Satanis: The Devil's Mass/
Sinthia: The Devil's Doll
Something Wierd Double Feature
(1970/1968)
review by Head Cheeze

Making Satan cool has been something of a cakewalk of late, what, with the recent revelations about the Catholic church making that religeon appear far more sinister than a bunch of freaks in cloaks burning black candles. However, there was a time when Satanism was something far less fashionable, and in those tumultuous days in which the church of the dark one sought global acceptance and tolerance (how evil can a religeon that promotes tolerance be??) there were no Marilyn Manson's, Cradle of Filth's, or even Black Sabbath's to help with the marketing. Instead, there was a bald headed, soft-spoken, and quite intelligent young chap named Anton LeVay, whose Satanic Bible and subsequent writings thrust the dark religeon into the mainstream. Now, thanks to Something Weird Video, folks who think Satanism began with Ozzy Osbourne can see the true origins of the modern church of Satan as part of a truly devilish double feature disc.

Satanis: The Devil's Mass is a documentary about the early days of LeVay and his church in San Francisco, and chronicles the lives and habits of the founder and his followers. Through several interviews with neighbours, friends, family members, and local government types, we see the opposition as a far more fanatical bunch than LeVay and his disciples, who, in comparison, seem positively well adjusted and happy with their decision to live by the (lack of) rules of the church of Satan. While this is a classic case of documentarian skewing toward the subject matter rather than maintain true objectivity, it does make for an interesting watch, especially if you've ever read any of LeVay's work. Personally, I find his books rather entertaining and even a tad inciteful even though I don't particularly agree with his theological leanings, so seeing this rare interview footage was a treat.

The second feature on the disc, Sinthia, The Devil's Doll, is more of a throwaway exploitation flick that would have never merited it's own release, but seeing as to how it's essentially a free movie, you can't really complain too much. Sinthia is young girl who murders her parents when she begins to feel the sexual urges of young adulthood. She's assigned to a shrink who analyzes her dreams, in which she is the sex slave of the devil himself. This basically opens the film to much soft core nudity and clumsily staged sex scenes that look as though they're being performed by silent film stars. It's crap, but it's free crap, and it get's a skull for Shula Roan's rather nice package but nothing more.

The extras are where it's really at on this set. There's literally hours worth of exploitation fodder here, as well as a couple of tride and true docu-dramas about cult activity and religeous practises. Sex Ritual of the Occult, a 30 minute laugh riot that "studies" the taboos of homosexual activities, necrophelia, and graveyard orgies, is the best of the bunch. There's also a rather serious short documentary about the Dunsmore Devil Worshippers called British Black Mass that seemingly strives to be taken seriously, but, in this context, comes off as silly and benign. Throw in a segment in which a stripper sheds her clothes for Satan, a gallery of occult inspired art and photos, and a bunch of laugh out loud funny trailers for other occult inspired exploitation flicks and you have a set of satanic supplements that will please even the most jaded of infidels.