<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: The Devil's Mass...
Review: Before Speak of the Devil, which shows a look into the Black House today, that has long since been closed for public display of Satanic rites, there was Satanis. For many of us who were not yet incarnate upon this Black Earth, Satanis provides us with an intimate look inside the early Church of Satan, when this revolutionary organization gained its initial notoriety. We get to see L'Air Epais, in which a cardinal receives a flogging, then is reborn unto Satan & his own fleshly desires, as he enters a coffin containing the manifestation of Lilith. The "lord's prayer" is said backwards, a witch urinates blasphemously, as she represents a nun gaining liberation. We also get to see a curse, employing a beautiful serpant, & a fetish doll is impaled, as the congregation swoons in an hypnotic state of morbidity. A compassion ritual is also encated, as well as a lust spell. Throughout the video, interviews are conducted with Dr. LaVey, & other Satanic Witches & Warlocks, & also with neighbors, who have varying opinions on the Satanic Church, its Black Pope, & its practices. Also here, are interviews with little Karla LaVey, & Diane LaVey, the second first lady, who repeatedly quotes the Doctor, verbatum. Baby Zeena is only briefly seen at the zoo, being held by Diane. Satanis is the definitive, official documentary of The Church Of Satan, during its media-manipulation period of emergence, & subsequent development. With all of the emotions this video will inspire in you, you will feel as if you were there, partaking in the diabolic rites yourself. "IN NOMINE NOSTRI SATANAS DEI! HAIL SATAN!"
Rating: 
Summary: Great film, bad altars.
Review: Good documentary of a very early CoS. Has some great interviews with LaVey basically saying everything he says in TSB. There isn't much new info in this film. There is also a charming older woman with some very funny things to say. Some of the Satanists in this film come off as being impressionable and seeking acceptance, while others come of as quite the opposite. I disagree with the statement another reviwer said about them all being low-class low-brow rejects. This is simply not the case. Some are obviously high-class high-brows. I know the geeky kid in the glasses was kicked out and attemted to debunk the CoS. Obviously he wasn't very successful. My main gripe is the altar girls. The ones used for this film were quite unsightly. Sinthia - The Devil's Doll is moronic. A total 1.5 hour psychedelic waste of time. I have a feeling all the actors were paid with drugs. The bonuses aren't great either. The CoS is planning on releasing a better version of this film, so you might want to hold off on buying this mediocre version. The film gets 4 stars because it has what I bought it for, but to much stupid stuff. Ave Satanas!
Rating:
Summary: MORE FUN THAN A BARREL OF MONKS
Review: Oh ya gotta get this one. Early LaVey before his post mortem debunking by his daughter Zeena. And the naked ladies are just right for a serious nip and tuck, making this saga a saggy one. Warts and all. And...is that nerdy kid Isaac Bonewitz--the author of Real Magic and the first guy to graduate from Berkeley with a degree in Magic and Thaumaturgy? Stay tuned and find out. Take out the chalice of bourbon and sit back and enjoy, plus you get some great bonus material. A guy with the worst hairpiece in the world watches a tv (that's television) stripper back in the days when cellulite was a turn on, you get trailers for movies that should be seen only by people who live in trailers (...) It just don't git no better'n this. Ave Satanas and Hava Nagila and turn up the volume cause good old ASL tends to mumble a bit.
Rating:
Summary: MORE FUN THAN A BARREL OF MONKS
Review: Oh ya gotta get this one. Early LaVey before his post mortem debunking by his daughter Zeena. And the naked ladies are just right for a serious nip and tuck, making this saga a saggy one. Warts and all. And...is that nerdy kid Isaac Bonewitz--the author of Real Magic and the first guy to graduate from Berkeley with a degree in Magic and Thaumaturgy? Stay tuned and find out. Take out the chalice of bourbon and sit back and enjoy, plus you get some great bonus material. A guy with the worst hairpiece in the world watches a tv (that's television) stripper back in the days when cellulite was a turn on, you get trailers for movies that should be seen only by people who live in trailers (...) It just don't git no better'n this. Ave Satanas and Hava Nagila and turn up the volume cause good old ASL tends to mumble a bit.
Rating:
Summary: Ooooh, Scary!!
Review: Satanis is a wonderful documentary about Anton LeVey and his Church of Satan. Every neighbour interviewed has either one of two extreme reactions: either he is evil incarnate and doomed to go to Hell, or else they think the Church is one of the funniest things they have ever encountered. For example, one woman laughs about how Anton keeps trying to talk her large-chested friend into coming in for one of their ceremonies because he wants to see her naked. Priests interviewed suggest that what he is doing is a silly passtime. Stories are also told about, e.g., having to put up with the noise his pet lion would make at night. The ceremonies themselves are a laugh riot. Sinthia is nothing more than pop psychology nonsense. Some of the psychedelic imagery is fun, and there are some laugh out loud moments, but it can get dull at times. Suggested drinking game: one shot every time the lead female screams "Mommy!" or "Daddy!" (Actually, forget that. Nobody can drink that much and live). The extras are great too. "My Tale is Hot" is funny (especially when the Lou Costello type complains to the devil "Hey, you interrupted the Walt Dibney show!!"). "Sex Ritual..." pretends to be a serious documentary, but is actually nothing more than an exploitation short with spooky, weird sets. Its high level of prententiousness is hillarious. The guys on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy will be surprised to learn when they watch this last short that they are unknowingly engaging in Satanic rituals.
