Boys' Bible Study

Boys' Bible Study
  • 4.9 (88)
  • Film Reviews
  • Updated Weekly

Ash, Scott, and Julian are innocent angel babies incapable of doing wrong. They invite guests from Hell to watch and critique the best contemporary Christian movies. God wants you to listen to this podcast!

  1. 2d ago

    Black Mamba (2016)

    In filmmaker Belinda M. Wilson's video introduction to the BLACK MAMBA DVD, she claims the film is inspired by a real life encounter with a mysterious woman at Wilson's own family reunion who never aged, could never prove her relation to the family, and was suspected of putting curses on people she disagreed with. This reverence for the supernatural forces that guide our day to day lives is powerfully captured in BLACK MAMBA, one of the most impressive DIY auteur films we've ever seen, that deserves to be seen by all film lovers who prioritize work that exists outside of the Hollywood machine. The film was officially released by Bleeding Skull as part of a three film compilation called "Backyard Bloodbaths." We highly recommend purchasing this film via that collection, but also humbly request that BLACK MAMBA be eventually given its own release with a focus on Wilson and her career. BLACK MAMBA stars writer/director Wilson as the titular character, a powerful and evil witch living in an ordinary house in Los Angeles's Crenshaw neighborhood. Structured like a horror anthology, the film revolves around different characters showing up to Black Mamba's door requesting spells and potions to fulfill their earthly needs. The spells never go quite right, mostly due to the recipient's pride, and the consequences are intense and disturbing. We notice this structure is typical to the "black magic" thrillers emerging from the Hong Kong film industry in the 1970s and 80s, where humans delve into magical worlds beyond their understanding, unable to stop the forces once regret inevitably sets in. BLACK MAMBA's punishing scares are technically impressive considering Wilson is creating them with a small team; mutilated g******s, rotting corpses, and trapped souls are used to gag-inducing effect, inserted manically between comedic episodes. Her fast-paced editing keeps visual interest throughout by drawing the eye to demonic apparitions in mirrors, hallways, and bottles. BLACK MAMBA is a wildly entertaining film with an interesting take on spirituality, showing that the punishment for trying to outdo God is swift and dangerous. Purchase BLACK MAMBA via Bleeding Skull's compilation "Backyard Bloodbaths": http://bleedingskull.com/backyard-bloodbaths-bs-010/ View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

    1h 38m

  2. May 24

    Angel Heart (1987) TEASER

    Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! $5 pledge gets you bonus episodes and $20 enters you in our monthly handmade DVD mailing program "Bootleg Bible Study"!   http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy The number one rule of being in an "angelslop" movie (a new genre we invented for a certain type of whimsical ~1990s film where angels and demons meddle in human affairs) is a private detective should not be taking the case of a man named Louis Cyphre. Say "Louis Cyphre" out loud if you haven't put it together already. ANGEL HEART protagonist Harold Angel (another pun?), played by Mickey Rourke, fails this test spectacularly, and heads out on an American tour trying to find out the whereabouts of jazz singer Johnny Favorite at the behest of Mr. Cyphre. Angel arrives in New Orleans, where he meets the 17-year-old Mambo priestess Epiphany Proudfoot, played by Lisa Bonet in her first adult role post-COSBY SHOW, which scandalized audiences with nudity and sexual violence that reportedly almost earned the film an X rating. Angel's tumultuous sexual relationship with Proudfoot leads him to a shocking self-realization that becomes the turning point in the case he's building on Johnny Favorite. This plot hits so many "angelslop" tropes common to the genre: the barely-disguised devil played by a famous actor (Robert De Niro in this case), a colonialist view of Black syncretic Christian/occult practices, a plot about a jazz musician selling his soul, and even the shocking final twist. It's still not clear to us exactly what movie's success started angelslop, but we theorize it may have been WINGS OF DESIRE, combined with a broad pop cultural yearning for spiritual guidance as the rise of instantaneous mass media coverage of world crises led people to cynicism and skepticism. Regardless of the cause, ANGEL HEART provides an artistic touch to the angelslop genre that alternates between campy and deep. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

    2 min

  3. May 17

    The Prophecy (1995)

    This intense Bible fanfiction thriller starring Christopher Walken is now heralded as a cult classic despite not being critically understood at the time of its release. The New York Times described it as "…bad enough to end the recent proliferation of religious thrillers." It's true that the 1990s were filled with religious thrillers -- we at Boys' Bible Study have extensively covered the "angelslop" and "devilslop" that proliferated through the era, with audiences fascinated by Christian pop culture moral frameworks imbued on human life. But the New York Times is completely wrong — THE PROPHECY has stood the test of time as the BEST of the 90s religious thrillers, in part because its timeless tone doesn't rely on the groan-inducing "smart, sexy, funny" humor typical to the decade. THE PROPHECY is instead gritty and otherworldly, with impressive visual effects and character design that rival the HELLRAISER franchise. Its well-researched Biblical scripture lends it credibility, and its fictional expansion of the Bible — centering on a lost 23rd book of Revelation, known only to angels — is written so convincingly it feels nearly realistic. The film takes place in contemporary Los Angeles, where a priest-turned-LAPD detective (Elias Koteas) uses his knowledge of Christianity to solve a case of biblical proportions. A mysterious dead body carrying an ancient Bible with unknown additional text is autopsied to reveal biology in common with an unborn fetus, initiating the detective into a modern-day war between angels and demons over the soul of a disgraced cannibal Korean War veteran whose power could tip the metaphysical scale of evil and turn earth into a second hell. The film is notable for its A-list cast, including a show-stealing appearance by Viggo Mortensen as Satan, and for its treatment of Native American mythology. Although we at BBS can't confirm the film's accuracy, the portrayal of indigenous religion feels well-researched and respectful — a unique fusion of indigenous and western mythologies that reads as a genuine lesson in cross-cultural respect. THE PROPHECY is the rare religious-themed film that is both entertaining and well-researched, stimulating on whatever spiritual level the viewer receives it. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

