Jeff Lieberman takes stock horror fodder, a period setting complete with a slasher antagonist, whirls it around as he ingeniously dodges the corners of his limited budget, and whips up an admirable effort which, in many respects, is better than most mainstream, big budget productions which seem to perpetually endorse themselves as audiences flock toward the exit. This isn’t to imply that the work is a masterpiece by even the farthest stretch of the imagination, Satan’s Little Helper has more than its fair share of flows but, all things considered, Lieberman’s film is more engaging than one might at first suspect and the perspective viewer might very well find the experience rewarding after the film’s taut climax.
Douglas Whooly (Alexander Brickel) is enraptured by Satan’s Little Helper, a video game, so much so that he dresses the part. After allowing his mind to wonder on theological issues as he and his mother, Merrill (Amanda Plummer), drive to pick up his sister, Jenna (Katheryn Winnick), along with her boyfriend, Alex Martin (Stephen Graham), from college. Douglas revolts in a jealous rage upon seeing Alex because his sister’s affections are no longer focused solely upon him. As a consequence, he decides to “go find Satan” as he shuttles off into the neighborhood which is preparing for nightfall on Halloween. He befriends a man in a mask (Joshua Annex), whom he believes to be Scratch incarnate, and the latter agrees to permit the boy to be his assistant. Shortly thereafter, a killing spree begins.
Granted, Lieberman’s finances are blaringly constrictive from the offset, yet he uses them to the best of his advantage as we are met by none other than Satan a few scenes into the film. How does Satan look? Well, considering he has to keep a low profile due to his scarred reputation, he comes across as quite demonic in his latex mask. Nonetheless, Annex does a fair job with his silent role, albeit a bit overdone at times (don’t expect the mileage that Hugo Weaving got out his character of V in James McTeigue’s V for Vendetta). Counter intuitively, Plummer seems to have lost her edge since her days with Quentin Tarantino on the set of Pulp Fiction but, conversely, Winnick does posit her potentially as a bright star as she distracts from the veteran actress’s lack of prowess.
Unfortunately, considering the film is now set at even, Dejan Georgevich’s photography tilts the scales back to a slight negation. Luckily, the manner in which Lieberman refuses to even hint upon whether Satan is indeed the Dark Prince manifest or merely a yet-to-be-disclosed lunatic keeps his audience attentive as he laces his production with wry humor as the storyline remains consistent and steady. With this in mind, the film will demand the viewer’s patience until the climax, which continues to become more and more convoluted as the director hints at beleaguering the finale before picking up the pace once more in order to close on a refreshing, less than moralistically-appeasing, chord. Many cite the film’s ending as trite and overlong, but, considering the theological in-joke that Lieberman has spent over an hour-and-a-half creating (foreshadowed midway through the film), the viewer’s fortitude will be well rewarded.
Satan’s Little Helper titters between self-mockery, i.e. Michael Cooney’s Jack Frost, and tongue-in-cheek social satire. However, neither is revolutionary and amount to little in the end but, nonetheless, keeps the viewer entertained during the voyage. We have Douglas consumed by the protagonist of his video game, Satan, which–for anyone familiar with John Milton’s Paradise Lost–should come as no surprise because from a literary perspective, Lucifer, due largely to his moralistic freedom, is always a better bet when it comes to marketability because he is more interesting than the do gooders, God and Jesus. Yes, many of the characters seen during the film commit Scream dogma no-no’s, such as running up the stairs, staying verses fleeing in order to allow the killer time to return, etc., but these sardonic instances of horror movie ignorance are paralleled by the overtly stock characterizations, culminating in a wink-and-a-nudge horror sensibility. For instance, we have a blind man, complete with glasses and cane, who–for whatever reason–is wondering around a grocery store parking lot, apparently just asking to be plowed over by a shopping chart driven by the Devil. Indeed black humor but who cannot smirk at the sentiment that the “vile” act wasn’t justifiably forthcoming given the man obviously wasn’t suddenly stuck with blindness, thus knew his limitations but ignored them nonetheless? In this regard, the director knowingly plays up to the little devil in all of us in some capacity during his production.
Jeff Lieberman’s Satan’s Little Helper won’t be everyone’s cup of tea because some won’t be able to persevere through the absence of high-budget gloss and unbalanced acting from everyone involved while others will declare the humor ill-judged. Yet a select few who can skirt such obstacles may well nod their heads in appreciation when the staggering climax finally unveils itself as they reflect upon the care taken by the director who, knowingly, committed the thankless task in producing a solid, somewhat off-beat but nonetheless entertaining, low-budget horror film.
-Egregious Gurnow
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
