically released in 1999, The Omega Code grossed over $12.6 million at the box office; three times the amount earned by Left Behind: The Movie. Nevertheless, its sequel (Omega Code II: Megiddo) did not fare as well and it would appear that its success represents the high water mark commercially-speaking for rapture films. Indeed, subsequent rapture films seem to owe more to the low budget aesthetic of Thief than to The Omega Code and the big budget releases of Cloud Ten. The Moment After, for example, cost just $90,000 to produce, and in the tradition of Thief, features friends of the producers/actors in acting and producing roles. A number of sets used in the film are also properties belonging to the producers of the film, or to their friends.[6] Such low budgets does not necessarily, however, mean that the desire to produce high production value product à la Cloud Ten is no longer a strong motivation for the producers of these films. The producers of Gone, for example, are keen to point out on their webpage that, despite its apparent low budget, the film was shot on the same Sony High Definition camera that “Mr. George Lucas used on his latest instalment of “Star Wars” [Episode III: Attack of the Clones].”[7]

The Contours of Contemporary Rapture Films

[8] The last decade, then, has witnessed several attempts, most notably by Cloud Ten and by those behind The Omega Code, to produce rapture films that can reach a broader audience outside of the evangelical Christian community. However, despite this growing emphasis on the potential entertainment value of rapture films for mainstream audiences, they remain nevertheless fundamentally niche market products. Indeed, in many ways their producers’ desire to communicate to a wider audience and achieve some level of mainstream success is itself motivated more by the desire to propagate Biblical/apocalyptic “truth” to audiences outside of churches, and hopefully “win souls for Christ,” than to achieve success for its own sake (Schultze 1996, 63-64).

[9] As a genre of filmmaking, rapture films attempt to depict to their audiences what their producers believe, based on a premillennial/Dispensationalist reading of apocalyptic texts, will be the horrors of the End Times. Thus, the films catalogue the awful state of affairs that those “left behind” after the rapture of the faithful (1 Thess 4:16-17) will have to endure during the Tribulation period; the rise to power and earthly rule of the Antichrist through a reborn Roman Empire (Dan 7; Rev 13:1), God’s wrath being poured out onto the earth (Rev 6; 8-10; 15-16), the (possibly forced) establishment of the “Mark of the Beast” (Rev. 13:16-18), the emergence of the “False Prophet” and a One World Religion (Rev 13:1-15), and the organised persecution of all those who refuse to worship the new, satanic world order (Rev 6:9-11; 20:4). Indeed, in many ways rapture films present almost identical dramatis personae and plot motifs, with each film often only differing in the actors that play them and the way in which particular motifs are emphasised and presented.[8]

The Horrors of the Tribulation

[10] Without doubt the most important character found across rapture films is the Antichrist. Whether alluded to or portrayed on screen, the Antichrist and his seven-year rule during the Tribulation form the central geo-political backdrop against which rapture films’ respective narratives unfold. Drawing on a tradition within Dispensationalist exegesis stretching back to at least Hal Lindsey (1971) and echoing the profound unease among American premillennialists concerning growing internationalism in the post-war era and America’s place in an age of increasing globalisation, rapture films explicitly link the Antichrist and the Reborn Roman Empire with the United Nations and with the forces of globalisation (Boyer 1992; Lindermayer 2001; Gribben 2006). In A Thief in the Night, the Apocalypse and Left Behind series, and The Omega Code and its sequel, for example, the Antichrist is portrayed as a charismatic European man, who comes to power as the leader of the United Nations (or functionally similar body) promising peace and security, global unity, an end to famine, and other seemingly desirable geopolitical aims. In some films he even offers answers to why people across the world have suddenly disappeared, and to bring order back to the chaos of the post-Rapture world. To this end, he proposes that nations adopt a common world currency, cede their sovereignty to a UN-led world super-state, and adopt him, as head of the UN, as the leader of the world, if not the messiah himself.

