Arrow Video, out now

A pizza delivery girl stumbles upon devil worshippers who are summoning the demon Baphomet. Unfortunately for her, she’s just the right host for its rebirth.

Chelsea Stardust’s horror comedy is produced under the Fangoria brand and clearly knows just what it’s trying to achieve and for a very specific audience. With buckets of blood and viscera, it’s there for the modern gore hounds as well as tipping its hat to low budget features of the 80s, the sort of material that Fango magazine itself would have covered at the time.

Rebecca Romijn (Star Trek: Discovery) is Danica Ross, the leader of the pack, and she is having great fun chewing up the scenery, balancing the high camp with the rubber guts and arterial sprays. Hayley Griffith is fine as the pizza delivery girl, Sam, who we never doubt will be our final girl, experiencing a night of hell for daring to ask for a tip. Indeed, that seems to be the message here – don’t expect to get a tip for deliveries in wealthy neighbourhoods, and certainly don’t go there if you’re a virgin.

Through 85 minutes, Sam has to endure a non-stop cavalcade of attacks from Danica’s family and coven members before finally birthing the demon… though not quite as you’d imagine. Honestly, I never thought it would end this way, and you’ll laugh out loud at the bonkers resolution.

Arrow’s release includes the video introduction to the FrightFest UK premiere, short ‘making of’ feature me, begin-the-scenes reel and trailer.

Verdict: Perfect fare for a midnight screening or festival crowd, Satanic Panic offers nothing new but celebrates and revels in its chosen genre, and delivers an unsubtle but cheerful dose of gooey genre nonsense. 7/10

Nick Joy

 

Read our interview with writer Grady Hendrix here, and our interview with director Chelsea Stardust here

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