Rating:
Summary: Ooooh, Scary!!
Review: Satanis is a wonderful documentary about Anton LeVey and his Church of Satan. Every neighbour interviewed has either one of two extreme reactions: either he is evil incarnate and doomed to go to Hell, or else they think the Church is one of the funniest things they have ever encountered. For example, one woman laughs about how Anton keeps trying to talk her large-chested friend into coming in for one of their ceremonies because he wants to see her naked. Priests interviewed suggest that what he is doing is a silly passtime. Stories are also told about, e.g., having to put up with the noise his pet lion would make at night. The ceremonies themselves are a laugh riot. Sinthia is nothing more than pop psychology nonsense. Some of the psychedelic imagery is fun, and there are some laugh out loud moments, but it can get dull at times. Suggested drinking game: one shot every time the lead female screams "Mommy!" or "Daddy!" (Actually, forget that. Nobody can drink that much and live). The extras are great too. "My Tale is Hot" is funny (especially when the Lou Costello type complains to the devil "Hey, you interrupted the Walt Dibney show!!"). "Sex Ritual..." pretends to be a serious documentary, but is actually nothing more than an exploitation short with spooky, weird sets. Its high level of prententiousness is hillarious. The guys on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy will be surprised to learn when they watch this last short that they are unknowingly engaging in Satanic rituals.
Rating: 
Summary: UGH! Put your clothes back on!!!!
Review: SATANIS: The Devil's Need for Clothes
BEWARE: The "nude women on the altar" are rather plump and geriatric, so don't go thinking this'll be some sort of supermodel type of nudity, because it ain't! And it ain't pretty! I only wish someone had warned me about it first.
LaVey is articulate and confident and speaks his mind beautifully, as does his then-wife Diane. Daughter Karla thinks the whole thing is just weird, and unfortunately the outrageously-beautiful youngest daughter Zeena was just a baby then.
It has it's moments of humor, in particular at the beginning when they finish up the ritual and LaVey dismissively says "well, that's all for that part" or something to that effect.
Mostly it reveals the types of people that are drawn into LaVey's ideology. They are primarily not the high society types, and frankly are quite low society. The main altar lady--a 50-ish creature who simply should never be unclothed, even in a home for the blind--discusses at length her low income youth and comes off as trailer trash, as do a couple others. And during a ritual scene you see one very geeky-looking teenaged nerd who looks like that computer whiz you beat up in high school on a daily basis. It's no surprise to see some of these outcasts there looking for acceptance.
And that's what opened my eyes to what it's really all about: a safe haven for geeks and old ladies. Thanks, I'll pass.
The Sinthia movie is forgettable. Just an excuse to show some skin. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just that, like SATANIS, the skin quality isn't that great except for the main character. Neither has been remastered, so they look their age, even on disc.
Rating:
Summary: SWEET JEEZUZ...oooooh...OOOPS! I mean, HAIL SATAN! Woohoo!
Review: The only reason I'd picked up this DVD by SOMETHING WEIRD VIDEO was to be able to see Anton Lavey's SATANIS--hell, it's the ONLY reason to pick this collection up. But anyway, call it staged, call it a documentary, call it a docudrama-- call it what you will, but no matter what you decide, this is still an insightful look at the man and his then rather newish Church Of Satan. I had never seen Lavey speak on his religion before and here, he does so and I didn't find myself dissappointed. It's likely that the haters will find many bones to pick with this rather dated looking production, but considering it came out in '70 , it still holds up pretty well. After all, the times have changed, but the philosophy pretty much remains the same no matter how you dress it up or down. The 70's mode comes off as rather campy nowadays, but hell...the same can be said for the 80's too!
In one segment, Lavey is sitting amongst early COS members and commenting upon sexuality. In one part he briefly discusses Homosexuality and comments on it being a *NON ISSUE*. Bravo. How funny that many supposed Satanists that I've run into conveniently forget this. I appreciated those words & others coming DIRECTLY from the man himself. This film is a combination "documentary" and stage show (and depending on who you ask it's all staged). Some of the rituals seem a little silly looking now, but likely was quite disturbing to some back in the day, but who knows? I definitely wasn't there. I have no complaints with how this whole production was orchestrated. It was an enjoyable view that didn't give me the feeling that the early COS was full of tweeked out fanatics blindly following Lavey. Many are quite able to sensibly tell you WHY Satanism was their chosen path. In fact, if you've read THE SATANIC BIBLE, you'll see this film is a perfect visual accompaniment to the book. It was good to see Lavey didn't come off as some crazy man ('course, I guess THAT depends on what path you're on, eh? But I was STILL waiting to see if he'd come off as a total Jim Jones, but luckily, that never materialized). Instead, he comes off as articulate and with a firm grasp of the concepts that he's speaking on, and also looks quite comfortable in front of the camera.
