The Burning Hell (1974), a glimpse of a sinner's own personal apocalypse, was the Ormonds' second and most widely-seen Christian feature for Baptist firebrand Estus W. Pirkle. Boasting a cast of hundreds (as with their first feature If Footmen Tire You What Will Horses Do?, Pirkle's family and deep-pocketed congregation) and international locales, The Burning Hell is an intense, over-the-top theatrical experience.
The Burning Hell's credits flash over an all-girl Baptist choir singing a joyful "Hell Awaits You" as Estus W. Pirkle stands looking thoughtful, perched precariously on the rocky slopes of Mount Sinai in Israel. Moses suddenly appears, complete with huge department store Santa beard and eyebrows, to face a crowd of renegade Israelites and calls upon God to opens up the Mount to swallow them up. Without warning the camera shakes and a smoking hole appears; helpless sinners and even entire tents fly into the gaping mouth of Hell. Pirkle turns his horn-rimmed gaze on the camera and spits out, "Does that shock yew?" This is but a glimpse of the horrors to come, courtesy of the fertile imaginations of the Ormond Organization, for those of us who do not believe in a literal Burning Hell.
Cut to two ragtag Jesus Freaks, Tim (a more mature Tim Ormond, now sporting a beard and leather jacket) and the aging delinquent Ken (Chuck Howard). They call on Estus and, amidst a chorus of "yeahs" and "groovies", force their hip modernistic reading of the Bible onto him, not realizing he is a preacher. When square daddy-o Estus lays a bum trip on them by pulling out the trusty King James and quoting the scriptures, particularly the part about a literal Hell, they shrug and Ken announces, "Hmm... well, that's heavy!" Estus invites them to his sermon on Hell. Ken becomes quite angry and says if he goes to Hell, his friends will all be waiting for him. "You do your thing, I'll do mine," he says before jumping on his motorbike. "I've got me some livin' to do."
By now Estus has joined his congregation, a similar looking crowd to the Footmen peanut gallery, staring open-mouthed as Estus rattles off his dubiously sourced statistics: 6000 people die each hour, and HALF of them head towards Hell. "At this moment", he says, "someone is heading to a burning Hell." Meanwhile Ken and Tim power along carefree on their motorbikes. Ken hits the throttle and speeds along ahead, then hits a patch of rocky road - literally and figuratively. Tim comes across the broken bike and, lying next to the wreckage, Ken's severed head.
The distraught Tim limps into Pirkle's church mid-sermon, just as Estus assails the shell-shocked congregation with more "facts" about Hell. "There will be no TV programs to watch or movies to go see. There will be no cookouts to enjoy or sunsets to watch together... All will be one long night of sorrow, remorse and regret for ever and forever!" The concept of "forever" is hinted at on a chart with a one and three hundred zeroes after it. Even after these many years, Estus asks, "What time is it? Well let me say this - after this much time has been consumed, there will still not be one speck of hope for a sinner to ever escape Hell!" Tim relates the story of the accident, and wants to know if Ken has even a slight chance of going to Heaven. Without missing a heartbeat, Estus shoots back, "Chances are he's burning in the flames of Hell right now." Cut to Ken, now roasting slowly in the Bottomless Pit. Around him are screaming, contorted faces covered in sump oil and silly putty and pipe-cleaner hats, and the ever-present flames superimposed on the action.
There's scant relief from the relentless downward spiral into the pit with the odd bloodless tale from the Bible, all filmed in the Holy Land with a staggering array of fake beards and headdresses. But fear not - whenever the pace lags for a moment, the Ormonds head straight back to the good IL' eternal torment, "where the worm dieth not and the flame is not quenched". And in case you don't believe there will be worms - they're right there in the Bible AND, in true Ormond style, front row center on the screen. Close-up after hideous close-up of squirming maggots on contorted faces. "Think of the terrible odors!" Estus point out. "The continual itchiness!" For the grand finale set in Hell (or "Hay-yull"), the Ormonds outdo themselves with a nightmarish menagerie of creatures, including the "locusts" described in Revelation: a surreal creation with the body of a horse, gold breastplate, teeth like a lion, hands of a woman, a crown of gold and a scorpion tail lashing at sinners. Even the Devil shows up dressed like the Riddler, an incessantly tittering fop who taunts a wide-eyed Tim Ormond with the promise of everlasting anguish. The crazed soot-covered killer of John the Baptist spies Tim from across the flames, and in a Southern honk cries out, "He's still alive! He's still alive! But this time I'll kill him!" In agonizing detail, the killer spears Tim through the stomach while the Devil's tittering grows unbearable.
In a flash, Tim wakes in Church clutching his stomach, and is so shaken by the nightmarish ordeal that he immediately goes forward to the altar. He admits to wanting to receive the spirit of Christ out of fear. "That's OK", says Estus gently, "You're looking at a man who in 1940 got scared to die and go to Hell." He fixes the camera with same unwavering stare as in If Footmen Tire You..., and continues: "I came to Jesus and he saved me. He would do the same for you if he'll let you. He wants to save you."
