I have little doubt the filmmakers put their all into Satanic and despite some respectable enough performances by the young cast, Sarah Hyland especially, the story just lacked anything new or creative. The final act is a mess though I did think there were elements that almost worked, but not nearly enough to save the rest.
Satanic
(2016)
Genre(s): Horror
Magnolia | R – 84 min. – $29.98 | October 4, 2016
Date Published: 10/01/2016 | Author: The Movieman
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THE MOVIE — 1.75/5 |
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No surprises with this movie. You’ve seen similar ones in the past and it features some dumb characters making really idiotic decisions and chances are, it’s not going to end well. Plot Synopsis: Satanic follows four coeds — Chloe (SARAH HYLAND), her boyfriend David (STEVEN KRUEGER), her cousin Elise (CLARA MAMET) and Elise’s boyfriend, Seth (JUSTIN CHON) — as they take a road trip through Los Angeles and its demonic-centric locales before heading on to Coachella. The group checks into the Flower Hotel, and check into room 204, the scene of Lainey Gore’s gruesome suicide in homage to Satan himself.
The thrill seekers, well all but David who’s only in it for Coachella, visit the site of the infamous Manson murders and an unnerving satanic store. After a rude encounter with a store employee, they decide to follow him which leads to them mistakenly interrupt a cult’s sacrifice of a girl named Alice (SOPHIA DALAH). Ultimately allowing her to break free, and inviting her to stay with them in their hotel room, the travelers soon being to question her innocence as she has an unsettling admiration for the spirit of Lainey Gore. Quick Hit Review: Admittedly, I stuck though this slog and forgettable supernatural horror film mainly due to Sarah Hyland and while she and the other four main actors give adequate enough performances, all things considered, her character doesn’t escape being one of the bigger dumb-asses of this flick. Hell (pardon the pun), Elise (portrayed by Clara Mamet, daughter of playwright David Mamet) calls on her stupidity as Chloe shamed the others to allow Alice to stay with them.
Satanic was scripted by Anthony Jaswinski, writer of a variety of other horror and thrillers like Backwoods, Vanishing on 7th Street and this year’s The Shallows. The dialogue in this was bad enough but the plot was rather weak and any momentum it had was quickly vanquished in a hurried third act with a predictable and unsatisfying payoff. Not that the direction, from Jeffrey Hunt, didn’t help matters very much, though I did like elements of the finale involving Hyland which presented an interesting nightmare scenario. In the end, perhaps Satanic had potential but instead it’s one of several hundred of these supernatural horror films that have come and gone and will likely be forgotten from my mind once I post this review. That said, Hyland for her part isn’t terrible — giving a Jennifer Love Hewitt of Last Summer vibe — so hopefully she finds better material in the future.
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SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.0/5 |
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The Making of Satanic (6:47; HD) – This featurette has some canned on-location interviews and behind-the-scenes footage discussing the origins of the story. The Cast (5:28; HD) introduces viewers to this young cast and provides some behind-the-scenes footage and more sound bites. Special Effects (3:27; HD) looks at the practical effects work on the film. Behind the Scenes Footage (1:47; HD) seems to be just some extra footage and is more fly-on-the-wall type stuff. Theatrical Trailer (1:59; HD) |
VIDEO – 3.75/5 |
| Magnolia releases Satanic onto Blu-ray with a 1080p high-definition transfer (MPEG-4 AVC codec) and shown in its original 2.40 widescreen aspect ratio. It’s not a particularly pretty looking picture but there are splashes of color, including blood red in numerous instances, and detail was well defined and sharp. Black levels look fairly stark showing no signs of artifacts or aliasing. |
AUDIO – 4.0/5 |
| The disc includes a standard DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track and while it’s nothing special, there were times, like the angel-like summoned spells overlaid with the L.A. skyline shots, came through the center channel fairly well and dialogue levels sounded crisp and clean. Adding some depth is the generic horror-thriller music making usage of the front and rear channels as well as some ambient noises. |
OVERALL – 2.5/5 |
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Overall, I have little doubt the filmmakers put their all into Satanic and despite some respectable enough performances by the young cast, Sarah Hyland especially, the story just lacked anything new or creative. The final act is a mess though I did think there were elements that almost worked, but not nearly enough to save the rest which wasn’t very memorable. The Blu-ray released by Magnolia offers good video/audio but a forgettable selection of features. |
Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.