Welcome to the spooky season! Let’s talk about one of my personal favorite heroes of horror: the Devil!
The devil has always had a home in popular culture. Our parents’ parents’ parents have been trying to warn us about idolators, devil worshippers, and men in cloaks since time immemorial. It’s highly debatable whether Ol’ Scratch is truly terrifying anymore these days, but that will never stop me from enjoying a good ol’ fashioned Black Mass full of ritual and pomp and circumstance
I love horror films directly influenced by the “Satanic panic” and fear of growing occultism in the US. Satanic panic as many of us recognize it hit its peak in the late ‘80s-’90s. The reign of misaimed psychology and moral panic wasn’t a fun time for spooky types. It was a period of abuse allegations with weak links to a vague evil that could only be described as “Satan” rather than human failings, which opened the door for religious leader to openly call for the oppression and destruction of “alternative” groups. That type of rhetoric eventually sneaked its way into other arenas of life.
That is to say, your local goth and/or metalhead is not joking when they claim oppression. Sometimes.
Satanic panic was around long before the ‘80s and definitely was not limited to the US. The devil’s legacy is still very much with us on screen, in comics, on the radio, in our devilish metal rock boogie music—all around us! I think it’s fair to say at this point we’ve reclaimed the Devil as something a little more tongue-in-cheek and wink-wink nudge-nudge. But my preferred Satanic panic flick takes the threat of occult learnings quite seriously. Grab a fancy anointed robe and join me on the couch with a few of my favorite pearl-clutching features:
1) Satanic Panic (2019, dir. Chelsea Stardust)
Whoops, did I say I prefer films that take the Devil seriously? Hear me out: Satanic Panic is a horror comedy with a bit of leg work. The occult elements are performed correctly and with purpose beyond showing off. Grammatically correct Latin done during a proper ritual? Sign me up.
While Satanic Panic doesn’t go as far with its premise as I would have liked, a little research lends it some authenticity and the credibility that many far more ambitious films completely lack. The overall ambiance is enjoyable and it’s a refreshing spin on the idea of a Satanic cult. They’re people, just like us! And, uh, Rebecca Romijn. On to more serious fare.
2) Night Gallery, “Return of the Sorcerer” / “Last Rites for a Dead Druid” (1972)
I’ll never stop harping on my love for Rod Serling’s extremely underrated and mistreated Night Gallery anthology series. Two of my favorite episodes happen to be early exercises in Satanic panic, despite involving… druids?
Remember, to the normies out there, the occult is simply the unknown. So it’s okay that the practices of a completely unrelated religion are somehow influenced by demonic possession. Whose demons? Who knows. “Last Rites for a Dead Druid” is also an interesting example of the female antagonist as an actual force of evil rather than a simple morally bereft seductress. Vincent Price gives us a stellar turn in “The Return of the Sorcerer” which, again, combines completely unrelated Lovecraftian elements with the Devil. And it works because it meshes the ideas of esoteric knowledge and intentionally hidden mystery with the human penchant to lean towards dread. Jeannot Szwarc happened to direct both episodes and clearly understood how to tickle the human mind with fear until it…! Don’t say it.
But wait, why does Satan get all the fun? What about us lowly demons?
3) Incubus (1966, dir. Leslie Stevens)
How to describe the greatest Shatner starring role of all time? Infamous. If you’ve already heard of this film it may be too late to save you, but if you haven’t? Come, come.
Incubus is an odd film highly influenced by religious fears but it doesn’t assume its audience is inherently afraid of anti-Christian concepts. Thus the rather bizarre ending, which has to be seen to be believed. It rivals Coffin Joe in terms of depravity, but you know what it gets right? Demons. We get a bona fide incubus and succubus treated with sensitivity that one would not expect since they are the antagonists. Right? Kind of. Because director Leslie Stevens doesn’t assume we’re big chickens scared of a deity, it remains open as to who is the real villain here; if there is one. And we all know sex with pretty girls and boys isn’t simply vanquished by pure, wholesome thoughts. I’m just saying I feel Marc’s dilemma on a very real level.
Speaking of feeling on a deeper level…
4) The Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981, dir. Graham Baker)
Look, I love the entire Omen franchise and I’ll be the first to tell you that movie # 3 is hard to defend. Its main crime is being dull and slow. But as a flick much more influenced by the growing Satanic panic than its predecessors, it wins the race.
Okay, but why include it? Because The Omen III embodies everything we, the public, were supposed to fear about Satanism: power! Self-actualization! Control! Damien has gone from being a scared little boy unaware of his power and influence to fully swinging his White Man Devil privilege. What’s more terrifying than that? Damien is also a bit more openly defiant of Christ and sundry in this movie, which makes him more fun. And, true to life, the fate of nations will come down to two men chatting hypothetical philosophy. Le sigh. Did I say this movie was dull? I mean it is absolutely bone-chilling.
And last, but certainly not least:
5) Satan’s School for Girls (1973, dir. David Lowell Rich)
The ultimate in made-for-TV sexploitation and burgeoning panic about Satan, Satan’s School for Girls is in the top three of a very short list of “Greatest Films Involving Satanic Influence of All Time”.
What you see is what you get here folks, and the fact that the movie plays as an ABC cautionary tale with just enough titillation to get you uncomfortably intrigued is what makes it great. And it’s serious as every level of Hell. I’m not sure what exactly producer Aaron Spelling was trying to warn us about, but it was certainly terrifying. There is enough research tied into the gossip and innuendo in the script to make the Satanic cult featured here a terrifying presence. The deaths are primitive and brutal. The secrecy will astound you! And yes, there is a hint of evil Satanic lesbianism in case the Devil incarnate hadn’t scared you enough.
Clearly, only good things happen when you accept occult forces into your heart and in your media. As above, so below, my friends!
Image credit: Staci Lichterman