[11] Thus, the Apocalypse series depicts the rise to power of the “European Union President” Franco Macalusso in the chaotic aftermath of the Rapture. Claiming to be none other than “the God of your fathers” (2 Thess 2:3-4; Matt. 24:15), Macalusso promises humanity “a new age of peace and prosperity…[and]…human enlightenment! ... Heaven on earth!” and establishes a unified global order, O.N.E. (One Nation Earth; motto Mundus Vult Decipi—The World Wants to be Deceived), with himself at its head. Similarly, in the Left Behind series, the Antichrist emerges to world power in the form a charismatic young Romanian politician, Nicolae Carpathia, who, at the behest of the world’s leaders, becomes Secretary General of the United Nations. Claiming, like Macalusso, to want only to bring the world peace and security in the chaos of the post-Rapture world, the Carpathia-led UN quickly subsumes nation states under its control, establishes a one world currency, and takes control of the world’s media. Finally, in The Omega Code, veteran British actor Michael York plays Stone Alexander, a “beloved media mogul turned political dynamo” who becomes “Chairman of the European Union.” In this role, he quickly brokers a seven-year peace treaty between the Palestinians and the Israelis (Dan 9:27), and reorganises geopolitical affairs into a one world union of ten zones (Dan 7:7). After coming back to life from a fatal head wound (Rev 13:3), he has the Temple in Jerusalem rebuilt and from there declares himself, like Macalusso, to be none other than God himself.

[12] Having gained control of the world at the geopolitical and economic levels, the Antichrist/UN’s attention then turns to gaining control over other spheres of life. As several commentators have noted, within rapture fiction generally, the Antichrist’s totalitarian control over the world and individual souls is portrayed as multidimensional, combining political power through the UN, economic/financial power through a common currency, and cultural and religious power (McAlister 2003; Shuck 2005).

[13] In their portrayals of the Antichrist’s control over the cultural domain, rapture films again draw on established trends in popularised dispensational exegesis by focusing on technology and the mass media as the methods by which the Antichrist will win power over the hearts and minds of individuals. At least since the 1960s, numerous popularisations of prophecy have woven computers into their depictions of the End Times, with some going so far as to claim that the Antichrist may itself be a computer (Boyer 1992). Nevertheless, when compared to these earlier negative accounts, rapture films appear much more ambivalent in how they portray technology (Frykholm 2004). While, on the one hand, they draw on these earlier ideas of technology being a tool of the Antichrist, they also portray his opponents using it both to resist and battle against him.

[14] Without question the most important technological means within rapture films by which the Antichrist attempts to win control over individuals is “The Mark of the Beast”; a form of barcode or chip that is implanted into the body in order to mark an individual as a follower of the Antichrist and, in some cases, allow him to control their actions. In A Thief in the Night, for example, a spokesman for the UN-established body UNITE (or United Nations Imperium of Total Emergency) is shown on a TV broadcast requesting that citizens “show [themselves] a true citizen of the world,” by reporting to their “local UNITE identification centre.” The film then shows individuals queuing at a centre to have an electronic barcode tattooed on either their forehead or hand, with one old man telling the UNITE official: “put it right there [points to his forehead]. I’m not afraid to be a good citizen!” The film’s heroine, Patty, however, declines to do so and the viewer sees her walking around with a despondent air being turned away from various shops displaying “Citizens Only” signs for not having the Mark (Rev 13:17). Likewise, The Moment After and its sequel draws on contemporary fears of the satellite tracking of individuals by referring to the Mark as the “B” or “BEAST Chip,” an acronym for Biological Encoding And Satellite Tracking. In both cases, individuals have little or no choice over whether they take the mark; they must, the films show, take the mark or face what the UNITE spokesman refers to in Thief as “arrest and prolonged inconvenience” [sic].

[15] In contrast, in the Apocalypse series the decision is based more on seduction (at least initially) than on coercion and, indeed, features a much more complex technological scenario involving virtual reality headsets. Thus, during what is billed as “The Day of Wonders,” Macalusso enjoins the whole population of the world to don headsets and enter a virtual world. Once in this world, Macalusso offers each individual his or her heart’s desire in exchange for taking his Mark (which is portrayed as a form of tattoo 666). While the majority accept the exchange, and thereby give their souls over to the Antichrist, a few who recognise him for who he is are shown refusing and as a punishment are executed in the VR world by guillotine, their bodies also somehow dying in reality as well. [9]

