Westchester County played host to a veritable army of maniacs, including Ed Adlum (Shriek of the Mutilated), the Findlays (Snuff) and Ed Kelleher (Prime Evil), who were armed with a camera, $24,000, some stage blood and cases of beer to pay off the cast. The result is a movie that seems like it could fit in with Motel Hell at first before you realize that these farmers are druids out to raise their queen from the dead with the blood of the stupid.
These Sangroids are bringing back Queen Onhorrid and they won’t let anyone stand in their way and that includes puppies. It’s a movie that doesn’t care if it’s shot in the day, the night or day for night. It is also relentlessly devoted to being weird without being a try hard movie. This is just plain weird.
Throw in an atonal soundtrack, the chunkiest blood you’ve ever seen and a woman in a glass case who gets to come back from the beyond and rule for all of 45 seconds and you have a movie.
If you watched Manos: The Hands of Fate and were hoping to find something just as odd and as poorly realized, this would be the spiritual East Coast sequel that you crave. If anyone else wrote that sentence, it would be a put-down. Coming out of my typing fingers, it’s the highest of compliments.
You can watch this on Tubi or get it from Severin.
Based on Ray Russell’s novel of the same title, Incubus is all about demon rape. There’s really no other way to say it. If you’re looking for the definitive word on the subject, this movie would probably be your best choice. And hey, John Cassavetes is in it!
The film opens in a rock quarry where Mandy and her boyfriend are swimming. More likely, they’re fooling around until an unseen force caves in the dude’s head and attacks her, putting her in the hospital with a ruptured uterus. While all this is going on, Tim Galen, a local teen, dreams of hooded men tying a woman down and torturing her.
Dr. Sam Cordell (Cassavetes) is treating the girl and we soon learn a lot about his life. His wife has recently died, he’s relocated to the town of Galen following a scandal and his daughter, Jenny, doesn’t really get along with him. Oh yeah — and she’s also dating Tim.
Sheriff Hank Walden (John Ireland, whose career stretches from classics like All the King’s Men and I Saw What You Did to Satan’s Cheerleaders) and reporter Laura Kincaid are on the case too, which expands when a librarian is killed and murdered. It turns out that she has red semen inside her body — so much semen that she’s literally been filled up and destroyed by it. If you’re thinking this is a totally scummy storyline, well, buckle up.
The rapes and murders continue and every single time, young Tim is having the dream while they happen, including an attack at a movie theater where he’s gone to try and distract himself. Look for an appearance by a really young Bruce Dickinson singing for his pre-Iron Maiden band Samson in this scene!
What is Dr. Sam doing? Oh, you know, showing Laura photos of his recently deceased second wife — the reason why he left wherever it was he lived before — and she looks exactly like the reporter. She has some news, too. The town of Galen has a long history of Satanic activity and these rape crimes are nothing new.
Is Tim the killer? Was his mother a witch? Or is his family part of a long line of witch hunters? Is the real killer a shapeshifting incubus, which rapes women in their dreams?
We get our answers pretty quickly. Sam tries to induce Tim’s demonic state while Laura takes Jenny up to bed. Tim tries to attack Laura with a witch hunting dagger his grandmother has given him, but Sam stops the boy and kills him. That’s when we learn that Laura had been the incubus all along. As she lovingly holds Sam, he looks to the bed where his dead daughter is bleeding between the legs.
Yes. That’s really the ending. I warned you that this film was rough, didn’t I?
Incubus was directed by John Hough, who was behind one of my favorite movies of all time, Twins of Evil. He also helmed The Legend of Hell Houseand both of Disney’s Witch Mountain movies. It’s written by Ray Russell, who also wrote plenty of other horror fiction that was made into movies and screenplays, including X the Man with the X-Ray Eyes, Mr. Sarndonicus, Zotz! and Roger Corman’s The Premature Burial.
While this movie moves slow and some subplots go nowhere, the last few minutes are exactly what you want the movie to be and Cassavetes is — as always — better than the material.
When a movie has the working title Want A Ride, Little Girl? you know it’s going to be scummy. What may surprise you is that William Shatner — who director William Gréfe met at an airport — is in the lead role.
