Skip to content
Rotating Banner

Moria

The Science Fiction Horror and Fantasy Film Review

  • Home
  • All Titles – A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • L
  • M
  • N
  • O
  • P
  • Q
  • R
  • S
  • T
  • U
  • V
  • W
  • X
  • Y
  • Z
  • Film Themes
  • Annual Best and Worst Lists
  • Directors
  • Actors

Theme: Heaven

Heaven is the place in The Afterlife where God is believed to reside attended by his Angels. It is here that all virtuous souls are believed to go after death according to Christian belief. This is in contrast to Hell where The Devil resides and the sinful and wicked are condemned in the afterlife.

On screen, the standard portrayal of Heaven is usually as a realm of fluffy clouds where angels stand about with harps, or else as a bureaucracy where a soul’s deeds are recorded. It is sometimes ventured into via a long ladder or a tunnel of white light. There were a number of visits to Heaven during the Light Fantasy Films films of the 1940s, which as a rule tended to assume that Heaven is where everyone would go and avoided dealing with alternatives.

These depictions occurred up until the 1990s and still continue to do so mostly in light-hearted and comedic variations. The 1990s onwards is noted for a series of much more humanistic and non-Christian centred series of depictions of the afterlife, which move away from standard Heaven/Hell divisions. There has been some depictions of Heaven from different cultures, notedly Chinese and Japanese.


Afterlife of the Party (2021)

4 June 20234 June 2023

Rating: ★

Party Girl Returns from the Afterlife

Director: Stephen Herek
Actors: Victoria Justice, Midori Francis, Robyn Scott, Adam Garcia, …
Category: Fantasy

All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)

5 May 199929 December 2019

Rating: ★★½

Animation/Dog Conman in the Afterlife

Director: Don Bluth
Actors: Burt Reynolds, Dom de Luise
Category: Fantasy

All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 (1996)

5 September 20027 July 2019

Rating: ★★

Animation/Dogs Return from the Afterlife

Director: Paul Sabella
Actors: Charlie Sheen, Dom de Luise, Sheena Easton, Adam Wylie, …
Category: Fantasy

Alleluia! The Devil’s Carnival (2016)

8 December 20228 December 2022

Rating: ★★

War Between Heaven and Hell Rock Musical

Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Actors: Paul Sorvino, Terrance Zdunich, Emilie Autumn, Adam Pascal, …
Category: Fantasy

Angels in America (2003)

6 January 200525 August 2019

Rating: ★★★★★

Surreal AIDS Drama/Angelic Visitations

Director: Mike Nichols
Actors: Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Justin Kirk, …
Category: Fantasy

Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991)

1 June 20015 September 2020

Rating: ★★

Slackers in the Afterlife

Director: Peter Hewitt
Actors: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, William Sadler, Joss Ackland, …
Category: Fantasy, Science Fiction

The Black Hole (1979)

3 January 20001 July 2022

Rating: ★★

Lost Spaceship/Mad Scientist/Journey into a Black Hole

Director: Gary Nelson
Actors: Maximilian Schell, Robert Forster, Yvette Mimieux, Anthony Perkins, …
Category: Science Fiction

Brainstorm (1983)

28 March 20184 March 2020

Rating: ★★★

Memory Recording Device

Director: Douglas Trumbull
Actors: Christopher Walken, Natalie Wood, Louise Fletcher, Cliff Robertson, …
Category: Science Fiction

Cabin in the Sky (1942)

9 January 20039 March 2023

Rating: ★★

Afterlife Comedy/All Black Musical

Director: Vincente Minelli
Actors: Eddie Rochester Anderson, Ethel Waters, Rex Ingram, Lena Horne
Category: Fantasy

Carousel (1956)

7 September 200123 March 2020

Rating: ★

Musical/Man’s Redemption in the Afterlife

Director: Henry King
Actors: Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones, Cameron Mitchell, Robert Rounseville, …
Category: Fantasy

A Chinese Tall Story (2005)

22 February 201812 April 2023

Rating: ★★

Gonzo Journey to the West Adaptation

Director: Jeffrey Lau
Actors: Nicholas Tse, Charlene Choi, Fan Bingbing, Steven Cheung
Category: Fantasy

Constantine (2005)

7 March 200526 July 2024

Rating: ★★

Occult Investigator/Comic Book Adaptation

Director: Francis Lawrence
Actors: Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz, Peter Stormare, Shia LaBeouf, …
Category: Horror