[16] However, it is also through the use of technology that those “left behind” are able to resist the Antichrist. Arguably reflecting evangelical Christians’ increased use of a variety of technology and media forms over recent decades, technology—and as we shall see below, the media—is portrayed as a neutral medium that may be co-opted or subverted by the enemies of the Antichrist. So, for example, a number of rapture films show their heroes producing fake Marks that allow them to resist the Antichrist (in some cases allowing them to access his strongholds to subvert his plans), while in the Apocalypse series the “Day of Wonders” software is hacked into and eventually destroyed by the films’ heroes. Similarly, the central plotline in the final instalment in the Thief series, The Prodigal Planet, revolves around the film’s heroes attempting to construct a “computerised radio transmitter” that will link together the disparate underground Christian groups resisting the Antichrist. At the film’s finale the transmission—a choir singing “Onward Christian Soldiers”—is broadcast worldwide, the melody of which destabilises the Antichrist’s computer system, causing it to melt down.

[17] A similar ambivalence is also found within rapture films in their portrayal of the media. Again, as with technology, the media are frequently shown as the obvious means by which the Antichrist disseminates his deceptive message to the world. So, for example, in the Thief, Apocalypse and Left Behind series, the Antichrist is shown frequently addressing the world via global telecasts. Indeed, one of the Antichrist’s first actions after assuming power in all three series is to take control of the media, thereby turning them into propaganda tools. However, again, it is also portrayed as a site of resistance; a site whereby the Antichrist’s message may be either subverted or replaced by a Christian counter-discourse. In both the Apocalypse and Left Behind series, for example, the lead Christian heroes are broadcast journalists who use their positions in order to subvert the Antichrist’s message, and where possible promote a Christian one. Indeed, in the latter films in the Apocalypse series, one of the Christian journalists, Helen Hannah, goes on the run and begins to broadcast contemporary evangelical Christian videos about the Endtimes from a mobile transmission van in order to spread a Christian message.

[18] In this way, contemporary rapture films differ markedly from earlier forms of rapture fiction that saw technology and the media as inherently evil and resistance to the Antichrist as impossible (Frykholm 2004; Shuck 2005; cf. also Schueltze 1996, 65-67 on evangelical perceptions of the media). In contrast, both are presented as morally neutral domains which, although under the power of anti-Christian forces, can be subverted and “won over for Christ”; a perspective which arguably reflects the contemporary evangelical logic of political involvement (see Schultze 1990; Ammerman 1998; see especially LaHaye 1984 on the necessity of evangelicals reclaiming the media). As Shuck (2005) observes, whereas earlier generations of evangelicals avoided the mainstream media and the political domain, seeing both as inherently evil, contemporary evangelicals believe that they must become involved in order to defend themselves and their beliefs against what Tim LaHaye (1980, 217) refers to as the “pretribulation tribulation” of secular humanism (see also Neuhaus 1984).

[19] This theme of evangelical Christians being a marginalised and under threat minority within a hostile religio-political culture is another recurring theme within rapture films. As Gribben (2006) notes, a central theme within dispensationalist and evangelical Christian self-identity is a sense of being an acutely marginal and marginalised subculture, despite strong evidence to the contrary, particularly in America. Indeed, such is the pessimistic view of the future found within dispensationalism, that often the world is seen to progress:

… in a way decidedly hostile to the interest of these Christians, and within the narrative, true Christianity must become increasingly isolated and marginalised. Christians must face discrimination and persecution, the world must become increasingly dominated by evil, and true believers must seem increasingly scarce (Frykholm 2004, 106).

[20] Rapture films echo—if not exploit—this fear by portraying the persecution that those who convert to Christianity after the Rapture will have to endure at the hands of the Antichrist. Painting a clear trajectory from contemporary perceived marginalisation to future genocide, they portray a world where to quote the prayer of one of the main Christian protagonists in Left Behind: World at War: “Father, if we do nothing but admit to knowing you and loving you they send us for re-education. If we lift a finger to spread your word they sentence us as terrorists. Even if we make it to court, it’s a dark and fearful world …” Or, put more bluntly by the same character earlier in the series: “admitting you’re a Christian during the Tribulation is just like marking yourself for death.”