Don’t be fooled by the supernatural looking poster. No, this is a slasher with Shatner’s Matt Stone as the bad guy picking up young women, freaking out Shat-style and getting rid of their bodies. He’s being trailed by a detective named Karate Pete (Harold “Oddjob” Sakata), which is, pardon the pun, pretty odd. He’s on the trail because Stone keeps bilking and killing old women for their money.
Jennifer Bishop (who is also in Gréfe’s Mako the Jaws of Death) plays the daughter of one of these older women who suspects that the leisure suit-wearing Stone is a shyster. And oh yeah — Ruth Roman is in this!
Sakata almost died making this, as the rig that was used for his hanging death failed and he was nearly hung for real. Shatner saved his life — breaking a finger in the process — and the entire accident can be seen on the He Came from the Swamps documentary.
This movie belongs to Shatner. As a child, his character kills William Kerwin with a sword in a kind of pre-Piecesopening, then murders a puppy and gets so worked up in one scene that he supposedly farts on camera. His assortment of 70’s fashions are pretty astounding and every single frame of this feels as sweaty and gross as a night in the Everglades.
Directed and written by Walerian Borowczyk, Immoral Tales is four stories that each have a different tale of lovemaking, starting with “The Tide,” the story of André (Fabrice Luchini) getting head from his 16-year-old cousin (Lise Danvers) in concert with the waves of the ocean. This is taken from a story by surrealist writer André Pieyre de Mandiargues.
It’s followed by “Thérése the Philosopher,” an adaptation of the 1748 novel of the same name that was written by either Jean-Baptiste de Boyer or Marquis d’Argens. Thérése (Charlotte Alexandra) becomes locked out of her room, freeing her to mix her love of Christ with need for sex. There’s an incredibly sacrilegious moment filmed in actual church, which had the director exclaim “Thérèse was played by an English actress. She was only seventeen years old, I remember, and very shy. We had to film her nude scenes in complete seclusion, only my assistant and I were allowed to be there, and he was only twelve! We got permission to film in a real church, a very beautiful and quite famous one, an historical monument. There were no difficulties with the priest; I was very surprised. The man was very tolerant indeed, in spite of all this pipe organ business ! The film was even shown in the church cinema of the village, if you can imagine that!”
The third tale is probably the most famous, as it concerns Elizabeth Báthory (Paloma Picasso) bathing herself in the blood of the young virgins of her kingdom. Picasso is really bathing in 30 gallons of pig blood in this part of the movie. Borowczyk was inspired by surrealist poet Valentine Penrose and the way she related the legend of Bathory.
Finally, Pope Alexander VI’s daughter Lucrezia Borgia (Florence Bellamy) indulges her passions with her male relatives. There was a fifth story, which ended up being the film La Bête. When Arrow released this on blu ray, they added that film into this one as the third chapter.
Despite being a movie all about sex, this is a gorgeous act of cinema, filled with lush imagery and gorgeous camerawork. There was a time when non-hardcore movies could be made as art and this is a prime example, a film that was second place in the French box office behind another example of softcore, Emmanuelle.
Jennifer Upton is an American (non-werewolf) writer/editor in London. She currently works as a freelance ghostwriter of personal memoirs and writes for several blogs on topics as diverse as film history, punk rock, women’s issues, and international politics.
“Over three years in the making, this much-anticipated sequel to the original Hell’s Bells series weaves together science, satire, testimonies, parables, interviews, expansive research and a vibrant Christian perspective to create a video series that is as fascinating as it is educational and evangelistic. Far more than just a commentary on the dangers of popular music, this eight-part, six-and-a-half-hour and up-to-the-minute documentary uncovers the war of the worldviews, the epic struggle between good and evil, sin and redemption for the souls of men and the destiny of our culture.”
Yes, I watched every single minute more than once.
There are eight parts:
Part 1: Introduction – Foundations for Cultural Analysis; 19 minutes.
Part 2: Sound & Fury – An Examination of the Power of Music; 50 minutes.
Part 3: Heartbeats – Music’s Spiritual Connection; 30 minutes.
