Editorials
All Hail These 10 Satanic Movies!
Everyone has sinister fantasies. Quiet secrets and inner desires of being a witch, casting spells – there’s a little devil in us all. We all crave power, covet things we shouldn’t want, and seek even the slightest feign of rebellion against authority figures who attempt to control us. Whether we face down our demons by picking our poison at a local bar with friends, attending an ear-shattering show, or adorning our bodies with skin-deep forever portraits, one way or another, we all tap into something we’ve been taught to ignore. We all want to be a little evil.
Movies allow us to flirt with the darkness without going overboard with experimentation. In its own special way, film is a portal into other universes, a crystal ball that projects alternate dimensions and sinful scenarios that we might normally never tip a pinkie toe into, and yet, here it is, so easy to access and stimulating to see. That’s why demonic movies can be so much fun to watch, and that’s why, on the heels of the holiest of days, this writer is delivering unto thou a list of the very best satanic movies to watch.
THE DEVIL RIDES OUT (1968)
It’s always a pleasure seeing Christopher Lee barking out orders about how to avoid the devil, showing the amateurs how to cast our spirits with a slight, annoyed wave of his hand, and The Devil Rides Out is no exception. In the film, Lee, a.k.a. Nicholas, attempts to save the lives of Simon and his friend Tanith, lest they be stolen by a local satanic group and used to serve the devil. Together, Nicholas and his old friend Rex Van Ryn try to protect their friends from the satan worshippers, who seek to baptize the youngsters in a ritual to sell their souls. Terence Fisher’s 1968 masterpiece is a gorgeous picture, filled to the brim with fascinating depictions of the dark arts, all culminating in a showdown between good and evil where no one is safe and everyone is susceptible to the power of Satan.
THE SENTINEL (1977)
Michael’s been begging Alison to move in with him for what seems like forever, but Alison, terrified that she’ll wind up like her mother, is determined to remain independent. That’s why when he asks her to marry him and come live rent-free in his fancy condo, Alison uses what little money she’s made from modeling to rent a cheap Brooklyn apartment and live alone. Although initially proud of her decision, Alison soon finds the real reason that she found a place to live that’s so affordable: it resides over the gates of Hell. Truly unnerving and wickedly atmospheric, The Sentinel is not one to be missed – even if only for the few moments where you get to see young and yet-to-be-famous Jeff Goldblum in a distractingly deep v-neck ensemble.
THE WAILING (2016)
There’s a strange disease going around a small village in South Korea, and it’s causing a myriad of murders. No one knows exactly what’s causing the sickness to spread, but it all seems to lead back to the day that the Japanese stranger entered the premises. He lives up in the mountains, and the trail that leads the way to his home is littered with photos of the deceased and shrines bejeweled with goat heads and gore. Officer Jong-Goo knows he must investigate the situation, for the sake of his family, and his hometown, but little does he know that if he had just stayed away from the odd old man up in the hills, his daughter never would’ve come down with the same sickness that’s been permeating every corner of this little Goksung town, and he never would’ve had to call upon a priest to extract the demons that now plague her tiny soul. If you haven’t seen The Wailing, stop what you’re doing right now and watch it. As if it weren’t hauntingly gorgeous enough on its own, just wait until you see the exorcism scene.
DEATHGASM (2015)
Okay, so technically, if you wanted to get down to brass tacks, this is less a movie about Satan and more a movie about this demon called ‘The Blind One’, but hey, I would use any excuse to put his ridiculously awesome, brutal and bloody film on this list. Written and directed by Jason Lei Howden, Deathgasm is a story about a bored teenage boy named Brodie who stumbles upon – or steals, if you wanna get technical about it – an ancient text which contains old music for some heavy metal jams. Already in a band with his buddies, Brodie and his best friend Zakk decide to learn the riffs and play them loud, an action which inconsequently leads to the end of the world. Unwittingly, the boys summon a primeval being, and inadvertently turn all of their friends and loved ones into ravenous monsters. Now, it’s up to the gang, along with Medina, the babe whom Brodie carries the biggest torch for, to battle the bloodsucking fiends that swarm in from every angle, and find a way to end the apocalypse before it’s too late.