    1h 33m

  4. May 10

    The Devil's Advocate (1997) TEASER

    Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! $5 pledge gets you bonus episodes and $20 enters you in our monthly handmade DVD mailing program "Bootleg Bible Study"!   http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Perhaps the best of the 1990s films fixated on pop Christian themes (that we affectionately call "angelslop" or, if more appropriate: "devilslop"), THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE is a wildly entertaining film that despite being firmly secular, manages to hit a ton of tropes we associate with the Christian film genre. Keanu Reeves stars as Kevin Lomax, a small town defense lawyer with an impressive undefeated winning streak. He's scouted by Al Pacino as John Milton, the head of an acclaimed New York City law firm, who wants to change Lomax's life by adding him to the roster. Eagle-eared viewers may recognize the name John Milton as a reference to the author of legendary Bible fanfiction Paradise Lost. This might be your first indication that Pacino's character is the devil himself, that Reeves's character is about to make a Faustian bargain, and that the legal system is about to be used as an allegory for Christian morality. This is the most 1990s trope imaginable, an era when filmmakers were obsessed with elevating the mundane by showing it as a backdrop between the battle between angels and demons. Another distinctly 1990s decadence is needing the movie to be "smart, sexy, funny" — when THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE does rarely jump the shark into groan-inducing campiness, it's when the film attempts to flatter the viewer's sense of sophistication. However it's still a welcome nostalgic departure from mainstream movies nowadays that openly market themselves as slop from a trough for the lowest bidder. But it's the smart writing and impressive production design that makes THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE's heavy handed tropes and conservative morality feel delightfully predictable instead of tediously formulaic. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

    2 min

  5. May 3

    The ButterCream Gang: Secret of Treasure Mountain (1993)

    This sequel to what is now regarded as one of the most beloved Christian films of all time (THE BUTTERCREAM GANG) misses the mark by messing with the original formula. Released only one year after the original, THE BUTTERCREAM GANG: SECRET OF TREASURE MOUNTAIN feels like a completely different series by focusing on a GOONIES-style adventure subplot instead of the friendship between the ButterCreamers. The original idea of the ButterCream Gang is that they were a group of neighborhood boys who do good deeds; the new generation now admits girls (woke much?) and seems to have forgotten entirely about helping the community, save for a lemonade stand fundraiser here and there. Several original cast members returned for round two, yet SECRET OF TREASURE MOUNTAIN picks a new boy named Eldon and introduces conflict based on his insecurity over not being seen as a "hero" among the band of do-gooders. Fortunately for Eldon, an opportunity to gain some much-needed recognition arrives when he stumbles upon an old document, written in Spanish, that appears to be a treasure map on what is now the property of beloved neighborhood figure Mr. Graff. Conveniently, a Spanish archeologist named Dr. Almodovar has recently come to town and can help the children follow the map to a mysterious treasure they hope will raise the funds to save Mr. Graff's property. Little do Eldon and the ButterCreamers know that Dr. Almodovar is actually a descendant of a Spanish conquistador, seen in a flashback at the beginning of the film, attempting to find hidden gold cursed by monks. This is the first Christian movie we've ever watched attributing to monks the ability to put curses on things, but sure enough, Eldon follows the trail to a mysterious local monastery. Can Eldon's pure heart outsmart the conniving Dr. Almodovar and put the gold to good use, preventing Eldon from falling to the curse that has harmed everyone else who tried to snatch it? SECRET OF TREASURE MOUNTAIN has the bones to be an entertaining family film, but its haphazardly paced writing strips away the real story of friendship that made the original BUTTERCREAM GANG become firmly entrenched in millennial Christian nostalgia. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

