History YMMV / JesusChristSuperstar

* EvilIsCool: Alice Cooper as King Herod in the 2018 version.

** Simon Zealotes.

** The 2014 Swedish Arena dials up the HoYay and [[UpToEleven breaks the knob off]]. It starts with Judas singing "Heaven on their Minds" to a sleeping Jesus with lots of longing looks and lingering touches. Also, the kiss with which Judas betrays Jesus is a full-on BigDamnKiss: no cheek or forehead kissing here!

* WhatAnIdiot: Judas lived under Roman occupation and should have been well aware of the Roman's brutality toward prisoners. Nevertheless, after he betrays Jesus to the authorities, hee's genuinely shocked when the Roman guards torture Jesus.

* NightmareFuel: The Crucifixion and preceding torture in the 1973 version.
** The stage version includes a sequence so traumatizing that it's the visual/musical equivalent of swallowing an ice cube too fast. Immediately after performing the first half of "The Temple and Lepers," Jesus is accosted by a whole horde of lepers, cripples, and various other blighted folk. Pretty heart-rending in itself. But did I mention that they are covered in ''spider webs''? That they're so wrapped in rags that [[TheBlank you can't see their faces]]? And that they graphically describe all their injuries and infirmities ''in song''? True, it's not Music/MichaelJackson's ''Music/{{Thriller}}'', but it's pretty grotesque in itself. You can hardly blame Jesus when, in a WhatTheHellHero moment, he screams: "HEAL YOURSELVES!!!"
*** Not forgetting that the song they're singing? It's the same tune as [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g77AcTbjFo the merchants']], only... [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VGRwsYDAbY different]]. And in 7/8 time, one of the most unsettling time signatures.
** In the 1973 movie, the flogging itself is nasty enough, but then there's the intense music that goes with it, and Pilate's voice counting out the lashes. He sounds almost elated. Then when we see him trying to compose himself, he has an expression that could be [[InterplayOfSexAndViolence aroused]] or [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone disgusted]] or both. Even Herod, who watches the flogging from a distance, and laughes at first, looks appalled by the end.
** The 2000 version has the look of realisation on Jesus' face when he is held down to the cross and sees one of the soldiers picking up a nail.
** The brutality of the crucifixion having been foreshadowed during the 1973 movie's "Gethsemane", where the moment Jesus accepts his fate, there's a montage of zooms on images of his crucifixion as depicted in paintings across the years since.

** In the 2018 NBC performance, the priests wear long black robes with cowls, making them look more like Sith Lords than religious leaders.

* ObviouslyEvil: The Priests in the 2012 version. They all wear suits (very much like investment bankers, in this Occupy-themed production), their council seems to take place in a boardroom, and their insignia (seen at the start of This Jesus Must Die) is an Eye of Providence (evoking the Illuminati) in a laurel wreath (evoking Rome). Caiaphas specifically falls straight into this, with his slicked-back hair and BeardOfEvil.

** Simon.

* OneSceneWonder: Herod, especially when he's played by ''Rik Mayall''.

** In the 1973 movie, the flogging itself is nasty enough, but then there's the intense music that goes with it, and Pilate's voice counting out the lashes. He sounds almost elated. Then when we see him trying to compose himself, he has an expression that could be [[InterplayOfSexAndViolence aroused]] or [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone disgusted]] or both.

** In the 1973 movie, after Jesus says that Peter will deny him, Peter interjects in a non-singing voice, "No, not me!"

* HellIsThatNoise: The overture starting out the original 1970 album begins with an acid guitar lick with a sinister Asiatic purr (perhaps representing traditional Middle Eastern music) that can be very unsettling - even spooky - to Western listeners. And that's even before the "horror movie" synthesizer kicks in...

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Peter for the 1973 film.

* EsnembleDarkhorse: Peter for the 1973 film.

*** Caiaphas and Annas, oddly enough, also get this in the 2012 production. It's relatively restrained, but there are a few looks shared in quiet moments; most notably, in this production, Judas punches Caiaphas in the face in the "Damned For All Time" section of "Judas' Death", and Annas hands Caiaphas a small towelette to wipe off the blood, giving him a positively throbbing look as he does so. The height disparity (6'6'' Caiaphas v. rather diminutive Annas) and the [[RedOniBlueOni distinct difference in manner]] (Caiaphas blue, Annas red) add to the impression.

-->'''Jesus:''' There will be poor always, ''pathetically'' struggling; look at the good things you've got!
--> ...You'll be lost, and you'll be ''so'' sorry, when I'm gone!

* BrokenBase: Either you love the original movie, or you love the 2000 movie. There is no middle ground. Both sides say the other is a vile mockery. [-[[TakeAThirdOption Or you think both are good in their own regards]].-]

* HarsherInHindsight: The dig against Music/JohnLennon ("Jesus is bigger than John was when he did his baptism thing") isn't as funny since he died nine years later.

** [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with Caiaphas in the otherwise fairly straightforward 2000 version, however. He has a relatively benevolent-looking face, as opposed to Annas, who looks almost exactly like [[HarryPotter Voldemort]]. Played straight by Pilate in the same version - he has a chinstrap BeardOfEvil and his costume is a combination of a Gestapo officer and a Roman legionary.

*** The Gospel of John, from where this scene is taken, says that Judas didn't actually care about the poor but [[{{Hypocrite}} only wanted to help himself to the money]], as he was their treasurer. In the musical there's no indication he is anything but sincere.

** Mary Magdalene. Depending on the production, Jesus and/or Judas could be as well.

*** The Gospel of John, from where this scene is taken, says that Judas didn't actually care about the poor but [[{{Hypocrite}} only wanted to help himself to the money]], as he was their treasurer. In the musical there is no indication he is anything but sincere.