[21] A perennial theme within rapture films is thus the choice that individual Christians must face during the tribulation; whether they should take the Mark and thereby give their souls over to Antichrist or whether they should refuse and, if caught, be executed. A Distant Thunder, for example, draws clear parallels between the born again “altar call” by showing a group of individuals held captive in a church by UNITE who are given the option of taking the Mark or being executed by guillotine. Indeed, the scene makes this link explicit by cutting to a scene showing an evangelist in the pre-Rapture world inviting members of a congregation to come forward and accept Jesus. Going further, the finale of the first film in the Apocalypse series echoes the Nazi treatment of the Jews by showing Christians being round up as enemies of the state and placed in cattle trucks to be sent to concentration camps.

[22] Such images continue across both the Apocalypse series and, in a subtler way, across the Left Behind series. The Apocalypse series in particular portrays Christians (who are referred to as “Haters” due to their opposition to the new order) almost like hunted animals because of their refusal to take the Mark. They are also accused of terrorist activities such as blowing up school buses, orphanages and old people’s homes; crimes which are in fact covert attempts by O.N.E. to discredit them in the eyes of the world. Indeed, in the final film in the series—which centres around the leader of the Christian underground’s show trial for “crimes against humanity”—we see that O.N.E. has gone so as to establish a “Haters Hotline,” where concerned citizens can report those they suspect of being “Haters” to the authorities. The Left Behind series, in contrast, while referring to the persecution that Christians will have to endure during the tribulation, does not portray it as explicitly on screen, leaving it more to the imagination of the viewer. That said, however, the Antichrist in the series arguably develops the most ingenious method of dispatching Christians when, in Left Behind: World at War, he has Bibles sprayed with chemical agents that kill their readers as they read and handle them.

[23] Linked to this marginalisation and persecution of Christians during the tribulation is the concomitant emergence of “the False Prophet” and a One World Religion; an emergence which, again, is portrayed as the culmination of existent perceived counter-Christian trends. Thus, for example, in the later films in the Thief series, the “World Church” is portrayed as pro-Corporation and anti-Israel; more concerned with secular matters—particularly making profit from war—than with the spirit. In more recent films, however, it is the New Age Movement and “self spirituality” (Heelas 1996) more generally which are linked with the Antichrist, a shift arguably reflecting a growing critique of such spiritualities among contemporary evangelical Christians (Lindsey 1971, chap. 10; Saliba 1999; for examples see Cumbey 1982; Groothuis 1988; Baer 1989; Noonan 2005). Franco Macalusso, in particular, is portrayed as a form of New Age guru, offering humanity the key to unlocking their hidden potential. In one of his first telecasts, for example, after announcing that he is God, for example, he declares to the world in a speech replete with New Age buzzwords that “we are ready to take the next great step of evolution”:

I will show you the wonderful powers that lie within you, waiting to be unleashed; powers that have been your birthright from the very beginning. What has held you back until now were those who refused to believe in the power of the human mind. Those who believed that our true power came from outside ourselves, I tell you today that the power is not outside yourself. It is within yourself. It always has been! (cf. 2 Thess 2: 9-12)

[24] In order for humanity to unleash these powers, however, he claims that “cancer cells in our collective body” have first to be “removed.” The following scene then shows scenes of mobs attacking Christians and burning down churches while a news broadcast voiceover declares that “the world is united in a common hatred of Christianity and Jesus Christ.”

[25] Similarly, in Tribulation Force, Nicolae Carpathia announces that humanity must put aside their differences—“the deadliest of all” being their religious ones and look for answers within themselves; his call being expressed through a clear inversion of the Lord’s Prayer:

There is no heaven or hell, there is just us, here, now. Let us not look beyond ourselves, let us look to ourselves. Together we need not fear temptation or evil for ours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

[26] Later in the film, Carpathia’s ambitions are made explicit when he proposes to “to give [humanity] faith … by creating spiritual unity … a one world religion [of] tolerance, harmony and peace.” Again, the New Age credentials of this Anti-Christian religion are clear from its logo that is a bright New Age-like Mandala, complete with mystical symbols such as Yin-Yang, surrounded by a red border containing the words “God is in us. God is us. We are God.”