    1h 28m

  6. Apr 26

    Our Man Kent Episode 2 (2026) TEASER

    Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! $5 pledge gets you bonus episodes and $20 enters you in our monthly handmade DVD mailing program "Bootleg Bible Study"!   http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy We continue our immersion into Rev. Kenya Cagle's AI-generated world of secret agents, advanced technology, and an evil white nationalist conspiracy with episode 2 of the AI action series OUR MAN KENT. The past few weeks on our show have been dedicated to delving seriously into Rev. Cagle's AI work, an experience that has been alternately exciting and really tedious. As lovers of DIY film, it's pretty clear that generative AI video is here to stay as the new "folk media" form. Despite a strong anti-AI sentiment from many creatives, another tribe of auteurs finds AI to be cheap, accessible, and capable of building fantastical ideas from the ground up. The same creators that in the past would dress up as a secret agent can now embed their face onto an AI avatar and have him do death-defying stunts for them. This is a bittersweet moment because the charm of low budget live action films is their imagination of trying and failing to recreate Hollywood plots using only the equipment in your garage. On the other hand, AI as a folk media form creates bizarre scenarios and surreal humor that can be captivating, when the video itself isn't constantly warping and nauseating to watch (which is frequently.) OUR MAN KENT lets Rev. Cagle's writing (his strongest quality) shine and takes care of the set pieces, which are dreamlike and even nightmarish. Cagle's author stand-in Agent Kent Cag takes a "drone phone" call in a pool, AI generating the scene as a tableau of unsmiling young women lining each side like palace guards as Cag speaks monotonously to his nagging AI girlfriend, Tasha. Afterwards, Cag goes on a date with a beautiful young woman, only to not notice her drugging his drink, which AI generates as a giant horse-sized pill that fizzes up his entire glass in the least covert attempt at subterfuge ever. OUR MAN KENT is a fascinating watch because Rev. Cagle is closer to realizing his larger-than-life cinematic ideas than ever before, but the generations fall short in ways so off-puttingly bizarre that they frequently make us laugh out loud. Despite this, it's a fascinating piece by a Christian director because its black pride storyline is much more progressive than our usual fare.

    5 min

  7. Apr 19

    Man of the Night (2026)

    For the first time on this podcast, we watched a feature-length AI film, a venture we wouldn't have embarked on if we didn't already trust the creative spirit of the great Kenya Cagle. In fact, none of us on the show had ever even watched an AI feature before, Christian or otherwise. Ethical questions aside, the discontinuous style of AI video, with warping lines, uncanny movements, and constantly changing character models, makes watching for an extended period of time a disturbing experience like a dream you can't wake up from. MAN OF THE NIGHT is a real nightmare of a film, the plot of which concerns a high school basketball star named Damien who is killed by his very evil girlfriend, only to be resurrected by her years later using dark magic. Damien remembers being in Hell, and now feels out of place, a walking corpse who kills on command for his evil witch ex-girlfriend, who has total control over him. Meanwhile, Damien's sister, who was a little girl when he was killed, has grown up and become the police commissioner of New York City, but she is remarkably incurious about a string of murders centered around her old family home. When she discovers the dark secret of her undead brother, it's nearly too late -- she is clinically insane and in psychiatric care, but pulls out of it for one last dramatic showdown where her police force accidentally kills Damien before learning the full story. It's an intense plot made even more intense (and borderline unwatchable) by the hallucinated guts and gore of AI generation. Even watching a movie like this feels like an athletic endeavor -- truthfully, we probably wouldn't have put ourselves through it under any other circumstances. That just goes to show how much we love the Rev. Kenya Cagle, MBA. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

    1h 24m

  8. Apr 12

    Our Man Kent (2026) TEASER

    Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month!   http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Have we discovered the first great piece of AI filmmaking? We'd like to believe we are the first Christian film podcast to cover the OUR MAN KENT series, since installment one was released less than two weeks ago and currently has fewer than 100 views. AI seems to be the current artistic focus of auteur Kenya Cagle, an extremely prolific faith-based film director proven capable of creating live-action films such as our favorites THE BOY WHO SAW CHRIST and THIRTEEN MONTHS. AI in Cagle's hands is possibly a way to quickly iterate on fantastical sci-fi ideas, and hopefully not a full replacement for his live-action work, which we love. Despite personal artistic qualms about generative AI's use in art, t's undeniable that AI allows Cagle to pursue sci-fi ideas he probably couldn't pull off in live action. OUR MAN KENT contains depictions of futuristic technology such as "drone phones," "guardian angel" drones that serve as personal robotic bodyguards, and Kent's AI girlfriend "Tasha" (whom he communicates with via commands, like Alexa). These tools are deployed by protagonist Kent, a Black secret agent combating systemic anti-Blackness. In this installment, when an evil scientist cancels a university's African American Studies program, Kent's boss (the "Supreme Being") offers him a lucrative opportunity to defeat the scientist and save history. The medium of AI video adds a bizarre, uncanny tone to the piece; character movements and animations such as car rides are unnatural to the point of nauseating, but they add a character that at times makes it delightful to watch. While generative AI's impact on the creative process remains controversial among film fans, and for good reason (critiques of resource usage and creative plagiarism are valid), from a philosophical standpoint it's clear that AI doesn't mask Kenya Cagle's creative spirit. The singular, weird vision of his live-action films is highly present in OUR MAN KENT, allowing the medium to extend his message, even if it makes the film hard to watch at times. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

    3 min
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4.9
out of 5
88 Ratings

About

Ash, Scott, and Julian are innocent angel babies incapable of doing wrong. They invite guests from Hell to watch and critique the best contemporary Christian movies. God wants you to listen to this podcast!

Information

  • Creator
    Boys' Bible Study
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    328
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Show Website
    Boys' Bible Study

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