Realm of Satan

The dawn of the 21st Century has found much of modern society obsessed with occult mysteries, sadistic violence, and evil. Everything from cartoons and video games to recorded music and major theatrical films are being designed and promote to "satisfy" the public's insatiable lust for the macabre. Most disturbing is the rise in the practice of Satanism. Law enforcement agencies are unable to keep up with the increasing numbers of heinous, Satanically inspired crimes. Basically a remake of Devil Worship: The Rise of Satanism (1989) using the same footage.

Founded in 1966 in California by a former organist and lion tamer named Anton Szandor LaVey, the Church of Satan has often been surrounded by mysteries, scandals and moral panics. An immersive journey into one the most fascinating phenomena of American religious pluralism.

Mondo Cane and the Schoolgirl Report series stand as obvious influences on this occasionally amusing but generally rather tedious exploitation film that alternates between documentary, fake documentary and docudrama. The theme is Satanism and the linking thread is a recreation of what is supposedly the real-life case of a murder and attempted murder of two Munich teenage men by a quartet of girls who had been dabbling in devil worship. During the ensuing trial, the lawyer resorts to dilatory tactics while the hearing is frequently interrupted by the girls breaking into incantation, temper tantrums or shivery fits ostensibly bearing on demonic possession. When the subject of the Manson killings is brought up, the most obnoxious of the defendants breaks in indignantly, claiming that Sharon Tate’s “execution” was justified as she posed dangers to the Satanic community.

Realizing the urban legend of their youth has actually come true, two filmmakers delve into the mystery surrounding five missing children and the real-life boogeyman linked to their disappearances.

In the realm of contemporary music, Adam “Nergal” Darski surely needs no further introduction. Yet the guitarist and singer has even made inroads into general pop culture and shaped social discourse, all the while not moving away an iota from the underground ethos his ongoing career is based on. Rising from his humble beginnings in Cold-war Poland to global fame with his band Behemoth, striving for musical excellence throughout the ignominies of life-threatening illness and dubious legal battles, staying deeply spiritual and focused during even the most casual appearances in mundane limelight, it is safe to say the 1977-born has many faces, the sum of which defies categorization. Satanist or dexterous money spinner? Academically certified historian or shallow media figure? Inspired and inspiring spokesperson of a generation or mere agent provocateur? Make your guesses...

But what is the Church of Satan? Who is Anton LaVey? Where is he from? Why does he do that? It does not take much to imagine the worst. Orgiastic ceremonies, where one revels in the blood of virgins, moonlight lamb sacrifices, noise concerts in the basement of a historical building… No, really nothing that amusing among the activities in the Church of Satan. Anton LaVey is nothing like a horned Charles Manson, and his path is all the more unexpected. Nick Bougas allows us to discover the artist, the musician, the philosopher, all through hallucinatory images retrieved from archives, making this rare documentary only two years before the author of the Satanic Bible disappeared.

In the mid 80s during the Satanic Panic era Pastor Flether A. Brothers who was director of Freedom Village USA interviewed Satanic teen killer Sean Sellers for an exclusive video only offered through Brothers Ministry. Brothers interviews Sellers and discusses what "Satan doesn't want you to know". This video was one of the highlights of the Satanic Panic epidemic first started by Geraldo Rivera in the mid 1980s. The clamshell case bodly [sic] professes "This tape may save your childs [sic] life and even your own!" […] This tape is hard to find and the interview with Sellers has rarely ever been seen outside of the owners of this release. The clamshell and video we have is in perfect condition and has pretty much only been played once in 25 years. (serialkillersink.net)

The story of The Satanic Temple, a controversial movement that combines religion and activism with the apparent purpose of questioning the basic foundations of US society.

The story of how the Satanic Panic of the 1980s was ignited by "Michelle Remembers", a memoir by psychiatrist and his patient. The book relied on recovered-memory therapy to uncover Michelle's abduction by baby-stealing Satanists.

Out of the spiritual chaos of the 1960s, more strange cults and unorthodox messiahs have emerged than ever. Charles Manson is seen as the annoying result of libertarianism of the 1960s - the Cain who murdered the Abel from The Love Generation. Or in the words of one commentator; "the Elvis of alienation."

A rare clip from 1994 warning of the dangers that lurk in America: homosexuals and Satanists.

"The Devil Worshippers" investigates Satanism and focuses on allegations that there are satanic cults committing crimes and murders in the United States. “Police have been skeptical when investigating these acts, just as we are in reporting them. But there is no question that something is going on out there, and that’s sufficient reason for ‘20/20’ to look into it.”

What do UFOs, witchcraft, Mormons, voodoo, Freemasons, satanism, H.P. Lovecraft, and several other curiosities have in common? You guessed it, aliens! Allow 9th degree Crackpot Bill Schnoebelen to take you on his dark journey from the giant creature-ridden wastes of the Wisconsin fields to sacrificial pain alters on the moons of Saturn and beyond. Recorded during the Ancient of Days conference in Roswell, NM in 2005.

An epidemic of ritual abuse of children from infants to teenagers is sweeping through the country. According to recent TV and radio broadcasts 2 million children a year are reported missing, many too young to be runaways and 5 thousand unidentifiable bodies of children are found each year in the US alone. "Devil Worship: The Rise of Satanism" takes you behind the scenes into actual black witchcraft and satanic rituals. Former Satanists, practicing witches and law enforcement experts explain the vastness and diversity of the movement. Experts tell why people join and how Satanists recruit their members as well as their victims. Parents are given clues to determine if their children are involved. Most importantly, dangerous doorways into the occult are exposed.

Geraldo Rivera investigates allegations of a widespread Satanic underground in the United States.

Masters of Darkness: Aleister Crowley - The Wickedest Man in the World

The film is a study of Anton Szandor LaVey, leader of a cult of devil worshipers in San Francisco. He and his Church of Satan are shown performing a black mass, in which a nude woman serves as an altar and a boa constrictor wraps itself around a naked witch. Newsreel footage is included in which LaVey's neighbors are interviewed about the lion which he kept in his house until complaints resulted in the animal's removal to a zoo. The ideology of the Church of Satan is discussed--guilt rejection, sexual freedom, and self-indulgence.

Based on their book, “Why Knock Rock?”, and their church lectures, Dan and Steve Peters examines how rock music's obsession with sex, drugs and suicide is dangerous to young people. Since the dawn of Rock and Roll, there has been ministers howling about its evil affects. Ministers would tour the country's churches and college campuses with sermons and slide shows illustrating the Devil's influence on the rock music. In this film we certainly see that rock stars aren't the best role models for kids and teens, but the Peters brothers often miss the musician's point – especially with some of the lyrics. Dan and Steve do however seem to take a delight in presenting some of the 1980s more perverse album covers to young people.

During the 1980s, claims of satanic ritual abuse ran rife throughout the western world, uncovered by hypnotic therapists and perpetuated throughout the media, including high-rating television talk shows. In Demonic, filmmaker Pia Borg delves into this bizarre chapter of history, examining the elusive line between fact, fiction and the persuasive power of the media.

In different times and spaces, genres like Death Metal are born. The early 90′s were still full of the 80′s vibe of over-consumption & greed, which found it’s way into everyday life, even into the music that was created. Just like hardcore in the early 80′s, not all of the teenagers of this decade wanted to hear the bubblegum pop that had invaded the airwaves. Death Metal did not want to be digested by the masses, and as a sub culture it was totally happy being the outsider. I’m not sure what was in the water in Florida during the late 80′s, because those kids were on some next shit, and they helped push the genre to other heights. When you are living in a certain period of time, you do realize that the life you are living could become historic to others in the future.