[27] The message of both films is thus unambiguous: the New Age quest for divinity within is, if not Satanic itself, clearly inimical to Christianity. This theme is also explored, albeit in a much more subtle way, through the character of Gillen Lane in The Omega Code. At the beginning of the film, Lane is shown as motivational speaker who, although raised a Christian, rejected it after his mother died in a tragic car accident when he was a child. Thus, echoing words which could have come from Macalusso or Carpathia, he tells an interviewer of how “I’ve seen too many held back waiting on some higher power,” adding that “not until we grasp that we are the higher power can we take the next step in our evolution, and finally become whole!” However, over the course of the film this cynicism is replaced by his former faith and, after undergoing a born again experience, he confronts and attempts to kill his former employer, the Antichrist. Lane’s journey within the film is thus one from (New Age) deception/weakness to belief/strength; his newly (re)found belief giving him the strength to attempt to kill the Antichrist.

“Save me, Jesus”

[28] Moving from the geo-political to the personal, another recurring motif across rapture films—but particularly in the more low-budget offerings—is a focus on individuals’ born again conversion after the rapture. On one level at least, as Hendershot (2004) points out, rapture films are conceived by their producers as didactic tools for those wishing to convert either now or after the rapture, it is therefore of no surprise that the films contain many exemplary portrayals of conversion formulas (specifically the so-called “Sinner’s Prayer”) and experiences. It is equally of no surprise that many rapture films—the Thief series being the notable example—deploy numerous scare tactics in order to jolt their viewers into wanting to “open their heart to Jesus” before it is too late. The recurring musical theme of Thief, for example, is the Larry Norman song “I Wish We’d All Been Ready,” which features lines such as “A man and wife asleep in bed/She hears a noise and turns her head he’s gone/I wish we’d all been ready” and “There’s no time to change your mind/The Son has come and you’ve been left behind.” Its sequels are also replete with images of individuals who waited until after the rapture before undergoing conversion experiences being executed by guillotine; a motif that, as noted earlier, is reprised across a number of subsequent films.

[29] However, on another level, the films may also be read, again following Shuck (2005), as articulations—or perhaps even redefinitions—of both a certain form of Dispensationalist spiritual economy and a sense of evangelical identity. Numerous commentators, for example, both from within academic and theological quarters, have raised concerns about how the Left Behind novels introduce what they consider to be new and novel elements into the dispensationalist salvational scheme (see for example, Barry 2000; Gribben 2006; Sweetnam 2006). Gribben (2006), in particular, in a recent critique of Left Behind has highlighted how the novels introduce several elements into the dispensationalist salvational scheme which, he argues, not only lack biblical foundations, but are also at odds with the beliefs of earlier dispensationalist writers. Most notable among these, he claims, are the notions of that the unborn and those before puberty will automatically be taken up in the rapture, that individuals may have a “second chance” to be saved during the Tribulation, and that this salvation is achieved through the recitation of the “Sinner’s Prayer.”

[30] Both the Left Behind and Apocalypse series, for example, refer to children being taken up in the rapture; the latter series in particular showing news footage of a distraught woman pushing an empty pram screaming that someone has taken her baby. Moreover, as a rule rapture films invariably feature at least one individual undergoing a born again conversion after the rapture, often through reciting some variation of the Sinner’s Prayer. Thus, while, as discussed above in the Apocalypse series there is a larger plot focusing on the rule of the Antichrist and his plans to gain the souls of humanity, this in some ways merely provides a context for each film’s central plot, which revolves around their respective leading characters coming to accept the gospel and undergoing a born again conversion. Likewise, The Moment After films focus on two FBI agents, Adam Riley and Charles Baker: the former undergoes a born again conversion at the end of the first film, while the latter undergoes one in the second while hunting for his fugitive former partner.

