Holy Ghost People (1967 film)
| Holy Ghost People | |
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| Directed by | Peter Adair |
| Produced by | Blair Boyd |
| Narrated by | Peter Adair |
| Distributed by | Thistle Films |
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Release date
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Running time
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53 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Holy Ghost People is a 1967 documentary directed and narrated by Peter Adair. It is about the service of a Pentecostal community in Scrabble Creek, West Virginia, United States. The church service includes faith healing, snake handling, speaking in tongues and singing. This documentary has entered the public domain and is available at the Internet Archive.
The documentary begins by showing the audience various images of the church and its night services. After the opening credits, a narrator introduces the Pentecostal community in Scrabble Creek, West Virginia. The narrator presents various activities the church partakes in, such as snake handling, speaking in tongues, and four to six hour long meetings at the church multiples times a week. The narrators explain that while people are commonly bit while handling the snakes, mainly copperheads, they refuse medical help.
The documentary then features several one-on-one interviews from various members of the church. These interviews reveal stories of how many of the church's members found salvation through the Holy Ghost and how the Holy Ghost saves them in their daily lives. Some members reveal stories of how they are able to speak in tongues; others reveal how they communicate with God, who sometimes paralyzes them. The final interview is of an old woman who shakes and sometimes convulses on camera while going in and out of speaking in tongues.
The film then cuts to the beginning of a church service. As men enter the church, they go up and kiss each other on the lips before they are seated. After everyone is seated, people start clapping and singing together. Then there is a cut to the pastor talking to the congregation. He invites those who have not found the Holy Ghost to find out. He also tells the congregation to ignore the cameraman and to act as though it was just another normal night. The pastor continues his sermon, and the documentary uses various cuts to show that a long period of time has passed.
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