THE DEVILS (1971)
Does it even really count as a Satanic film if Ken Russell didn’t direct it? It’s a question worth asking, especially when there’s such proof of his wicked mastery in a little film called The Devils. The Devils is the realest deal. In it, Father Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed) is accused of witchcraft by a sexually repressed nun named Sister Jeanne (Vanessa Redgrave), and chaos ensues. One of the earliest films on this list, Ken Russell helped pave the way for the over-the-top taboo films we know today. His blasphemous bravery and unabashed artistic expression permitted other younger filmmakers to come forth and make the movies they wanted to make, without fear of being cast out of the film world forever. In his own way, Russell not only crafted a beautifully shot film, but pushed the envelope just a little bit father in cinema, thereby helping everyone who came after.
THE BELIEVERS (1987)
After his wife dies in a freak accident in Minneapolis, Cal Jamison (Martin Sheen) moves him and his son Chris to New York City where he attains a job as a police psychologist for the New York City Police Department. Finally, Cal feels that his family is safe, but unbeknownst to him, a series of brutal and inexplicable murders are about to begin sweeping through the town, and all of the victims are small children. Suddenly, the last person Cal has left is put in danger, as his little boy becomes the latest target of the cult that’s sacrificing kids in antique brujeria rituals. Will Cal be able to end a practice that’s existed longer than he’s been alive? Only time will tell, as the innocents of the city fall helplessly at his feet, and the power of black magic permeates the very air he breathes.
THE BLACKCOAT’S DAUGHTER (2015)
There’s something looming in the incandescent quiet of the halls of the boarding room at school, and it’s coming for Joan and Kat. It’s making them do evil things, whispering to them in the dark about ill deeds that need doing, and offering putrid penance in exchange for their crimes. The serpent in the garden come to spill secrets and spread knowledge. Soon, Kat has all kinds of new ideas, and begins practicing them on her classmates and her friends. Ideas that leave bloody handprints on the walls and heads in fireplaces. She is but a servant of Satan, sworn to do his bidding, and although reluctant at first, this once shy school girl now happily bends to the will of Beelzebub. Then sadly, the day dawns when the devil has left her soul, and she is alone again, a mere mortal full of sin. How far will she go to get him back again? The directorial debut from Osgood Perkins (son of Anthony Perkins), The Blackcoat’s Daughter is eerily whimsical. Taut, intense, and superbly acted by Kiernan Shipka, this little indie gem is an all-timer satanic flick.
JOHN CARPENTER’S PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1987)
John Carpenter doesn’t usually come to mind when thinking about satanic films, but the master of horror actually danced with the devil back in the late eighties under the façade of a sci-fi thriller, when he wrangled up a gang of puffy-haired youngsters and trapped them in a church with an experiment gone wrong. It’s actually quite brilliant because it’s so different from every satanic movie that came before it, and honestly, after it as well. People typically go for an angle a la The Exorcist, but Carpenter was never really one to blend in with the crowd. That’s why when it came time for the man to show his version of ‘Ol Scratch, Carpenter went with scientists typing on computer, collecting data, and ultimately accidentally morphing one of their own into the son of Satan, who then tries to bring his dad into the land of man. It’s such an unusual approach, and yet, it works so well. The tension is so heightened throughout the entire picture, and the final scene is one of the most intense and upsetting finales in all of his work. If you’ve never seen it, or it’s been a while, go watch John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness, and praise the Unholy Prince by way of the man who gave us The Thing.
THE MEPHISTO WALTZ (1971)
When the scathing reviews of his latest performance unmercifully begin to roll in, Myles Clarkson knows once and for all that his career as a pianist is over. Trying his best to cope and live his life, Clarkson befriends an older, much more famous player named Duncan Mowbray Ely. Soon after their friendship begins, Ely’s life ends, but as this old Satanist has been planning for quite some time, when his death occurs, his soul switches into Clarkson’s body, an act so sly that not even his wife notices. Suddenly, Clarkson is a star, his hands fly as though of their own accord on the piano, and he brings weeping audiences to their feet, night after night, just like he’s always dreamed. But how long can this spell last until someone sees the devil in the room?
