Pulp Features

From the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, Kirk Cameron was a heart-throb for the teenage set, via his role as Mike Seaver in Growing Pains.

Years passed. Cameron married Growing Pains co-star, Chelsea Noble, became a born-again Christian, raised a family of six kids, some adopted, some his own, and made fewer movies.

Then he re-emerged in the Left Behind series, playing sceptic reporter Buck, for Cloud Ten Pictures. Now, being a devoted agnostic, Cloud Ten’s Christian-based movies would seem to do little for me on the surface, but if I get past the Jesus content, they make great horror and sci-fi pictures. I wish Andre Van Heerden and the Lalonde Brothers would scrap the Christian themes and just make horror movies. I could see their crew in a number of old Universal remakes. I could see the whole Left Behind cast repackaged for these roles. Kirk Cameron would make a great Doctor Jekyll or Dr. Frankenstein, maybe even a Dorian Grey. Co-star Gordon Currie would make an outstanding Dracula. Brad Johnson would make a great Frankenstein monster, just to have green greasepaint over that otherwise too perfect leading man face of his! Well, I won’t hold my breath for that to happen.

As it is, Cameron has virtually revived his career with Left Behind, playing a reporter out to foil the Antichrist (played by Gordon Currie, who outdoes Paul Naschy, Sam Neill, and many others who have played this role). Again, if you can get past the Christian messages, if you are a non believer, these films are great horror fare. If you are a Christian, well, this is the stuff for you. And there is no end in site. More sequels are being planned, reportedly a new feature called End Game and a TV series are in the works. The production company ultimately wants to film the whole book series, which will amount to some 13-14 films in all, with the same characters involved. Cameron and crew should live long enough to see it through. If so, they will be very busy.

At least Cameron and his wife live their church beliefs, unlike many I have known in film, in business, in society and in college. He and Christian writer Ray Comfort operate livingwaters.com which is their own ministry to the unsaved. Their “Are you a good person?” campaign to convince others to be reborn is, I have to admit, more effective than the usual foaming at the mouth tactics their cohorts use, though it did not work on me, because I have been arguing with bornagainers so long, I know better than to fall for the punch line. No, I’m not a good person, I’m a (insert expletives of choice here) and proud of it! Anyway, this article isn’t about me. Let’s move on.

Cameron and his wife do a lot of good away from the film world. They are involved with a camp for terminally ill children and do other charity work. When not making films, Cameron also does travelling and public speaking, including in Berlin (Ohio, not Germany, this is a real hick town some 20 miles from where I live. Sadly, I missed the program, but it proves he couldn’t be charging outrageous fees for his appearances).

In any case, the guy has come a long way from the teenybopper heart-throb, into a more mature, serious actor. I had been told he had also been offered the role of the Antichrist in the Left Behind series, which would have been interesting. Instead, he opted for the reporter and fits the role perfectly. He is that character!

Recently, he also played in Miracle of the Cards, about a child fighting and overcoming cancer. I have not been able to watch this film yet, not because I might think it too sappy, but because it is a difficult subject for me, having lost too many people to cancer over the years! I have heard it has been well received.

From my first encounter with Cameron, via a magazine cover, to my experiences watching him in these newer films, I can say he has come a long way. Normally, I don’t give born-againers much attention either (though his cohort, André van Heerden and I, have been emailing each other debates about the Bible for some six months now), I believe him sincere in his beliefs. The only sad part is, I think said beliefs would prevent him from ever taking a role someplace as Dr. Jekyll, which i think he would be really great at!

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