I am pleased to have this film within my collection here, but I do have two sizeable gripes about the DVD production itself. FIRST----On the SATANIS film: The transfer is not all that great. If you look at it with its age in mind, then it's acceptable, as in old TV show acceptable. And who knows how many 'archive' copies of this film still exist, so we might just take what we can get. I'm just sorry there wasn't better. It's DEFINITELY watchable, but if you're looking for a prestine transfer, this isn't it. SECOND---My biggest gripe about this package overall is that SATANIS was crunched in here with all of this other crappy "Satanic" stuff. It would have been nice to see SOMETHING WEIRD VIDEO pair the film up with a bit more seriousness instead of the garbage that they'd found to fill the rest of the disc. For those who want some kooky "Satanic" stuff, this of course makes great fodder and the pieces aren't totally awful on their own (well....uhm....). And I will admit that SINTHIA has some great (?!) lines that would be well suited for your answering machine's outgoing massage. SOMETHING WEIRD VIDEO is known for pulling together obscurities, which is cool. However, as a person on the Left Hand Path I would have preferred a DVD of Satanic documentaries that provides an overview of the religion & its many forms or even an all Lavey disc. But I guess depending on where you stand on Satanism, this could be the appropriate presentation of it after all. But despite all of this, if you are seriously into *any* variant of Satanism/LHP, you should at least make a pitstop and check this out once as part of your studies.
Rating:
Summary: SWEET JEEZUZ...oooooh...OOOPS! I mean, HAIL SATAN! Woohoo!
Review: The only reason I'd picked up this DVD by SOMETHING WEIRD VIDEO was to be able to see Anton Lavey's SATANIS--hell, it's the ONLY reason to pick this collection up. But anyway, call it staged, call it a documentary, call it a docudrama-- call it what you will, but no matter what you decide, this is still an insightful look at the man and his then rather newish Church Of Satan. I had never seen Lavey speak on his religion before and here, he does so and I didn't find myself dissappointed. It's likely that the haters will find many bones to pick with this rather dated looking production, but considering it came out in '70 , it still holds up pretty well. After all, the times have changed, but the philosophy pretty much remains the same no matter how you dress it up or down. The 70's mode comes off as rather campy nowadays, but hell...the same can be said for the 80's too!
In one segment, Lavey is sitting amongst early COS members and commenting upon sexuality. In one part he briefly discusses Homosexuality and comments on it being a *NON ISSUE*. Bravo. How funny that many supposed Satanists that I've run into conveniently forget this. I appreciated those words & others coming DIRECTLY from the man himself. This film is a combination "documentary" and stage show (and depending on who you ask it's all staged). Some of the rituals seem a little silly looking now, but likely was quite disturbing to some back in the day, but who knows? I definitely wasn't there. I have no complaints with how this whole production was orchestrated. It was an enjoyable view that didn't give me the feeling that the early COS was full of tweeked out fanatics blindly following Lavey. Many are quite able to sensibly tell you WHY Satanism was their chosen path. In fact, if you've read THE SATANIC BIBLE, you'll see this film is a perfect visual accompaniment to the book. It was good to see Lavey didn't come off as some crazy man ('course, I guess THAT depends on what path you're on, eh? But I was STILL waiting to see if he'd come off as a total Jim Jones, but luckily, that never materialized). Instead, he comes off as articulate and with a firm grasp of the concepts that he's speaking on, and also looks quite comfortable in front of the camera.
I am pleased to have this film within my collection here, but I do have two sizeable gripes about the DVD production itself. FIRST----On the SATANIS film: The transfer is not all that great. If you look at it with its age in mind, then it's acceptable, as in old TV show acceptable. And who knows how many 'archive' copies of this film still exist, so we might just take what we can get. I'm just sorry there wasn't better. It's DEFINITELY watchable, but if you're looking for a prestine transfer, this isn't it. SECOND---My biggest gripe about this package overall is that SATANIS was crunched in here with all of this other crappy "Satanic" stuff. It would have been nice to see SOMETHING WEIRD VIDEO pair the film up with a bit more seriousness instead of the garbage that they'd found to fill the rest of the disc. For those who want some kooky "Satanic" stuff, this of course makes great fodder and the pieces aren't totally awful on their own (well....uhm....). And I will admit that SINTHIA has some great (?!) lines that would be well suited for your answering machine's outgoing massage. SOMETHING WEIRD VIDEO is known for pulling together obscurities, which is cool. However, as a person on the Left Hand Path I would have preferred a DVD of Satanic documentaries that provides an overview of the religion & its many forms or even an all Lavey disc. But I guess depending on where you stand on Satanism, this could be the appropriate presentation of it after all. But despite all of this, if you are seriously into *any* variant of Satanism/LHP, you should at least make a pitstop and check this out once as part of your studies.
<< 1 >>
|
