The 27th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival is still happening and ComicBook.com is covering this year’s events and the many genre films that are making their world premiere. We’ve got three more reviews from this year’s event, ranging from the Satanic panic documentary Satan Wants You, the horror-themed period film Where the Devil Roams, and the documentary/film essay Home Invasion, which has the most unique look of any movie at this year’s festival. Here are three quick reviews of some of the films from this year’s Fantasia.
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Satan Wants You
Filmmakers Sean Horlor andSteve J. Adams have completely dismantled the 1980s “Satanic Panic,” and by extension, its modern version related to various conspiracy theories in this must-see documentary. Rooting itself in a specific text from that time, the best-selling Michelle Remembers, Satan Wants You is able to convincingly reveal how this book started a movement that made the world lose its mind; while also noting that the book itself was created purely for profit (and lust).
At its best, Satan Wants You will cement the absurdity of Satanic conspiracy theories by reveling in their irony. It’s a little hilarious how a few people worked together to quickly make a buck while blaming a vast, unknowable cabal on unprovable claims of Satanism, Devil worship, human sacrifice, abuse, etc. The real kick in the pants, of course, is when the movie quickly pivots to the modern lens, revealing how these conspiracies have only grown and offer journalists who were covering the Satanic Panic of the 1980s a chance to admit that their debunking at the time seemingly didn’t matter at all. Sadly, the same fate will perhaps fall on this movie, too.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Where the Devil Roams
Fresh off their hit indie horror film Hellbender, The Adams Family filmmaking troupe (made up of actual family John Adams, Zelda Adams, and Toby Poser) are clearly aiming for something more unique in an attempt to stretch their storytelling muscles. With Where the Devil Roams they present audiences with a period horror film about a group in the circus scene in the early 1900s that also have a fondness for murder. There’s value to be found in their ability to have created a period look while clearly working on a budget, but in the end, this one plays less like a traditional narrative and instead finds itself becoming a horror tone-poem that is more interested in aesthetics than anything else. After the wildly inventive Hellbender, it’s hard not to feel like Where the Devil Roams is a step down, especially since it seems to be derivative to its own detriment.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Home Invasion
Described as a video essay — one where the essay portion is emphasized, since you’ll spend the entire run time reading — Home Invasion has an interesting premise that is squandered by some of its irritating creative choices. Presented entirely through a warped, fisheye lens, a la a door peephole, the film examines the history of the doorbell in relation to class struggles and its modern-day place in the larger realm of surveillance as a tool for authority. Add on to that how the escalating advancements have been used as tools in horror and thriller fiction and there’s an interesting point being made…or is there? It’s an inherently unique idea, and one that does carry some interesting thematic arcs, but its irritating sound design (best described as Skinamarink-like) and inability to really say anything beyond casual observations won’t earn this one many fans.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
