If the church of Satan made recruitment films, like the Billy Graham Ministry
or Bob Jones University, then SATAN'S CHILDREN might serve some kind of tangible purpose. Even they, however, may want no association with a movie so messed up it needs it's own therapist. There is no shortage of bad movies to
be had, but precious few can lay claim to being so psychologically disturbed
as this one. For starters, there is the already observed schism between the screenplay's hateful homophobic dialogue and dramatics and the late Director Joe Wiezycki's insistence on displaying lead Stephen White in nothing but his undershorts for about two thirds of the picture's duration. Secondly, there is such general misanthropy on display that there is no character to identify with or particularly care about.
The cinematography, sets, wardrobe and hairstyles are as ugly as the underlying message of the film. I suspect that SATAN'S CHILDREN was intended to exploit the success of then recent hits ROSEMARY'S BABY and THE EXORCIST as well as the Manson Family debacle. Due to the overall incompetence on display here though, the end result is so simultaneously laughable and nihilistic, that SATAN'S CHILDREN could have no possible audience on earth.
Nevertheless, if you believe that all motion pictures serve as some kind of sociological or historical document, no matter how commercial their intent or poor the technical execution, then this feature still serves as a damning record of its creators' twisted mentality. Perhaps this is all the legitimacy SATAN"S CHILDREN requires.
The cinematography, sets, wardrobe and hairstyles are as ugly as the underlying message of the film. I suspect that SATAN'S CHILDREN was intended to exploit the success of then recent hits ROSEMARY'S BABY and THE EXORCIST as well as the Manson Family debacle. Due to the overall incompetence on display here though, the end result is so simultaneously laughable and nihilistic, that SATAN'S CHILDREN could have no possible audience on earth.
Nevertheless, if you believe that all motion pictures serve as some kind of sociological or historical document, no matter how commercial their intent or poor the technical execution, then this feature still serves as a damning record of its creators' twisted mentality. Perhaps this is all the legitimacy SATAN"S CHILDREN requires.