Part 4: Notes from the Underground – The Occult History of Rock; 70 minutes.
Part 5: Hearts of Darkness – Rebellion, Nihilism and Death; 48 minutes.
Part 6: Mojo Rising – Satanic Sex and Rock ‘n’ Roll; 60 minutes.
Part 7: Antichrist Superstars – Rock’s Ultimate Rebellion; 43 minutes.
Part 8: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door – Music and Life at the Cross Roads; 48 minutes.
Hosted by Eric Holmberg, this has more than just the normal Satanic bands represented, as there’s an entire montage of musicians thanking God and the narration taking them to task.
Far beyond a simple commentary on heavy metal, this eight-part documentary uncovers an epic struggle between competing worldviews. It argues that the battle for the soul of the culture isn’t fought just in the extremes of the underground, but in the mainstream melodies we hum every day.
Every single band and singer you have ever heard is Satanic because rock and roll is about rebellion. When Frank Sinatra sang “My Way?” Satan. He’s glorifying himself. He’s as bad as Marilyn Manson, who you can just imagine goes all in on this, especially when it comes to his ties to Crowley, and then this brings back so many of the same stories from the first movie.
While the series is a masterclass in thematic editing and conviction, it’s worth noting that the all-rock-is-rebellion stance is a specific theological interpretation. Many music historians and even some contemporary theologians argue that music, as an art form, is a common grace that can be used for various expressions, not all of which are inherently spiritual or rebellious.
There are times, however, when I see bands I like, such as Venom, Danzig, or King Diamond, and I say, “Well, I’ll give that to you.”
Reel to Reel Ministries should never discover black metal. Or they should, because I’d watch that. I can just hear the breatheless worry in their voices when they try and explain the war between Burzum and Euronymous.
“I’m a rolling thunder, fire and rain
I’m coming on like a hurricane
My lightning’s flashing across the sky
You’re only young, but you’re gonna die”
Directed, hosted and produced by Eric Holmberg, founder of Reel to Real Ministries and The Apologetics Group, Hell’s Bells is the Satanic Panic encapsulated. There are leaps of logic, scare tactics and clips of bands that are so great that I can only assume that kids like me were taking notes. After all, when I was in sixth grade, my elementary school teacher gave me a ditto copied series of bands to warn my friends about. Black Sabbath, just by its description, got me so excited that I never looked back and I am a cautionary tale, a man obsessed with old Mercyful Fate albums and Jess Franco sleaze.
Kids, don’t be me.
How else can we explain a movie that puts as much info into your brain about Diamanda Galas as Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Prince?
I grew up dead center of this time. I was called into a Peer Group, as they called it, because I wore black shirts, read Fangoria in class, had long hair and could speak at length about the Lost Books of the Bible and teh Church of Satan. Anytime a pentagram showed up on a wall, a cadre of devil worshippers were waiting to eat babies and obviously, I had infant stuck between my teeth. Time has made my experiences kinder; I am no longer an Eddie Munson kid without the benefit of cheerleaders wanting to get with me for drugs, not that I ever was. I still listen to bands that’ll curl your hair and send your soul to a lake of fire, but at least now I would hope I appear somewhat respectable.
But man, this release is all inclusive. Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Whitesnake, The Frogs — the fucking Frogs, the Milwaukee brother band that wears bat wings on stage and sings lyrics like “Who’s sucking on grandpa’s balls since grandma ain’t home tonight?” — and so many more to the point that when it got to ELO, I screamed at the TV, “He’s the nasty one– Christ, you’re infernal! is backmasked on their song “Eldorado!”” because I knew the script so well. It had been jammed down my gullet for years.
“For Whom Hell’s Bells Toll” ran twenty years ago in Pitchfork and I am delighted that writer Stephen M. Deusner took the time to list the hundreds of bands called out in this movie:
Here is the list of artists and the associated concerns formatted into a bulleted list:
A-II-Z: Occult-themed album art (Witch of Berkeley); this one is pretty rare, to be honest.
AC/DC: Soundtracked Hell’s Bells, inspired “Night Stalker” serial killer, pentagrams on album art (Highway to Hell), violent cover art (If You Want Blood You Got It).
