This cutsie comic cheapy slasher film is surprisingly well done. A boy who dotes on the video game Satan's Little Helper dresses up as Satan's Helper on Halloween, & encounters a psychopath in a long black coat & Satan mask who is going house to house killing people & arranging them as Halloweed decorations on their own porches or lawns.
The kid is short a few pennies of a dollar so instantly thinks it really is Satan & asks if they can hang out together. The never-speaking Satan nods his head "yes" & we're off on a wondrous adventure of thrilling murders while the little boy claps & hoorays.
The kid's more retarded than sociopathic, however, & since he is void of observational acuity, he thinks that what he is doing with Satan is a game & no more real than his video game. When the obvious finally penetrates on slow noggin, so too he realizes he has put his own family in extreme danger.
The relationship between the kid & the Satan masquerader is delightfully conveyed. Amanda Plumber as the eccentric nutty but rather pleasant mother is a way better actor than slasher films usually get, & most of the cast does a fair job of keeping up with her. It's played mostly for comedy with a few good gore FX & a bit of real character terror.
When the story gets round to needing a climax, it has already used up all its best bits, & the author/director unfortunately didn't have any special plot device or clever ending in mind. The best he could do was amp up the slasher element & have Satan Man change costumes twice. Since the Satan costume rather than the actor wearing it was the villain of the piece, as soon as that costume is abandoned, the film had no steam left.
Despite an ending that was workmanlike & unimaginative, the bulk of the film was thoroughly entertaining, way better than I was expecting.
copyright © by Paghat the Ratgirl
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