The Burning Hell's credits flash over an all-girl Baptist choir singing a joyful "Hell Awaits You" as Estus W. Pirkle stands looking thoughtful, perched precariously on the rocky slopes of Mount Sinai in Israel. Moses suddenly appears, complete with huge department store Santa beard and eyebrows, to face a crowd of renegade Israelites and calls upon God to opens up the Mount to swallow them up. Without warning the camera shakes and a smoking hole appears; helpless sinners and even entire tents fly into the gaping mouth of Hell. Pirkle turns his horn-rimmed gaze on the camera and spits out, "Does that shock yew?" This is but a glimpse of the horrors to come, courtesy of the fertile imaginations of the Ormond Organization, for those of us who do not believe in a literal Burning Hell.
Cut to two ragtag Jesus Freaks, Tim (a more mature Tim Ormond, now sporting a beard and leather jacket) and the aging delinquent Ken (Chuck Howard). They call on Estus and, amidst a chorus of "yeahs" and "groovies", force their hip modernistic reading of the Bible onto him, not realizing he is a preacher. When square daddy-o Estus lays a bum trip on them by pulling out the trusty King James and quoting the scriptures, particularly the part about a literal Hell, they shrug and Ken announces, "Hmm... well, that's heavy!" Estus invites them to his sermon on Hell. Ken becomes quite angry and says if he goes to Hell, his friends will all be waiting for him. "You do your thing, I'll do mine," he says before jumping on his motorbike. "I've got me some livin' to do."
By now Estus has joined his congregation, a similar looking crowd to the Footmen peanut gallery, staring open-mouthed as Estus rattles off his dubiously sourced statistics: 6000 people die each hour, and HALF of them head towards Hell. "At this moment", he says, "someone is heading to a burning Hell." Meanwhile Ken and Tim power along carefree on their motorbikes. Ken hits the throttle and speeds along ahead, then hits a patch of rocky road - literally and figuratively. Tim comes across the broken bike and, lying next to the wreckage, Ken's severed head.
The distraught Tim limps into Pirkle's church mid-sermon, just as Estus assails the shell-shocked congregation with more "facts" about Hell. "There will be no TV programs to watch or movies to go see. There will be no cookouts to enjoy or sunsets to watch together... All will be one long night of sorrow, remorse and regret for ever and forever!" The concept of "forever" is hinted at on a chart with a one and three hundred zeroes after it. Even after these many years, Estus asks, "What time is it? Well let me say this - after this much time has been consumed, there will still not be one speck of hope for a sinner to ever escape Hell!" Tim relates the story of the accident, and wants to know if Ken has even a slight chance of going to Heaven. Without missing a heartbeat, Estus shoots back, "Chances are he's burning in the flames of Hell right now." Cut to Ken, now roasting slowly in the Bottomless Pit. Around him are screaming, contorted faces covered in sump oil and silly putty and pipe-cleaner hats, and the ever-present flames superimposed on the action.
There's scant relief from the relentless downward spiral into the pit with the odd bloodless tale from the Bible, all filmed in the Holy Land with a staggering array of fake beards and headdresses. But fear not - whenever the pace lags for a moment, the Ormonds head straight back to the good IL' eternal torment, "where the worm dieth not and the flame is not quenched". And in case you don't believe there will be worms - they're right there in the Bible AND, in true Ormond style, front row center on the screen. Close-up after hideous close-up of squirming maggots on contorted faces. "Think of the terrible odors!" Estus point out. "The continual itchiness!" For the grand finale set in Hell (or "Hay-yull"), the Ormonds outdo themselves with a nightmarish menagerie of creatures, including the "locusts" described in Revelation: a surreal creation with the body of a horse, gold breastplate, teeth like a lion, hands of a woman, a crown of gold and a scorpion tail lashing at sinners. Even the Devil shows up dressed like the Riddler, an incessantly tittering fop who taunts a wide-eyed Tim Ormond with the promise of everlasting anguish. The crazed soot-covered killer of John the Baptist spies Tim from across the flames, and in a Southern honk cries out, "He's still alive! He's still alive! But this time I'll kill him!" In agonizing detail, the killer spears Tim through the stomach while the Devil's tittering grows unbearable.
In a flash, Tim wakes in Church clutching his stomach, and is so shaken by the nightmarish ordeal that he immediately goes forward to the altar. He admits to wanting to receive the spirit of Christ out of fear. "That's OK", says Estus gently, "You're looking at a man who in 1940 got scared to die and go to Hell." He fixes the camera with same unwavering stare as in If Footmen Tire You..., and continues: "I came to Jesus and he saved me. He would do the same for you if he'll let you. He wants to save you."