Aerosmith: Drug and alcohol abuse, equating sex and religion on “Angel.”
Agnostic Front: Violent and rebellion-themed album art (Cause for Alarm).
Amen: Objectionable album art (Disorderly Conduct.
Aphrodite’s Child/Vangelis: Released album called 666. Vangelis!
Bad Religion: Objectionable band name, objectionable album art (Back to the Known).
Ballad Shambles: Objectionable album art (unknown source).
Bananarama: “Venus” video equates sex with religion.
Bangles: “Degraded” sexuality in song “In Your Room” (“I’ll do anything you want me to”).
Bauhaus: Backwards Latin Satanic incantation in “Father, Son & Holy Ghost,” combine Satanic imagery “with an intelligence and poetic passion rarely found” in heavy metal.
Be Bop Deluxe: Pentagram on album cover (Live! In the Air Age).
Beastie Boys: More than 90 references to drug and alcohol abuse on Licensed to Ill. I am certain in future episodes this will get into their Dalai Lama connections.
Bobby Beausoleil: Composed music for Lucifer Rising, Manson family member.
Beatles: Being bigger than Jesus, featuring Crowley on album cover (Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band), violent album art (Yesterday and Today), drugs, rebellion, El Cronado.
Birthday Party: Likened Jesus to “bad seed,” indecipherable lyrics about “post-crucifixion baby.”
Bitch: Sexual and violent album art (Be My Slave).
Black Flag: Violent and suicide-themed album art (Family Man).
Black Market Baby: Objectionable band name and album art (Senseless Offerings).
Black Sabbath: Number of the beast, crucifixion imagery, objectionable album art (Born Again, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath). I mean, this is one of the biggest ones, so this should be longer than it is.
Blaspheme: Objectionable band name and album art (Last Supper).
Bl’ast!: Sex- and occult-themed album art (Take the Manic Ride).
Bloodrock: Violent album art (Bloodrock U.S.A.).
Blue Öyster Cult: Adopted Satanic cross as band logo, included backmasked messages (Mirrors). Is it weird that I know more than this movie, like how on the inside cover of Secret Treaties, Eric Bloom is dressed like a member of the Process Church?
Marc Bolan: Untimely death.
Bon Jovi: Hosting MTV’s Hedonism Week, references to alcohol on “Dead or Alive,” rebellion, sexual album art (original Slippery When Wet cover).
Graham Bond: Claimed to be illegitimate son of occultist Aleister Crowley.
David Bowie: Occult, recorded “Quicksand” about Crowley. Come on, tell us about hiding from witches and putting urine in a refrigerator while out of his mind on coke!
Bobby Brown: Simulated copulation with audience member.
David Byrne and Brian Eno: Recorded song about demonic possession, uses African “voodoo” rhythms.
Marty Callner (video director): Soft-porn videos (“Is This Love?” by Whitesnake). Come on — he directed the Camelot TV movie!
Cars: Ric Ocasek walking on water in “Magic” video.
Celtic Frost: Use crucifix as slingshot on album cover (To Mega Therion), occult, rebellion. I’ll give them this one.
CH3: Suicide-themed album art (Fear of Life).
Chauteaux: Witchcraft-themed album art (Chained and Desperate).
Cheap Trick: Took band name from Ouija board, backmasked messages, El Cronado.
Cher: Sex. Not. turning back time?
Christian Death: Gnosticism, sex- and occult-themed album art (Only Theatre of Pain, The Scriptures, Sex and Drugs and Jesus Christ, What’s the Verdict).
Christ’s Child: Objectionable album cover (Hard).
The Church: Objectionable band name, broken angel imagery on album cover (The Church).
Cinderella: Condemned drug use on MTV Rock Against Drugs PSAs (hypocritical).
CJSS: Recorded song “Citizen of Hell,” objectionable album art (Praise the Loud).
Eric Clapton: Promoted alcohol abuse via beer ad.
Coil: Devotees of Aleister Crowley.
Natalie Cole: Sex.
Phil Collins: “So-called neutral stuff, by the very reason of its subtlety, [is] potentially more destructive than the over wickedness found in hardcore rock and roll.”
