The folks over at Entertainment Insider caught the premiere of Dante Tomaselli’s SATAN’S PLAYGROUND this past weekend at San Francisco’s SF IndieFest/Another Hole in the Head Film Festival. Being the cool jets that they are, they’ve dropped a review that we can all enjoy. I gotta say they make it sound mighty tempting.
First some background on the legend at play – New Jersey’s Pine Barrens. Hundreds of miles of sandy wilderness in the southern portion of the State. Population density can be as little as one person every four square miles. Local folklore…detail(s) everything from dimensional vortices/land lines which may have degenerated the bodies and minds of townsfolk, devil worship/Satanic activity, and most notably the Jersey Devil, a grotesque winged beast which has had over 1000 sightings since 1735, whispered to be the 13th child of a woman who swore not to conceive a thirteenth time and shouted “let it be a devil!” And got her wish.
And now some choice bits from their review of the movie:
– Old-school and loving it, with nods to the 70’s-80’s classic scare films, director Tomaselli takes his time setting up the foreboding mood.
– People who may have liked the imagery and design of his previous films but got lost in their dream-logic will be able to follow this one quite well. It’s a simple, nasty setup where the cast list keeps shrinking as the minutes tick off.
– Overall, it’s a fine f**ked-up freakshow.
You can click here to read the whole review, but be warned there are many spoilers in the piece.
And for a special treat, click here to check out 60 seconds from the seriously creepy theme of Tomaselli’s next flick, THE OCEAN – composed by the D-man himself.