Defending Your Life (1991)

15 October 200115 July 2020

Rating: ★★½

Afterlife Comedy

Director: Albert Brooks
Actors: Albert Brooks, Meryl Streep, Rip Torn, Lee Grant, …
Category: Fantasy

Deus (2022)

9 July 20239 July 2023

Rating: ★

Space Expedition Finds Gateway to Heaven

Director: Steve Stone
Actors: Claudia Black, David O'Hara, Phil Davis, Richard Blackwood, …
Category: Science Fiction

Down to Earth (1947)

23 January 200124 May 2023

Rating: ★★

Greek Muse Comes Down to Earth

Director: Alexander Hall
Actors: Rita Hayworth, James Gleason, Roland Culver, Edward Everett Horton, …
Category: Fantasy

Down to Earth (2001)

16 February 20015 December 2024

Rating: ★★

Afterlife Mixup/Race Reversal Comedy

Director: Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz
Actors: Chris Rock, Regina King, Chazz Palminteri, Frankie Faison, …
Category: Fantasy

Emperor Visits the Hell (2012)

11 October 201225 February 2020

Rating: ★★★

Modernised Journey to the West

Director: Li Luo
Category: Fantasy

Erotic Ghost Story – Perfect Match (1997)

14 December 200819 June 2023

Rating: ★

Hong Kong Erotica/Heavenly Bunny Women

Director: Lam Yee Hung
Actors: Elvis Tsui
Category: Fantasy

Father’s Day (2011)

14 February 201228 November 2024

Rating: ★★

Troma Film/Possessed Killer/Bad Taste Splatter

Director: Adam Brooks, Jeremy Gillespie, Matthew Kennedy, Steven Kostanski, …
Actors: Adam Brooks, Matthew Kennedy, Conor Sweeney, Amy Groening, …
Category: Horror

Ghost (1990)

19 October 20022 April 2021

Rating: ★★★★

Man Returns as a Ghost

Director: Jerry Zucker
Actors: Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Goldwyn, …
Category: Fantasy

Good Omens (2019)

14 June 20194 September 2022

Rating: ★★½

Biblical End Times/Antichrist Comedy

Director: Douglas Mackinnon
Actors: Michael Sheen, David Tennant, Sam Taylor Buck, Jack Whitehall, …
Category: Fantasy

The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001)

5 May 200718 January 2022

Rating: ★★★½

Gonzo Black Comedy

Director: Takashi Miike
Actors: Kenji Sawada, Keiko Matsuzaka, Tetsuro Tamba, Naomi Nishida
Category: Fantasy

Heaven Only Knows (1947)

2 February 200312 October 2022

Rating: ★★½

Angel Visits Out West

Director: Albert S. Rogell
Actors: Robert Cummings, Brian Donlevy, Marjorie Reynolds, Bill Goodwin, …
Category: Fantasy

The Horn Blows at Midnight (1942)

14 June 200225 August 2021

Rating: ★★★½

Last Trumpeter Screwball Comedy

Director: Raoul Walsh
Actors: Jack Benny, Alexis Smith, Reginald Gardiner, Allyn Joslyn, …
Category: Fantasy

Little Nicky (2000)

10 November 20005 December 2020

Rating: ★

The Devil’s Son Comedy

Director: Steven Brill
Actors: Adam Sandler, Harvey Keitel, Rhys Ifans, Patricia Arquette, …
Category: Fantasy

The Mad Monk (1993)

4 May 200213 July 2022

Rating: ★★½

Hong Kong Heavenly Comedy

Director: Ching Siu-Tung, Johnny To
Actors: Stephen Chow, Maggie Cheung, Paul Chun, Anita Mui
Category: Fantasy

Made in Heaven (1987)

8 November 200131 January 2024

Rating: ★★★½

Afterlife Romance

Director: Alan Rudolph
Actors: Timothy Hutton, Kelly McGillis, Debra Winger, Maureen Stapleton, …
Category: Fantasy

A Matter of Life and Death (1946)

3 November 200729 June 2021

Rating: ★★★★

The Afterlife

Director: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Actors: David Niven, Kim Hunter, Marius Goring, Raymond Massey, …
Category: Fantasy

Meatballs III: Summer Job (1987)

