Are you here for a reading? – Mrs Leeds
I saw this LSD genre injection a while back and
here are my 69 cents on
Dante Tomaselli’s Satan’s Playground.
Now, before seeing the picture, I kept hearing how that as opposed to
HORROR and
Desecration, Tomaselli
was hopping on the mainstream caboose with his new fetus. After seeing the film,
I have to disagree; this is not the man going commercial, it’s him having a
whole lot of fun but in his own warped and bleak way.
At first glance Satan’s Playground might seem like a conventional genre affair; family’s car breaks down, psychos
keep family brutally entertained, all the best, love and kisses. We’ve heard that one before many o times! Thankfully the flick had something
more in mind for us. By using the familiarity of the premise against us while mixing in Tomaselli’s
unique audio/visual aesthetics, a hallucinogenic love letter to the horror of
the 70’s and 80’s was born. One that said “I love you” and “f*ck you” at the
same time. Satan’s Playground didn’t waste anytime in shifting into “macabre”
gear and once it began, I held on to my seat and let the madness consume me. What
ensued was an utter attack on the senses with astonishing visuals, infectious
atmosphere, an ingenious chain of events, surreal happenings galore and a sly
play on expectations. To make matters much better, the whole was bathed in an
oppressive and psychedelic audio experience that has to be lived to be believed!
WOW! The best way I can describe how I felt is this: I was given the grand tour
of a living & breathing celluloid nightmare and I just didn’t want to wake up!
Now I couldn’t go on with this review without propping Irma St. Paule’s (Mrs. Leeds) highly appealing performance as the ring leader of this acid trip! Her pleasurably constant change in demeanor,
her winning delivery and her distinctive look made for quite the memorable
"twisted sister", one that I couldn’t get enough of. This was her movie! Speaking of cast, the affection of the 70’s and the 80’s was amplified further via the classy presence of
Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp),
Edwin Neal (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and
Ellen Sandweiss (The Evil Dead). Seeing these three solid thespians doing their
horror thing together within one horror flick was a big razor laced treat for this fanboy.
Tag to all that bitter sweet jive; imaginative/unpredictable kills, a couple of potent jolts, some tense bits,
groovy visual/circumstantial nods to horror of old (Friday the 13Th, Texas
Chainsaw Massacre, The Evil Dead etc.), a slick handling of the Jersey Devil entity and a wicked sense of humor (everybody wants to use that phone…lol!)
and you get a horror piñata that came for the cancerous heart.
On the slim side of the Slim-Fast; many of the characters weren’t explored or taken far enough for my liking
(Neal and Sandweiss in particular, needed more screen time!). I wanted the
opportunity to know them more! Didn't get it. The same can be said about one of the kills which left me very
VERY cold. It's funny how it went; I was hoping for more “meat” from one character, didn’t get that, then at least expected a badass ending for that same character, didn’t get that either. The lack of graphic gore semi peeved me in some instances as well where some situations begged for it
(the opening needed a good splat) . Lastly I was “so-so” with the conclusion. First of all suspension of disbelief kicked in big time (Just one cop? And a dumb one at that????) and second of all it threaded
a “been-there – done-that” ground. It almost felt like they didn’t know how to end the film, so they resorted to repeating themselves.
Bummer.
With that said, on the whole, Satan’s Playground was a high rolling, visually striking, audio maniac and unrelenting journey into a
somber yet deliciously “happy about it” bad dream. See it, hear it, live it, love it...you won’t want the
trip to end! Tomaselli has done it again! Somebody get the guy a beer!
Episode #32