THE DEVIL’S RAIN (1975)
Young William Shatner shirtless, bearing a carved pentagram in his chest, Ernest Borgnine as the High Priest of the Church of Satan, queen Ida Lupino in a devil-worshipping flick – honestly, what more could you want from a movie? The Devil’s Rain has it all. Directed by Robert Fuest, this story tells the tale of a Satanic cult leader who’s burned at the stake, but casts a spell that allows him to return hundreds of years later to wreak vengeance upon the descendants of those who did him dirty. Oh, did I mention that when people sell their souls to Satan and join the cult, their eyes melt out of their heads? Why are you still reading this? Go watch The Devil’s Rain.
College kids, strippers and vampires—those were Donald P. Borchers’ only requirements when he approached Richard Wenk about writing and directing a movie for New World Pictures. As requested, Wenk cooked up Vamp (1986), a tailor-made blend of the decade’s teen movie craze as well as its horror boom.
Grim and earnest stories were still very much a part of the ’80s horror landscape, yet Vamp is something of a comedy. One difference between it and, say, Saturday the 14th, though, is the former avoids using schtick. Wenk’s movie proves that horror comedies also don’t have to subtract thrills from their recipes. Of course, it takes a minute before reaching that point; college antics and culture shocks preface this one macabre misadventure.
Vamp‘s initial setup is apt for a typical college-set, sex-driven comedy; to bribe their way into a fraternity house, two pledges (Chris Makepeace, Robert Rusler) go looking for some adult entertainment. Without wasting time on any further exposition, the characters embark on an all-in-one-night trip that quickly detours into terror.
To procure their elusive MacGuffin—a stripper willing to gyrate for some frat boys—Keith (Makepeace) and AJ (Rusler), plus a third wheel named Duncan (Gedee Watanabe), trade the safety of their remote college campus for the seediness of some unnamed city. The setting is recognizably L.A. by day, but as soon as night falls, downtown, along with the characters, slips into a kind of surreal universe. Director of photography Elliot Davis gave this early entry on his prolific résumé an unusual yet distinctive look; that Mario Bava-esque, magenta-green lighting is omnipresent, so much so that it’s almost its own character.
Chris Makepeace and Robert Rusler in Vamp
The faint comparisons to Martin Scorsese’s After Hours are merited, although not just because of Vamp’s distinguishing nighttime aesthetic. Save for the primary characters, the supporting roles in Wenk’s movie are also quite colorful and transactional in their behavior. The difference here, though, is the additional urge to ruin Keith and his friends at every turn. Some of that harm is humorous and tolerable enough, whereas the moment Vamp dishes out its first fatality, it’s abundantly clear how this movie qualifies as horror.
Vamp falls into that category of horror movie that reveals its genre with a scream rather than a series of whispers. The opening scene can function as a hint of what lies ahead—things are not at all what they appear to be—but otherwise, Wenk is more than happy to hold off on the horror. When that time does come, though, it catches the viewer off guard. In addition to the pure shock value is that sudden decision to upend the movie’s foremost feature. Or so it would seem.
If afraid of major spoilage, those new to Vamp would be wise to stop reading here. There’s just no skirting around the fact that the central fellowship in this buddy movie hits a serious snag when AJ is killed. That development causes the story to become more of a “long, bad night” journey for Keith and his romantic interest. So while Wenk scores points for subverting expectations, there is also a touch of sadness in his decision. Because if Vamp does anything well, it’s making the characters likable.
Something that comes easily to Vamp—and other teen horror movies from this same era—is its ability to invent young characters worth caring about, or at the very least, are interesting and not so immediately off-putting. More impressive is how Wenk did all this without actually fleshing out those characters. Still and all, Keith and his kind are a grade above cookie-cutter, and in some cases, aren’t completely devoid of growth.
