This movie was commonly shown in churches in the 1970's, and frightened many non-believers so badly that some of them did begin to consider their own spiritual condition and come to salvation. I was one of those people, having seen the film in a Pentecostal church with my then best friend back in high school in 1974. I was raised in a Methodist church that seldom spoke of salvation and never spoke of the rapture, so the entire concept presented in the film was new to me at the time.
Thus, I guess you could say this film did some good in the fact that some were brought to Christ either as a direct or indirect result of watching it. However, it does tend to rock already saved ones into a sense of complacency in relation to the doctrine of the rapture of all Christians prior to the great tribulation, when a careful study of the Bible shows that this is not the case. In that sense, the film does a disservice.
As other reviewers have mentioned, the acting is B-rated, but that is not really the point of the movie. It was not trying to break box office records or win awards. I haven't seen this film in 41 years, but the memory that still stands out the most to me is that of the heroine of the film going to church on Sunday, trying to find something of the spiritual experience her new husband has found, and being treated instead to a very dead dull sermon. After the rapture, she goes to the church and finds the tormented preacher who has also been left behind lamenting - "Another one!". In other words, apparently large numbers of his parishioners as well as himself have never known Christ's salvation.
From a psychological standpoint you have to ask yourself why this film is so frightening. Most people, especially Americans, have been taught their whole lives about the torments of hell that await those who die unredeemed, yet nothing seems to frighten people more than the idea of being left on earth by God to be hunted and persecuted by their fellow man. This is probably because most people have never seen an actual demon, but they have seen plenty of the evil man is capable of, and it is therefore more real to them.
Thus, I guess you could say this film did some good in the fact that some were brought to Christ either as a direct or indirect result of watching it. However, it does tend to rock already saved ones into a sense of complacency in relation to the doctrine of the rapture of all Christians prior to the great tribulation, when a careful study of the Bible shows that this is not the case. In that sense, the film does a disservice.
As other reviewers have mentioned, the acting is B-rated, but that is not really the point of the movie. It was not trying to break box office records or win awards. I haven't seen this film in 41 years, but the memory that still stands out the most to me is that of the heroine of the film going to church on Sunday, trying to find something of the spiritual experience her new husband has found, and being treated instead to a very dead dull sermon. After the rapture, she goes to the church and finds the tormented preacher who has also been left behind lamenting - "Another one!". In other words, apparently large numbers of his parishioners as well as himself have never known Christ's salvation.
From a psychological standpoint you have to ask yourself why this film is so frightening. Most people, especially Americans, have been taught their whole lives about the torments of hell that await those who die unredeemed, yet nothing seems to frighten people more than the idea of being left on earth by God to be hunted and persecuted by their fellow man. This is probably because most people have never seen an actual demon, but they have seen plenty of the evil man is capable of, and it is therefore more real to them.