6 February 20066 November 2024

Rating: 0­

Teen Comedy/Angelic Intervention

Director: George Mendeluk
Actors: Patrick Dempsey, Sally Kellerman, George Buza, Isabelle Mejias, …
Category: Fantasy

The Monkey King (2001)

22 December 200527 June 2019

Rating: ★½

Epic Chinese Legend

Director: Peter MacDonald
Actors: Thomas Gibson, Bai Ling, Russell Wong, Eddie Marsan, …
Category: Fantasy

The Monkey King (2014)

8 September 201427 October 2020

Rating: ★★½

Epic Chinese Legend

Director: Soi Cheang
Actors: Donnie Yen, Chow Yun Fat, Aaron Kwok, Peter Ho, …
Category: Fantasy

The Monkey King: Uproar in Heaven (1965)

25 October 201215 October 2019

Rating: ★★★½

Chinese Animation/Journey to the West Adaptation

Director: Wan Laiming
Category: Fantasy

Oh Heavenly Dog (1980)

16 January 200527 October 2020

Rating: ★★

Man Reincarnates as a Dog Comedy

Director: Joe Camp
Actors: Chevy Chase, Jane Seymour, Omar Shariff
Category: Fantasy

This is The End (2013)

12 June 20134 October 2023

Rating: ★★★★

End of the World Comedy

Director: Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen
Actors: Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Jonah Hill, …
Category: Fantasy

Two of a Kind (1983)

25 June 200924 December 2022

Rating: ★

Angelic Intervention Comedy

Director: John Herzfeld
Actors: John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Charles Durning, Oliver Reed, …
Category: Fantasy

A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (2011)

4 November 201117 December 2022

Rating: ★★½

Gonzo Stoner Film

Director: Todd Strauss-Schulson
Actors: Kal Penn, John Cho, Neil Patrick Harris, Tom Lennon, …
Category: Fantasy

What Dreams May Come (1998)

16 May 199916 September 2019

Rating: ★★★★

The Afterlife

Director: Vincent Ward
Actors: Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding Jr, Annabella Sciorra, Max Von Sydow, …
Category: Fantasy

Yuki: Snow Fairy (1981)

18 October 200418 June 2025

Rating: ★★★

Anime/Young Goddess Comes to Earth

Director: Tadashi Imai
Category: Fantasy

Recent Posts

  • Planetquake (2024)
  • Earthtastrophe (2016)
  • It Lives Inside (2023)
  • Subservience (2024)
  • Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)
  • The Assessment (2024)
  • The Mighty Gorga (1969)
  • Empire of the Apes (2013)
  • The Holy Virgin Versus the Evil Dead (1991)
  • Swarmed (2005)
  • Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo (1977)
  • Incantation (2022)
  • Dick Dynamite: 1944 (2023)
  • The Shrouds (2024)
  • Clown in a Cornfield (2025)
  • Incoming (2018)
  • Box: Metaphor (2023)
  • The House That Vanished (1973)
  • Skinwalker Ranch (2013)
  • A Werewolf in England (2020)
  • Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger (2024)
  • Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)
  • Until Dawn (2025)
  • Alpha Girls (2013)
  • Tentacles (1977)

Contact Moria

  • Send Email
  • Facebook Follow Moria on Facebook

Theme Essays

  • Films About Atlantis
  • Werewolf Films
  • Virtual Reality
  • Imprisonment Thrillers
  • Films Depicting NASA and the Space Program
  • Human Bloodsports and Death Games
  • Animals Attack Films
  • Films About Plague and Pandemic
  • Disaster Movies
  • Steampunk Films
  • Documentaries
  • Films About Halloween
  • Films About Prophecy
  • Magicians and Sorcerers
  • Secret Societies
  • Real-Life People in Fiction
  • Techno-Thrillers
  • Twins in Fantastic Cinema
  • Asylums
  • Possession Films
  • Films About Imaginary and Magical Lands
  • Religion in Fantastic Cinema
  • Romantic Comedies
  • Film Noir
  • Spy Films
  • Jekyll and Hyde Films
  • Films That Make Dubious Claims to Being True Stories
  • Coming of Age Stories in Fantastic Cinema
  • Films About Cryogenics and Suspended Animation
  • Alternate History Films
  • Disturbed Psychology as Portrayed on Film
  • Law Enforcement in Fantastic Cinema
  • Weird Westerns
∧

Copyright Richard Scheib 1999-2025

Jump to top Moria