THE HAUNTING OF MOLLY HARTLEY

THE HAUNTING OF MOLLY HARTLEY has one of the most evil endings and most evil worldviews in the history of cinema. This movie is a perfect example of why you cannot only go by a movie’s sexual content, violent content or number of obscenities and profanities, but also must consider the movie’s dominant worldview and what that worldview teaches.

Designed to attract gullible teenagers, the story opens with a father killing his daughter for some reason just before her 18th birthday. Cut to Molly Hartley and her father. Molly is about to attend a new preparatory school after having to leave her last one. Molly is having trouble. She’s been hearing whispers of voices and getting headaches. She’s afraid that she is going insane like her mother, who tried to kill her by stabbing Molly in the chest.

At Molly’s new school, Alexis, a Christian student, befriends Molly and tells her about Jesus. At the same time, Molly attracts the attention of a teenage boy, Joe, but this makes his former girlfriend angry. Molly also befriends a sarcastic girl named Leah. Both of them see the new school counselor to help with their psychological issues.

Doctors find a benign tumor in Molly’s sinus cavity, which seems to end Molly’s episodes. Molly’s mother shows up, however, trying to kill her again. Her mother tells her that Molly had actually died when she was born before getting to the hospital. At Molly’s birth and death, a Satanist showed up and offered Molly’s parents 18 years with Molly, but the Satanist must get Molly when she turns 18, whereupon Molly supernaturally will be given special demonic powers by Satan.

[Spoilers] In a struggle at Molly’s new house, the mother accidentally falls on her knife and dies. He father comes home, but Molly knocks him unconscious and runs to Alexis at the Christian center where Alexis hangs out. Privately, Alexis assures Molly that Jesus Christ can protect her. Alexis takes Molly to the church to baptize her alone. After the baptism, however, Alexis tries to drown Molly. During the struggle, Alexis smacks her head against the tub and apparently dies.

Molly runs to Joe. But, Joe turns out to be one of the Satanists, and so does the school’s counselor. Molly tries to kill herself, but it’s too late. She has some kind of immortal Satanic power now. Cut to Molly’s graduation, where she has become the valedictorian. Meanwhile, her father has been put into the insane asylum because of his “delusions” about a Satanic conspiracy involving his daughter. The end.

THE HAUNTING OF MOLLY HARTLEY is just a serviceable scare fest. The Satanists limply try to look menacing when they finally show up, and not much really happens when they do. Also, the ending is not cathartic at all, because the bad guys win, and Molly really has no choice about what’s happening to her. All she can do to escape the Satanists is to kill herself before she turns 18! Since she is too late in doing that, she just automatically joins them, having no ability to choose to rebel.

Of course, this ending is thoroughly evil. It’s more than just false theological and philosophical dualism, where Good and Evil have equal powers. The ending is actually thoroughly demonic and occult because, here, Evil and its occult powers are more powerful than Good. To make matters worse, the good Christian in the story, Alexis, is shown not to have the faith and trust in Jesus that she proclaims to Molly. Thus, she betrays Molly and tries to kill Molly after she baptizes her.

This has to be one of the most evil endings we have ever seen in a movie. And, we have seen plenty of movies here at MOVIEGUIDE® (both before and after MOVIEGUIDE® began publishing and broadcasting in 19850. Even so, nearly all of the horror movies that the entertainment industry is making today have endings where Evil conquers Good. Even those horror movies where Good barely survives are filled with extremely gory images and/or pagan concepts that are excessive or abhorrent. Most of them lack true suspense as well.

Therefore, there is no reason to pay your money to see these new horror movies. We urge our readers to help us spread the word to all children and teenagers to stop seeing these schlocky horror movies. They are not as good or moral as the classic horror movies that Hollywood used to make, such as Boris Karloff’s FRANKENSTEIN movies. Even in a problematic classic like Hitchcock’s PSYCHO, the good guys eventually win, and they are the good guys. Movies like THE HAUNTING OF MOLLY HARTLEY and SAW V simply do not compare. Sadly, most of these new movies are targeted at teenagers. We encourage our teenager readers to admonish their classmates, friends and peers to turn toward Jesus Christ and, if they have to go to a movie, see something more uplifting and inspiring like HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3 or FIREPROOF than THE HAUNTING OF MOLLY HARTLEY, SAW V or SPLINTER.