DAILY CALL SHEET: NOVEMBER 6, 1925

 

Frightmare (1974) If you think your family has problems, imagine being poor Jackie. Both her father Edmund and stepmother Dorothy have just been released from the mental asylum where they've been confined for almost 15 years, Dorothy for being a cannibal, and Edmund for covering up his wife's diet. Dorothy's not quite cured, though, so Jackie has to start slipping her animal brains to munch on. However, that may not be enough satisfy Dorothy's hunger for human flesh, nor that of Jackie's stepsister Debbie, who it turns out might just be a chip off the old block. The Times of London called this flick "nasty, foolish and morally repellent," so naturally it's something of a cult classic these days.

TIL: With her little brown packages full of animal brains, Jackie means well, but you can't just let family member's problems slide. As the Catechism notes, "charity demands beneficence and fraternal correction." This means if you truly love a family member, you won't have a passive tolerance of their sins but an active concern for their spiritual well-being, particularly when grave (mortal) sins that could endanger their soul are involved. I'd say cannibalism falls into that category. That being said, fraternal correction doesn't always mean direct confrontation in every instance. Use a little prudence, keeping in mind that correction must serve amendment and healing, not judgment or conflict.

Now Showing at a Blog Near You: For Aleteia, I take a look at Triumph Over Evil: Battle of the Exorcists, the first Vatican approved documentary on the ritual of exorcism and those who perform it.