[31] In this way, then, rapture films are as much concerned with reinforcing and redefining the beliefs of their viewers as they are with winning new souls. In particular, the portrayal of born again conversions may, aside from potentially providing a sense of Schadenfreude at the thought of what awaits non-believers who realise the error of their ways after the rapture (Shuck 2005), serve to reinforce viewers’ convictions that they are themselves indeed saved—particularly if they too have used the “Sinner’s Prayer” (Cordero 2004; Frykholm 2004). More broadly, by portraying characters moving from a position of often militant non-belief to confirmed belief (even in the face of death), the films also provide characters whom evangelical audiences can not only root for, but who also, again, confirm the validity of their beliefs (Goldberg 2002). In other words, in the absence of any firm guarantees that they are indeed saved, rapture films provide for their viewers cinematic signs of election similar to that described by Max Weber ([1904] 2001) in his classic Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism; signs that while not guaranteeing that they are indeed saved, do offer them some degree of self-assurance in their position in the salvational economy.

[32] A similar phenomenon may be observed in rapture films’ portrayal of mainline Christians; all of whom, as non-evangelicals, are ipso facto portrayed as being left behind after the rapture. A recurring dramatis personae from A Thief in the Night through to the Left Behind series is the Christian—particularly the Christian minister—who, although believing themselves to be “good persons” and pious Christians nevertheless find themselves left behind after the rapture. So, for example, in A Thief in the Night there is the figure of Pastor Turner (played with relish by the film’s producer, Russ Doughton), who is painted as an archetypal mainline Christian; a man who criticises evangelicals and rejects literal interpretations of the Bible as merely “the poetic expression of those greater principles by which man lives with man.” After he is left behind, he comes to realise that not only has he been living a lie but, arguably more importantly, that he has been leading his flock astray. Faced with this terrible realisation, Turner goes out of his mind before, in the final two films in the series, he seemingly repents and becomes a fervent dispensationalist, spending most of his screen time in front of a giant tribulation map interpreting the “signs of the times” for the chief protagonists. Turner’s conversion journey is thus, again, one from a position of being diametrically opposed theologically to that of his audience to one of accepting (albeit too late) their beliefs. Similarly, in the Left Behind series, Pastor Bruce Barnes is portrayed as a pastor who also comes to realise the error of his ways when his congregation are taken up in the rapture, leaving him behind. Thus, in the scene where he is introduced, he is shown distraught in his empty church praying:

Oh boy, oh god, what a fraud I am … and everybody bought it [laughs] except you. I knew your message, I knew your word, I stood right here and preached it and I was good, but they’re gone, they’re gone and … but knowing and believing are two different things. I’m living a lie, I’m living a lie …

Again like Turner, he comes to embrace a dispensationalist position and, indeed, becomes a key member of the so-called Tribulation Force of newly-converted Christians who seek to resist the Antichrist.

[33] As Frykholm observes, figures such as Barnes and Turner raise questions and anxieties among evangelical audiences concerning their own salvation. Both, after all, look and act and, indeed, believe themselves to be Christians, but they are in fact, at best, deluded, and at worst hypocrites (Frykholm 2004, 147). The films, however, potentially resolve this tension by showing that only non-evangelical Christians will be left behind; all genuine “Bible Believing” Christians in contrast are always taken up in the rapture. In addition they show how those left behind “Christians,” such as Turner and Barnes, ultimately come to reject their former position and accept a premilennialist theodicy. The films thus provide their evangelical viewers with potential tools to both reaffirm their own identity and place in the salvational scheme and challenge the mainline.

Conclusion

[34] Rapture films, then, may be seen to operate on two levels. Primarily, following Hendershot, they may be seen to operate as didactic tools; educating their audiences in the specifics of premillennial/dispensationalist visions of the Endtimes and enjoining them to undergo a born again experience now before it is too late. However, on an arguably more important level, rapture films may also be seen to provide sites whereby a contemporary form of evangelical identity may be articulated and redefined through the language and imagery provided by a premillennial reading of apocalyptic texts. As I have argued above, rapture films take the contemporary concerns of evangelicals regarding, for example, growing internationalism, the role of technology and media in their lives and their perceived marginalisation, and give voice to them by projecting them into a near future where they are shown to be manifested in their most extreme form. So, for example, a clear trajectory is portrayed between contemporary internationalism and, in particular the role of the UN in contemporary geopolitical affairs, and the future rise of the Antichrist and the one world state. Similarly, the films also portray a future genocide against Christians at the hands of the Antichrist and the emergence of a New Age One/ecumenical One World Religion as the radicalisation of perceived contemporary trends within the public sphere that marginalise them and their beliefs. However, in doing so, the films do not simply encourage passivity. Rather, while still accepting that the prophetic framework is set, they show their viewers how both now and in the future they can resist these trends. Thus, in contrast to earlier portrayals in both rapture fiction and prophecy literature that saw technology and the media as inherently evil, rapture films portray them as potential sites of resistance and struggle. The media may be in the hands of antichristian forces, they show their viewers, but this control may be resisted and subverted.