Grace Jones in Vamp
Vamp appeals with an assorted cast of characters. No two are the same, nor are they operating on the same wavelength. The cinematically extroverted AJ, whose actor conveyed charm and vulnerability in near equal amounts, comes alive when he’s at his most undead. Makepeace then makes the chronically cautious Keith a sympathetic fellow, even as he’s more and more affected by the night’s bizarre events. Meanwhile, Duncan is indeed the designated loser of the whole bunch, but Watanabe still manages to humanize him. As a bonus, the role didn’t require him to pull a Long Duk Dong.
As for Dedee Pfeiffer, she is plain adorable as the mysterious After Dark server nicknamed “Amaretto”. She spends all night fixing her dress strap while at the same time trying to get Keith to remember how he knows her. As their offbeat romance grows, it becomes another highlight of this movie. Whether or not Pfeiffer’s character is really a vampire also creates some welcome tension in the story.
Like a lot of its contemporaries, Vamp went on to become a bit of a cult classic. That current status is determined by several factors, but without a doubt, the casting of Grace Jones is the most considerable. The image of her writhing on that unique-looking chair, a Keith Haring original, springs to mind whenever this movie is brought up.
Chris Makepeace, Billy Drago and Paunita Nichols in Vamp
Prior to that first display of unequivocal horror, local vampire queen Katrina (Jones) took to the stage and delivered a strip show like no other. One would expect nothing less from that renowned model and performance artist. By now reports of Jones’ tardiness on set are no secret, yet it’s also hard to deny her commitment to the part of Katrina. It was, in fact, Jones who took charge of her character’s appearance—on top of Haring painting her body and that now-iconic chair, she had Andy Warhol handle her costuming. And not too many actors could seize a room’s attention without saying a single line of dialogue.
In 2022, Vamp received a retrospective novelization from Encyclopocalypse. This literary union of preexisting source material—Wenk’s original screenplay—and new ideas from author Christian Francis amounts to a more comprehensive visit to the After Dark Club. The basic story there is no different than what’s shown on screen; however, Francis gets creative with the characters’ origins and designs, and he enhances a number of key scenes.
The novelization expands on the urban and social decay of the main setting, and supplies a background for the After Dark Club. Sandy Baron’s character, Katrina’s emcee and familiar, is given ample motivation for sticking around; up until the fiery end, he is loyal to his friend and former business partner “Squeak”, who looks like he was “fed through a combine harvester, and left as nothing more than a heap of mangled remains”. Then there is Billy Drago’s character Snow, the leader of a street gang called The Dragons. His reason for menacing Keith and AJ is more altruistic than in the movie; he and his peers act tough to scare off any potential food for the vampires.
Lisa Lyon in Vamp
If not for all the backstories, Francis’ Vamp would be a hell of a lot shorter. Instead, this tie-in read dives into how AJ met Keith—the orphaned Anthony Joseph hailed from a broken home back in Brooklyn—and how their friendship flourished over the years. Keith’s archership is no longer just an assumed part of his entire being; it’s a confidence-building extracurricular for a boy who got picked on before coming into the protection of the new kid in town. These supplemental, in-depth looks at the protagonists, plus their close connection, are maybe unnecessary. The movie already did a fair and concise job of addressing their platonic intimacy without the need for flashbacks and insights, specifically in that scene where AJ lays it all out as he sacrifices himself.
Where the novelization gets off course is its approach to the minor characters. Intermittently backstorying the likes of Katrina’s indentured servants, Seko (Leila Hee Olsen) and Vlad (Brad Logan), ends up disturbing the flow of the writing. Was it absolutely essential that readers know Vlad was the Grand Duke of the House of Romanov, or how Snow’s accomplice Maven (Paunita Nichols) became so dentally challenged? No, not really. However, one’s mileage with these random biographies may vary.
The novelization is a more substantial experience, but for a movie like Vamp, less is more. And as plentiful as they are, it never simply coasts on its campy charms, either. The character work sits comfortably in that realm between cursory and meticulous, the script is sharper than first realized, and Greg Cannom’s vampire makeup is straightforward yet effective. Most of all, the movie didn’t squander its out-of-the-box concept. Richard Wenk made his vision of a “comic nightmare in which just about anything that can go wrong does” come true, and it is very enjoyable.
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