If your choices of movies and literature exclusively revolve around horror, and your home is filled with horror-themed bric-à-brac, you might want to consider whether this fascination with horror has become unhealthy. If you need assistance in discernment, I recommend talking to your confessor or spiritual director.
Just because some horror movies are bad does not mean that all of them are. There are good ones that express truth about evil and our need for redemption, so Catholics can watch and enjoy them.
While there is no chapter and verse in Scripture saying horror movies are sinful for Christians to watch; it would be incredibly unwise and even dangerous for believers to partake in films that make light of the demonic and make it look entertaining.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office of Film and Broadcasting (USCCB-OFB) officially and publicly condemned the film as being unsuitable for a wide audience, but reviews produced for the office by priests and lay Catholics and correspondence between the Vatican and the USCCB-OFB show that the church ...
Q: Is it a sin to watch an R-rated movie? -S.W. A: If the very content of an R-rated movie poses as an occasion of sin for a particular person, and he is aware of that, then that person should not view the movie.
Is It Sinful to Watch Horror Movies? w/ Fr. Thomas Joseph White, OP
What does the Bible say about watching rated R movies?
The Bible never comes right out and says what to do with movies. Moses didn't bring back a commandment that said, “Thou shalt not watch any R-rated film (unless thine film be titled Passion of the Christ).” Jesus never explicitly spoke about Hollywood.
Now if you recognize that you shouldn't participate in whatever brutal actions are documented in the Bible, you should have no trouble applying that concept to the medium of film. Many of the most moving and impactful films in the history of cinema include terrible violence, cruelty, abuse, etc.
What does the Bible say about watching horror movies?
Philippians 4:8, NIV: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.” Nothing about horror movies fits anything in that verse.
This list couldn't exist without The Exorcist, undeniably the quintessential Catholic horror film. In it, the demon Pazuzu possesses a little girl, Regan, after she plays with a Ouija board, causing her to mutilate herself with a crucifix and expel vulgarities at her family.
What did the Catholic Church say about The Exorcist movie?
The Catholic Church officially give the film a cautionary rating and a critical review. Protestant groups and leaders also condemned the film. But the studio and distributors viewed all of the negative publicity as a potential marketing strategy, in a kind of 'see the movie your church doesn't want you to see' vein.
Watching Anime can be considered a sin if it involves violence, sexual content, or teachings that go against God. Still, it is not inherently sinful if it is for entertainment and does not hinder your relationship with God.
Christians may eat pork because God has declared it once more to be clean. “What God has declared clean you must not call common” (Acts 10:15). Pork is one of those “foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth” (1Timothy 4:3).
THE NUN II has a strong Christian, moral worldview with many Christian references. Best of all, it extolls the power of faith and the power of the blood of Jesus to overcome evil. The movie associates both these things with the eucharist in Christian churches, Jesus Christ's sign of the New Covenant.
The magic in Harry Potter is fictional, so the Bible and the Catechism wouldn't condemn it. Harry Potter is a story, a work of an author's imagination, a modern-day parable. It's just like how attending a child's magic show does not put one in danger of being involved in “real” sorcery.
The guidelines also specify rules for other art forms being filmed in their churches. “Fictional movies, television shows, student films, etc., are typically only considered if the movie contains a Catholic or Christian message in line with the teachings of the Catholic Church.
It is a curiously light beginning for a film that will end in an upsettingly extended sequence of torture and sexual violence, and it points to the queasy contradiction Mordini never resolves, between the painstakingly re-created, rueful coming-of-ager his film mostly is, and the unflinchingly ghoulish true-crime ...
Horror as a genre is not just about scary things, it's about the atmosphere. There is a reason there was an upsurge of Catholic haunting movies when there was: they were a reaction against modernism and modernist optimism, just as the mass culture was turning against them, and they came very much fro…
Roman Catholicism is highly visual in a way Protestantism isn't—the churches are very ornate and formal with architecture that can be used to evoke a sense of spookiness, the clergy dress in distinctive ways, and there are a lot of symbols/objects of veneration that are used to focus on or represent the supernatural— ...
It depends on who you ask. There are some Christians who believe it is a sin. The verse in the Bible that most Christians make reference to is Leviticus 19:28, which says,"You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord." So, why is this verse in the Bible?
The tendency to fear intrusive thoughts and images can be triggered and increase levels of anxiety or panic. Viewing horror images can lead to unwanted thoughts and feelings. Thus, people who experience anxiety sensitivities often have a need to avoid those experiences.
While fear is a common human experience, the Scripture's promise that God walks with the faithful at all times has heartened us to overcome our fears through the ages: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me” ( ...
While watching "bad things" is indeed sinful, it is important to recognize that God's grace is not limited by our mistakes. God's forgiveness is readily available to all who humbly repent and genuinely seek His mercy. God wants you to repent, so that He can forgive you.
Devout Latter-day Saints don't, or at least think they shouldn't, watch R-rated movies. This belief has permeated their religious culture for decades. And while top leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have warned about such films, there has never been a general proscription against viewing them.
Is it illegal for a 13 year old to watch a rated R movie?
The R-rating doesn't ban children under 17 from a movie, it restricts them to watching it with a parent or guardian (and includes a recommendation that parents and guardians learn more before allowing their child to see the movie).