[35] More broadly, the films may be seen to articulate a contemporary form of evangelical identity; giving voice, in particular, to the anxieties faced by evangelicals regarding their place in the salvational economy. Whether by showing the young and unborn being taken in the rapture, holding out the possibility of a post-rapture “second chance,” valorising the “Sinner’s Prayer,” or showing how mainline Christians will be left behind alongside non-believers, rapture films speak directly to these anxieties, offering their audiences confirmation of their place in the spiritual economy.

[36] Whether or not the films succeed in these aims is open to speculation. While the producers of the A Thief in the Night series, for example, make claims regarding the number of souls that have been “saved” as a consequence of watching the films, and there are a number of reviews of several of the films by Christian viewers available on the internet, this evidence is at best anecdotal and selective.[10] Further research is needed, along the lines adopted by Frykholm (2004) and Gutjahr (2002) in their analysis of the Left Behind series’ readership, into the dynamics of rapture films audiences, focusing on their responses to the films (see also the religious audience research of Clark 2003 and Hoover 2006). Do they, for example, watch them simply as Christian equivalents of mainstream horror films or supernatural thrillers purely for escapist fantasies, or are they also seeking to the theologically informed (perhaps even uplifted)? More broadly, given the paucity of academic discussions of the rapture films phenomenon vis-à-vis rapture fiction, research is needed generally on the dynamics of the rapture film industry and the role that it plays within the Evangelical Christian community in the ongoing maintenance and (re)construction of both contemporary premillennialist visions of the Endtimes and contemporary evangelical identities.

Notes

[1] A version of this paper was presented to the Centre for Millennialism Studies Inaugural Conference, Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool, UK, July 13, 2007. I would like to thank Melanie Wright, Crawford Gribben and the JRPC reviewers for comments on an earlier draft of this chapter

[2] The film’s Executive Producer Russ Doughton on the director and producers’ commentary accompanying the DVD release of A Thief in the Night provides this estimate. One young man who saw the film and was not affected in the way the filmmakers would perhaps have liked was Brian Warner, who would later take the name Marilyn Manson.

[3] As well as citing the involvement of Van Impe, Tribulation was also produced in association with John Hagee Ministries and T.D. Jakes Ministries.

[4] For details on Cloud Ten and its films, see its webpage, See http://www.cloudtenpictures.com/

[5] The four films in Cloud Ten’s Apocalypse series cost between $1,000,000 (Apocalypse: Caught in the Eye of the Storm) and $11,000,000 (Judgement) to produce, while Left Behind: The Movie cost $17.4 million. In contrast, the production costs for Thief were just $68,000 (Hendershot, ibid.).

[6] The film’s director, Wes Llewellyn, on the ‘Behind the Scenes’ DVD extra on The Moment After 2

[7] Quoted at http://www.gonethefilm.com/GONE%20WEBSITE%209.8.05/home.htm

[8] That said, however, looking across the genre there are marked differences, largely reflecting budgetary constraints, among rapture films in terms of how they approach their subject matter. Thus, while all rapture films are very much narrative driven, those with a larger budget (such as, for example, the Left Behind, Omega Code and Apocalypse series of films) are able to portray the larger global, geo-political context of the Antichrist’s rule, while those produced on a smaller budget (such as, for example, The Moment After series or Gone) focus instead more on the personal dimension and on depicting conversion narratives.

[9] The image of the guillotine as the primary means whereby those who refuse to take the Mark are dispatched is a recurring theme in A Thief in the Night and the Apocalypse series; seemingly taking its influence from Rev 20:4, where its author describes seeing “the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God”

[10] For reviews of the various films, see for example, www.amazon.com, www.imdb.com, and www.hollywoodjesus.com.

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