Second Coming Attractions

Striving without conviction for Voltairean wit and bile, Prill (Serial Killer Days) takes aim at Christian inspirational filmmaking. Leviticus Speck, manager and heir apparent of Good Samaritan Films, has seen the writing on the wall as Good Samaritan's hokey messages of faith, love and doing good keep losing out to the visceral thrills of Blood of the Lamb productions and its crudely made anti-abortion films. Prill follows the paths of the Good Samaritan troupe: Rance Jericho, washed up after playing Jesus in a series of Good Samaritan films; Ricky Bible, a Christian heartthrob groomed to take Rance's place and getting more Christlike by the minute; and Nicholas Puckett, whose Fetal Detective story bids fair to bring Christian cinema into the Tarantino era. But Prill's book suffers from a fatal anomie--it's hard to see what specifically rankles him about the fundamentalist butts of his jokes. He may find the real-life anti-abortion movement ludicrous and obnoxious, but you'd never know why from his book. Naming the president of Blood of the Lamb Paul Pedphill is about as funny as he gets. (Mar.)