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27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An interesting story, May 14, 2004
This review is from: Bells of Innocence (DVD)
Bells of Innocence is about 3 men who find themselves trapped in a bizarre Texas town. The people all act strange, and only one woman and a mysterious stranger(Chuck Norris) will help them. A powerful immortal controls the town with his demonic horde. Good and evil battle for the town and its children, and the 3 men will help decide the outcome. Their only weapon is their faith, but will even it be enough to save them? BOI is a good film. The actors aren't that great, but the storyline is good and the special effects work for a budget film. It's slow in parts and could have used some serious trimming, but for the most part the story moves along. There are some action sequences with Chuck's son, Mike, doing most of the fighting (Chuck doesn't throw a single punch). Don't be mistaken though, this is a plot-driven story, not a fighting one. Even though this is touted as a Christian film, profanity is used twice in it (though I have no idea why you'd do that in a church film). An interesting concept, and I guess it works. Imagine a Christian episode of the X-Files. The climax of the film is the payoff for watching it. It's just a shame that it takes so long to reach the really good part. But hey, it's definitely better than the Left Behind films. Recommended.
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Spiritual is Made Manifest., February 8, 2005
BELLS OF INNONCENCE is a story about three friends who agree to fly a bunch of Bibles to a small Protestant church in Mexico. The Mexican church would like to hand the Bibles out free to anyone who needs them, but cannot afford it themselves and the church that the three friends (Jux, Oren, Conrad) attend has bought the Bibles for them. While flying their small twin-engine plane, the plane starts to sputter and after sending out several May Day warnings Jux, Oren, and Conrad crash-land somewhere in the desert. Walking for several miles they come across a town. But the town they wander into isn't any ordinary town. It looks like a village from the 1800s mixed with items from the 1950s. They later learn that the village is cursed and actually is a type of gateway from Hell. Unless the three wanderers each personally face the evil that has possessed the village, the children of the village will become servants of the Dark One.
BELLS OF INNOCENCE is a kind of bizarre movie. At it's core is the Gospel story of Jesus: how God became man to save us from our sins and from eternal damnation. But the movie chooses to present the story in an unusual format; a sort of hybrid between a buddy-flick Western and an Apocalyptic sci-fi adventure. At times the movie seems inspired by THE TWILIGHT ZONE. Then again, at other times it seems like a bad lost episode of WALKER, TEXAS RANGER without Walker.
Much of the dialogue isn't all that original and often seems trite. Nevertheless, there are some moments of solid acting, both in the dramatic and comic veins. Chuck Norris produced the film and plays an important secondary role. However, he doesn't do any of the famous martial arts tricks that he has become famous. His son, Mike Norris, wrote the screenplay and stars in the central role of Jux Jonas. Like the name suggests, the character of Jux is a juxtaposition of the two sides of a tormented soul--a man who knows what is right, but is torn by good desires and an unability to relinquish his pain. Despite some of the bad dialogue and cheap filmmaking, Mike Norris pulls off a rather memorable performance. David A.R. White and Carey Scott also give decent supporting performances as well.
There's a lot about BELLS OF INNONCENCE that reeks of immature and inexperienced filmmaking (the editing, some of the pacing, etc.) There are also moments that make the rather low budget obvious. But these are things that any first time filmmaker with a limited budget has to deal with.
BELLS OF INNONCENCE was made and marketed as a "Christian" movie and outside of being shown in a few churches, it went straight to video. There are some Christian church goers who might be offended by some of the film's violence and the two "bad" words that are spoken. Despite all of this (and the times I found myself laughing during the movie), the video has a few moments of interest and originality. BELLS OF INNONCENCE is kind of original and because of the A for effort that most of the cast and crew deserve (and because of the moments that will make you laugh, despite the movie's severity), I rank the movie at the bottom of the average movie pile.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Original, Mesmerizing Thriller, April 11, 2006
This review is from: Bells of Innocence (DVD)
Bells of Innocence is a thriller with a Christian faith-based theme, but is not too preachy, and succeeds in the creator's efforts to appeal to secular as well as religious audiences.
Chuck Norris stars as the mysterious Matthew, who assists three friends whose plane has crashed in a remote, sinister Texas town that is not found on any map. Mike Norris, Chuck's son, plays Jux, a tormented soul who has lost his faith with his young daughter's death. The three friends soon find themselves in a battle against Satan's minions for the souls of the town, and most importantly, the children who are being manipulated and used.
Though this film may be billed as a family movie, with no nudity or profanity, this is a dark thriller for adults. There are terrifying and violent scenes. The movie starts off slow, but it pulls the viewer in and scares you as bad as any secular horror film. Do not watch this film at night.
As far as those Amazon reviewers who have panned the film and said the acting was horrible, if they can genuinely cry as Mike Norris did in the climatic scene, then I would take their comments seriously. The acting was not horrible. It was solid, especially the villianious Joshua, played by Marshall Teague.
Very odd is that the only actor who WAS poor, David White (Conrad), looks exactly like Chuck Norris. I spent the entire movie thinking that White was Norris' son. Mike Norris in reality looks nothing like his father, and even looks the same age as Chuck. This movie is worth checking out just for this anamoly.
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