Customer Reviews

Bells of Innocence

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Let me preface this review by saying that I am a big fan of Chuck Norris. From everything I've read about him, I admire him very much persoanlly and as a martial artist myself with a black belt in karate, it goes without saying that I enjoy his films as well.

Which is why I was so disappointed when I purchased and saw this movie.

I've usually enjoyed movies that have religious overtones and depict the timeless struggle between the forces of good versus the forces of evil. One needs to look no further than films like The Omen and The Exorcist, for example, to see how well these films can be made.

And while The Bells of Innocence - about this same struggle in a remote area of Texas - certainly sounded like it had all the "right stuff". it, unfortunately, did not manage to pull it off.

Firstly, with the exception of Chuck, who had a relatively small role in Bells, the rest of the actors were absolutely dreadful. As much as I like Chuck, it's unlikely that you will ever see him garner any Best Acting awards. However, compared to the "stiffs" in this film, Chuck comes off looking like Laurence Olivier..!!

With respect to the plot, it's one of those films that you think is going to "break out" at any moment and generate something resembling a plot. But it never does..!! A half an hour goes by - then an hour and it really hasn't grabbed your interest any more than it had it the first 5 minutes. Here's a town that supposedly has been taken over by the forces of darkness, however, these "guys" seem to be about as sinister as smurfs.!

Lastly, I suspect this film was made on the cheap - and it looks the part. Now I've seem a few low budget films that worked very well as a result of good writing, good direction and good acting..!

But take my word for it - this is not one of them.!!

If like me, you're a big fan of Chuck and are thinking of buying and/or watching this movie primarily because Chuck is in it - resist the temptation and take a pass on.

Otherwise, you'll be sorry..!!

"Bells of Innocence" is about three guys who are flying to Mexico in a small plane to deliver bibels. Their plane runs out of oil and they have to land in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in Texas. They find a small town where there is no phone and everybody's acting strange, especially the children. Chuck Norris appears as a mysterious man with a horse. After a while it turns out the town has been taken over by the devil or something like that and that our three christian heroes must save the children.

Even though I know that whenever a film stars David A.R. White, the film is always some sort of christian propaganda, and usually not well made. Still, "Bells of Innocence" was surprisingly badly made. The special effects were what you might have expected from a 1960s movie, and all of the dialogue, and the entire story, was laughable.

If you're looking for a good movie, look elsewhere. If you're looking for a Chuck Norris movie, look elsewhere. He only plays a minor character. If you're looking for a movie that preaches christianity, this might do, and it's also worth watching if you like really bad movies, because it's so bad it's entertaining.

A gutsy and ingeniously approached spiritual warfare drama about battling demons, both one's own and in intercession. Intense and horrifying--as a movie dealing with Satan, soul stealing, and the horrors of hell should be. Mike Norris plays "Jux," a man out of fellowship and in a dark place personally after his wife left him, blaming him for their daughter's death. Yet Jux agrees to pilot his Christian buds Conrad and Oren to transport their collected Bibles to Mexico. The plane crashes outside "Ceres," a place that "doesn't even look like the planet Earth, man," "dirt, and a lot of sky," "not a place but a what." Hmmmm....Ceres, I recall from mythology, was the Roman name for the goddess who went looking for her daughter that was kidnapped by Hades. But that's not spoiling the movie, it's full of surprises--though yeah, it's about setting captives free. This movie's desert town of Ceres is populated by mark-bearing drones with superhuman strength and kids dressed like Little House on the Prairie...and then there's supercool "Michael," played by Chuck Norris, of course. "Bells of Innocence" caught my eye in the store at a time when I'd been praying for wisdom for what to do after I heard an other-worldly, threatening voice come out of a zombie-like shell of a person whose eyes normally were lifelessly void or displayed flashes of imprisoned fear, not the blazing hate that accompanied the demonic voice. Anyway, "Bells of Innocence" helped me to stand firm in faith, to strengthen my commitment to Jesus, to intercession, and to "fear not man who can kill the body but not the soul." My only reservation about the movie is that it's too scary for most kids. Everything else about it I found impressive: story, acting, music, production and underlying biblical message.

Great story and performances from the main characters. It is encouraging and refreshing to see Chuck Norris doing a movie outside the Hollywood main stream, and being used as a spiritual instrument of God and the "angelic bright side".

The eternal story of the battle between good and evil is explored in BELLS OF INNOCENCE. However, although the intentions of filmmaker Mike Norris and his dad, Chuck, are to be commended, the execution of this film falls far below what one might have expected. Chuck plays a mysterious stranger named Matthew, who we find out later is an angel, sent to watch over this misguided town called Ceres, the gateway to hell. Mike is Jux, a tormented parent who feels guilt over the accidental death of his daughter and who is marked by a young tyke in this strange little town. The town is ruled by a dark angel played by Marshall Teague, and another evil man named Emeritus. What was intended to be a frightening look at this showdown is merely a dull and tedious film with little suspense or novelty employed. The rest of the cast is woefully ineffectual and the movie's ending is far from satisfying. BELLS OF INNOCENCE is nowhere near THE EXORCIST or THE OMEN in its depiction of the apocalyptic battle, and only Norris fans will likely find it enjoyable.

I found Bell of Innocence to be a wonderful movie. I could relate to the actor that lost his child and lost his way. I made it a point to show the movie with others. I found it to be a movie that could cause a person to think about where they are in their salvation. I am in the proccess of trying to buy the movie to add to my collection. I highly recommend this movie!!!!!

I am a very big fan of Chuck Norris and i love all his movie and i bought this one thinking it would be as good as the rest. This movie was awful I have, my child was watching it with me and I had to send her to bed because of the stupid withcraft and Satanism in the movie. This movie should have a rating, which it doesn't, and i think that it is the worst movie he has made! The town in this movie is "possessed" and they think they take all the children to the rituals and they use the children. There is one child in particuler that is possessed and she is so demonic that younger people do not need to watch this movie.