Horror Movies and the Cross - Censored Cemetery Crucifix Scene from "Bride of Frankenstein"

Screen shot of the censored scene.

Bride of Frankenstein is the 1935 sequel to Universal Pictures' 1931 film Frankenstein, both directed by James Whale and star Boris Karloff as the Monster.

Whereas little was censored in the first Frankenstein, by the mid-1930s the rules about violence and other potentially offensive content in public entertainment were strict.

Joseph Breen, director of the Production Code Administration, and an Irish Catholic, made many recommendations regarding what was appropriate and what wasn’t for Bride. At this time, if a script didn’t receive the PCA’s seal of approval, it simply wasn’t getting produced.

Horror Movies and the Cross - Five Favorite Scenes Displaying the Power of the Cross

Many horror movies especially of recent times downplay the power of the Cross to give more of a sense of the unstoppable power of a particular evil entity, but there are still many horror films that offer displays of its power in the face of an encounter with evil. Usually these scenes are dealing with vampires and demons. Below are five of my favorite scenes among many that I was able to locate online (*be warned that some of these scenes may be viewed as scary by certain viewers*):

 

1. Dracula (1931)

 

 

 

2. Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) 

 

 

 

3. The Devil Rides Out (1967) 

 

 

 

4. Fright Night (1985) 

 

 

 

5. Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) 

 

 

 

Horror Movies and the Cross - The Cross in the Very First Horror Movie from 1896

 

Horror movies go back to the very origins of film, specifically to 1896, when French special-effects genius Georges Méliès made the three plus minute short, Le Manoir du Diable (The Manor of the Devil, otherwise known in English as The Haunted Castle).

Méliès, known for his silent sci-fi fantasy A Trip to the Moon — and for the tribute paid to him in Martin Scorsese’s Hugo — used his innovative methods to tell a story of “a large bat that flies into a room and transforms into Mephistopheles. He then stands over a cauldron and conjures up a girl along with some phantoms and skeletons and witches. Two men then enter the room to examine the matter, and are soon frightened and tempted by the conjurings of Mephistopheles, until finally one of them grabs a large crucifix from the wall and the devil disappears.” Though a quick and concise story, and as scary as a walk through a very short haunted house with a bunch of frights flying at you from all directions, still it is an excellent example of a technique Méliès supposedly discovered that very year. According to Earlycinema.com,
 

The Power of the Cross Against Demons and Magic (St. Athanasius the Great)

By St. Athanasius the Great

(Excerpts from On the Incarnation)

- "Since the Savior has come among us, idolatry not only has no longer increased, but what there was is diminishing and gradually coming to an end: and not only does the wisdom of the Greeks no longer advance, but what there is is now fading away: and demons, so far from cheating any more by illusions and prophecies and magic arts, if they so much as dare to make the attempt, are put to shame by the sign of the Cross."

The Death of Christ in the Air Cleansed the Atmosphere of Demons (St. Athanasius the Great)

By St. Athanasius the Great

And once more, if the devil, the enemy of our race, having fallen from heaven, wanders about our lower atmosphere, and there bearing rule over his fellow spirits, as his peers in disobedience, not only works illusions by their means in them that are deceived, but tries to hinder them that are going up (and about this the Apostle says: "According to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience" [Eph. 2:2]); while the Lord came to cast down the devil, and clear the air and prepare the way for us up into heaven, as said the Apostle: "Through the veil, that is to say, His flesh" [Heb. 10:20] — and this must needs be by death — well, by what other kind of death could this have come to pass, than by one which took place in the air, I mean the cross? For only he that meets his end on the cross dies in the air. Whence it was quite fitting that the Lord suffered this death. For thus being lifted up He cleared the air of the malignity both of the devil and of demons of all kinds, as He says: "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven" [Lk. 10:18]; and made a new opening of the way up into heaven as He says once more: "Lift up your gates, O you princes, and be lifted up, you everlasting doors" [Ps. 24:9]. For it was not the Word Himself that needed an opening of the gates, being Lord of all; nor were any of His works closed to their Maker; but we it was that needed it, whom He carried up by His own body. For as He offered it to death on behalf of all, so by it He once more made ready the way up into the heavens.

From On the Incarnation.

The Saint Who Bound A Demon and Rode It Like a Horse

St. John of Novgorod (Feast Day - September 7)

By St. Dimitri of Rostov

Once, at midnight, as [Archbishop John of Novgorod] stood as usual in his cell at prayer, a demon appeared, hoping to frighten him by his presence. He entered the washbasin which was in the Saint's cell and began to stir up the water. The Saint, realizing that this was the work of a demon, approached the vessel, signed it with a Cross, and with an oath forbade the demon in the washbasin to depart for many hours. Unable to bear the burning he suffered through the power of the Cross, the demon began to cry out like a man, "O woe is me! For I am being burned and am unable to endure; release me quickly, O Saint of God!"

