Not Classic Jesus Movie on Turner Classic Movies

Many movies have been made about Jesus Christ. From the annual Easter movie to Passion of the Christ to The Last Temptation of Christ to Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter, the story of Christ is a frequent one of filmmakers.

Many of these movies are classics - ok, maybe not Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter. The story of Jesus is typically handled with care and reverence.

But there are always filmmakers who reverse reverence. Those who spit on sacrilege. Who push the boundaries of society beyond shock and awe. They are needed and welcome so we don't take our man-made messages too seriously.

Sometimes these filmmakers take on the Jesus story.

A few weeks ago, I discovered underground film director Bill Zebub. Zebub makes low budget horror with titles such as Night of the Pumpkin, Antfarm Dickhole, and Nightmare on Elmo's Street. In total, Zebub has made over 60 movies since 2002. He is prolific.

But Zebub's most controversial film is a take on the Jesus story entitled Jesus Christ: Serial Rapist. According to IMDB, the subject of the movie is:

"A schizophrenic man who believes he is Jesus kidnaps women who refuse to believe his delusion He videotapes himself with these women he has tied up in various states of bondage. He sends videotapes to the media labeled "Gospels of Blood," which are just photographs of naked women in bondage, usually crucified in some way, with the camera panning and zooming over the photos. These photographs account for more than half of the running time. There is no diegetic sound, only a few title cards, although there is a soundtrack of heavy metal music."

According to reviews on IMDB, Jesus Christ: Serial Rapist is not very good. One reviewer writes:

"Do not buy this film. Don't even watch this film unless you want to be bored to death. And most importantly - DO NOT LET THE TITLE FOOL YOU!!! This "film" has absolutely nothing to do with Jesus raping anyone, so all you exploit fans that got boners after hearin' the title of this one might as well just tuck your dicks back in your pants. Here's what Jesus Christ: SERIAL RAPIST is REALLY like:

Some jackass (that I think is the director of this mess) has a soft-core "rape" scene, where the "victim" involved looks so utterly bored that it looks like she would have been more disturbed by watching paint dry. Some text pops up every now and then explaining the "plot" (which has nothing to do at all with anything portrayed in the film..) about a "schizo" who thinks he's Jesus and decides to videotape naked women for no apparent reason and send the tape to the cops...right. Then we're treated to a bunch of soft-core nudie stills - for like forty-five minutes - and all of this is set to some extremely dull and drony goth-metal soundtrack. There is no dialogue, no "acting", no nothing..."

If Jesus Christ: Serial Rapist is not a classic, or even a good movie, then why is it for sale on the Turner Classic Movies website? Turner Classic Movies should be a repository for cinematic masterpieces such as Singing in the Rain, West Side Story, or Ben Hur.

I wonder if anyone at Turner Classic Movies knows Jesus Christ: Serial Rapist is listed on their site. I wonder how or if they monitor contributor content.

Perhaps this was the doing of Bill Zebub, sticking another stick in the eye of social convention. Well played, sir. Well played.