If you are looking for a very cool horror flick that has some nicely timed comic relief and a lot of carnage, then look no further than Satanic Panic. Very good acting, direction and a solid storyline, if you are a fan of horror check this one out. It may be a spoof on satanic ritual films, but it’s not your ordinary devilishly delicious. Extra cheese and pepperoni please.
New pizza delivery driver Samantha “Sam” (Hayley Griffith) gets picked by Mr. Styles (Skeeta Jenkins), the day boss of Home Run Pizza, to deliver a large order to S-Town. The other delivery guys chuckle and when Sam asks why, they say the “S” in S-town means they stiff on the tip. But she’s in need of money and wants to make a good impression on the boss, so she takes off on her Vespa Moped loaded with eight pizza pies.
Arriving to the very upscale neighborhood she starts to plan her way to encourage a large tip. When she gets to the front door of the mansion however, she gets stiffed by the man of the house. Not taking it lying down, Sam notices that a large group of people dressed in Red have gathered in the middle of the huge living room. Thinking that this is a great opportunity to ask for a buck tip per person, she walks in on the group. It turns out to be the worst decision she could have made.
Satanic Panic is directed by Chelsea Stardust who makes this film her first full feature and knocks it out of the park. Spinning a tale that’s disgustingly evil about tough women and made by a woman, works here as she pads her film with a lot of wicked twists that touch on feminist domination. It’s a cunning display of turning a simple story line into a fright night that turns on the blood and guts early and doesn’t, well, “ever stop”.
Among the smartly selected cast and two artful denizens who make their performances very memorable. Hayley Griffith as Sam and Ruby Modine as Judy Ross, the daughter of ritual leader Danica Ross (Rebecca Romijn), who find themselves banning together to fend off the devil. Very unorthodox in their choice of weapons and insidious as a team that has to kill or be kill, the two show their ability to make the movie fun, even if the script is bloody disgusting.
Satanic Panic has not been rated by the MPAA, but contains crude language, drug use, explicit sex/nudity and buckets of blood. With Halloween just around the corner, this film should bode well with the fan base.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A very cool horror comedy. (4.5 out of 5 Stars)
Additional Film Information:
Cast: Hayley Griffith, Ruby Modine, Rebecca Romijn, Arden Myrin and Jerry O’Connell
Directed by: Chelsea Stardust
Written by: Grady Hendrix
Genre: Horror
MPAA Rating: Not Rated, contains crude language, drug use, explicit sex/nudity
Running Time: 1 hr. 25 min.
Opening Date: September 6, 2019
Distributed by: RJLE Entertainment
Released in: Standard, Color
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