How Saint Marina (Margaret) Became a Patron Saint of Pregnant Women and Childbirth

Saint Marina is known as Saint Margaret in the West. Whereas Saint Marina has always been highly esteemed and enjoyed wide popularity among Orthodox Christians of the East, in the West it was not always so. Her Acts were declared apocryphal by Pope Gelasius I in 494, but devotion to her revived in the West with the Crusades. Margaret is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, and thus one of the saints who is said to have spoken to Joan of Arc, thus increasing her veneration among the people. According to the Roman Martyrology she is celebrated on July 20, as opposed to July 17 in the East. Pope Paul VI in 1969 removed her from the list of saints because of what was considered the entirely fabulous character of the stories told of her and thus disputing her historical existence.

A Miracle of the Holy Cross in Africa (Congo) 2

At the Monastery of Saint Nektarios (Kolwezi, Congo), among the girls in the boarding school, there were added two more a few months ago - Despoina who is 11 years old and by exception a boy named Angelo who is 6. These children have a history.

The Sisters of the Monastery found these children abandoned in the streets. They brought them to the Monastery and alerted the police to find their parents. Eventually they learned their mother was a witch. She had killed their siblings and initiated them in magic and abandoned them. In this way they would be able to make their "bread" in life.

A Miracle of the Holy Cross in Africa (Congo) 1

By Metropolitan Ignatios of Central Africa

Amazing things are happening in Congo, said Father Basil Muamba to a large audience in the lecture hall of Kananga Mission. They are authentic and leave one speechless!

Fr. Basil recounted:

"In 1996 I made a missionary trip to Dimbelenge, accompanied by a boy who was a chanter in the Center of the Mission of Kananga, and another boy who came with us on the road.

When we arrived we met the old faithful who I had baptized last year and some were waiting to be baptized now. They gave us a house to spend our days while we were living near them.

Among those awaiting baptism, there was a man who in a magical way was able to bring down lightning, and he had already killed many people.

The traditional chief of the village had punished him by forbidding him to drink from the local river Mukamba.

I baptized all of those who waited for baptism and among them was the magician.

Weapons Against Satanic Influence

By Archimandrite Vasilios Bakoyiannis

The Cross, Relics, Prayer and Fasting

The Cross

In Thrace, Greece, Christians and Muslims live together in harmony.

There was once a good, well-intentioned shepherd who was a Muslim, and, on comparing the religion of Muhammad with Christianity, came to the conclusion that Christianity was much better than Islam. His interest in Christ increased all the time. He began to talk, to study, to ask about Christianity. Then he decided to renounce Islam and become a Christian. His father learned about it and did his best to change the young man’s mind. He was unable to do so, though, because his son was convinced. In the end, the father had recourse to an occultist. “I want you to stop my son from thinking about Christ,” he told him. The sorcerer, certain of his success, set to work.

The first time he failed, so he tried again. He failed again. Third attempt, third failure. Then he realized what was wrong. He called the father and told him directly, “If you want the magic to work, tell your son to get rid of those bits of wood he wears round his neck!”

What was it? The young Muslim had seen that Christians wear a cross round their necks, and so he did the same. He took two bits of wood, made them into the form of a cross and wore them around his neck. And thanks to the cross, which the devil fears, the magic didn’t work. Remember, when the demons heard Arthur the missionary talking about Golgotha, where the Lord was crucified, they became furious and told him to stop.

Saint Columba and the Loch Ness Monster

The event described below by St. Adomnan (c. 690) in his Vita Sancti Columbae is said to have happened in 565 AD:

Concerning a Certain Water Beast Driven Away by the Power of the Blessed Man's Prayer

Also at another time, when the blessed man was for a number of days in the province of the Picts, he had to cross the river Nes [Ness]. When he reached its bank, he saw a poor fellow being buried by other inhabitants; and the buriers said that, while swimming not long before, he had been seized and most savagely bitten by a water beast. Some men, going to his rescue in a wooden boat, though too late, had put out hooks and caught hold of his wretched corpse. When the blessed man heard this, he ordered notwithstanding that one of his companions should swim out and bring back to him, by sailing, a boat that stood on the opposite bank.

The Power In Crossing Ourselves

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Mysterious is the power of the Cross no matter how unexplainable, it is true and indisputable.

Yet, St. John Chrysostom speaks of the custom of his time that the sign of the Cross is attached "on the emperor's diadem, on the accoutrements of the soldiers and tracing it on parts of the body: the head, the breast [chest] and the heart and also on the table of oblations and over beds." "If it is necessary to expel demons", says he, "we use the Cross and it also helps to heal the sick."

St. Benedict made the sign of the Cross over a glass which contained poison and the glass burst as though it were struck by a stone.

Elder Paisios on Demons and the Power of the Cross

Elder Paisios was asked the following regarding demons (called "tagalakia" by some Greeks) and the power of the Cross:

- Elder, my thoughts tell me that the devil, especially nowadays, has a lot of power.

- The devil has evil and hatred, not power. The love of God is all-powerful. Satan tries to appear all-powerful, but he does not succeed. He seems strong, but he is completely weak. Many of his destructive plans are spoiled before they even begin to be manifested. Would a very good father allow some punks to hit his children?

Magicians Who Converted to Orthodox Christianity

By John Sanidopoulos

Throughout the history of Christianity, many pagan and occult magicians are recorded to have abandoned their ancient art and accepted the Christian faith, not because magic was found to be "fake" or "debunked", but because they came to believe through the eternal light of the truth of the Triune God that what they thought had spiritual power was in fact darkness, evil, selfish and a demonic lie.