It’s a notable sign of the times when watching a summer filled with satanic cults, possessions and even the arch fiend himself feels like a fun vacation compared to the world outside. I’m not religious in the slightest, so I can only imagine that someone more devout would take things away from these films that I don't. In the end though a horror film is about the violation of autonomy, and satanic movies are no different. Each and everyone one of these films is about the intrusion of an inherently transgressive force, in this case, they are dressed up in the costuming of Christianity. For most of these films, the religious nature of its antagonist is really just set dressing, Satan and western religion are an easy shorthand for good and evil that most people in the audience will be familiar with. What is particular to many of these films is was how they are centered on the loss of self. The horror of these films tended to be very personal in the nature, I assumed we would be hitting some apocalyptic stories but in most of them the stakes are surprisingly low, a family, some random kid, or a village were threatened, but rarely the whole world. Maybe that’s why they seemed almost cozy in the light of an ongoing global pandemic.
Best Film: The Black Cat
Worst Film: Satan’s Cheerleaders
Weirdest Film: Night Vision
Biggest Surprise: Beyond the Door
Satanic Summer
976-Evil (1988)
Beyond the Door (1975)
The Black Cat (1934)
Brotherhood of Satan (1971)
Fear No Evil (1981)
Legacy of Satan (1974)
Night Vision (1987)
Race with the Devil (1975)
Satanic Attraction (1989)
Satan’s Cheerleaders (1977)
Satan’s Storybook (1989)
The Whip Against Satan (1979)
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