This week the number one movie in America is Terrifier 3, a sadistic and gory horror film about people getting chopped up by a demented clown with a chainsaw. 

This is also the week that a new book about films is being published. It’s called A Whole Life in Twelve Movies: A Cinematic Journey to a Deeper Spirituality. Authors Kathleen Norris and Gareth Higgins evaluate 12 different films through a Christian lens to reveal how movies can bring us closer to God.

Do yourself a favor: Skip Terrifier 3 and read A Whole Life in Twelve Movies instead. It’s not that horror movies by themselves are bad. Indeed, I have long argued that horror films are one of the last holdouts of political conservatism and religious orthodoxy. The best ones teach that evil is real and that we shouldn’t mess with natural law. Starting with Frankenstein and Dracula and going through The Exorcist, Carrie, Re-Animator, Hell House, Hereditary, Sinister, Talk to Me, and Longlegs, the best horror films reinforce positive social norms and warn against violating them. Frankenstein warns us not to play God by trying to reverse the inevitability of death. The Exorcist teaches us to not dabble with the dark forces, like Ouija boards.

None of that is in Terrifier 3. It’s just naked depravity.

Rather than attempting to avoid films that deal with the darker aspects of human nature, A Whole Life in Twelve Movies instead emphasizes movies that wrestle with darkness but come out in favor of hope, redemption, and goodness in the face of it. “Fargo, like many films discussed in this book, does not provide easy entertainment,” Kathleen Norris writes. “Our intent is that they will invite all of us to a deeper understanding of human nature and spirituality and will inform our desire to live better and more fulfilled lives. As you read this book, we hope the observation that ‘it’s a beautiful day’ will remain with you, an affirmation of the human ability to find redemption in all situations and circumstances.”

In the book Norris and Higgins, coauthors of the newsletter Soul Telegram: Movies and Meaning, analyze these 12 movies arranged in the manner of a devotional calendar, with each film representing a stage in life. 2001: A Space Odyssey is about birth, The Fisher King is about the quest to do what’s right; Make Way for Tomorrow and Love Is Strange both condemn the sin of bigotry; Babette’s Feast celebrates how “generosity begets generosity”; and Wonder Woman 1984 preachesself-sacrificial love. They conclude with Into Great Silence, a film about life in a cloistered monastery.

“We are inviting you to a kind of liturgy for experiencing images, sounds, words, and stories in a sacramental way,” Norris writes. “This takes conscious intent and a bit of ritual, and with that in mind, we’re offering some principles that can help you go deeper into movies.”

One of the more appealing aspects of our digital age is that between the content in theaters and the universe of possibilities on the streaming services, there is no need to deaden your senses with third-rate horror like Terrifier. There are so many wonderful alternatives. This week the American Film Institute’s Silver Theater outside of Washington, D.C. is putting on its annual film noir festival, with great movies like The Asphalt Jungle and This Gun for Hire playing. Although these films do feature violence and anti-heroes, they are often brilliantly written and have redeeming messages about the bad outcomes stemming from greed, lust, and lying. Moreover, The Wild Robot is still in theaters, which is a terrific, animated film about a robot who learns how to be a good, caring human.

In A Whole Life in Twelve Movies Harris and Higgins also approve of The Lord of the Rings movies. A new animated feature in the world of Middle-Earth, Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, will be released in December. “This is the story of the most powerful king in Rohan’s history, someone who defeated his enemies with his bare fists,” director Kenji Kamiyama said in a recent interview. “Why did his lineage have to end with him? I think there is a lesson in hubris there and also for a need for responsibility and awareness in their power. We live in an age where, all over the world, we face the reality of war again. What, then, is power? What is the responsibility of those who possess it? It is something they need to think about by thinking together with those who don’t.” 

It sounds like this animated movie is a lot more adult-oriented and rewarding than Terrifier 3.