Alice Cooper: On-stage mutilation, rebellion, “School’s Out” prevents mice from solving mazes, objectionable album art (Constrictor). Also a right wing Christian, but who is checking that out?
Coven: Objectionable album art (Blessed Is the Black, Blood in the Snow), El Cronado. I mean, there’s not a more Satanic band out there; they had an entire black mass on an album.
Cramps: “Degraded” sexuality (Date With Elvis).
Crass: Crucifixion-themed album art (Christ the Album, Yes Sir I Will).
David Crosby: Stealing kids from parents through music.
Crown of Thorns: Objectionable band name and album art (Pictures).
Cuban Heels: Universalism (Work Our Way to Heaven).
Cure: Alcohol abuse, blasphemy in “The Blood” and “Holy Hour,” combine Satanic imagery “with an intelligence and poetic passion rarely found” in heavy metal.
Current 93: Objectionable album art (Nature Unveiled), devoted album Crowleymass to Aleister Crowley.
Damned: Crown of thorns imagery (Grimly Fiendish)
Dan Reed Network: Voodoo-inspired R&B
Terence Trent D’Arby: Crown of thorns and self-crucifixion (photoshoot)
Dark Angel: Objectionable band name and album art (Darkness Descends)
Dark Wizard: Objectionable album art (Reign of Evil)
Dead Kennedys: Objectionable album art (In God We Trust, Inc.)
Death: Objectionable album art (Scream Bloody Gore)
Death Cult: Objectionable album art (Death Cult)
Chris de Burgh: Album art with Satan giving El Cronado (Spanish Train)
Def Leppard: Occult imagery, sex-themed songs
Depeche Mode: Songs about sex and sadomasochism, recorded “Blasphemous Rumors”
Devo: Objectionable album art (“Peekaboo” 12″)
Dickies: Mock Jesus on album art (Second Coming)
Bo Diddley: Rebellion
Dio: Occult-themed songs and stage shows, El Cronado, objectionable album art (Holy Diver)
Doors: Rebellion, drugs, sex, violence, murder, occult; Morrison married a witch, claimed to have killed a man, allegedly possessed by Native American souls, objectionable album art (13)
Duran Duran: Satanic symbol on album art (Seven and the Ragged Tiger)
Earth Wind & Fire: Universalist imagery on album art (All in All)
Easter: Album cover features fornication with cross (Easter)
Sheena Easton: Contributes to “the pulsing rhythms that reverberate in our health spas”
Eddie & the Hot Rods: Suicide-themed album art (Life on the Line)
Electric Light Orchestra: Backmasked messages on “Eldorado”
Emerson Lake & Palmer: Objectionable album art (Brain Salad Surgery)
Eurythmics: “Missionary Man” warns listeners away from salvation
Exodus: Album art shows union of God and Satan
Marianne Faithfull: Appeared in satanic movie Lucifer Rising
The F.U.’s: Objectionable album title (Kill for Christ)
Femme Fatale: Sex
Fleetwood Mac: Incorporated voodoo dress and rhythms in live shows
Tom Fogerty: Universalism (Myopia)
Lita Ford: Sex
Samantha Fox: Sex, allegedly worships Pan
Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Rebellion, songs about sex and sadomasochism, objectionable album art (Welcome to the Pleasure Dome), ruined Live Aid, El Cronado. Fuck yeah.
Frogs: “Militant homosexuality,” objectionable album art (It’s Only Right and Natural), recorded song called “Gather Round for Messiah #2.” I love that The Frogs get called out in this.
Peter Gabriel: Voodoo imagery in “Shock the Monkey” video.
Diamanda Galas: Recorded album Litanies of Satan, proclaimed herself the Anti-Christ (“Sono l’Antichristo”), provided music for voodoo-themed movie The Serpent & the Rainbow, objectionable album art (Divine Punishment). Who knew who she was outside of weirdos like me?
Bob Geldof: Introduced Frankie Goes to Hollywood at Live Aid, allowed most of the funds raised to fall into the hands of Ethiopia’s communist dictator.
Generation X: Objectionable album art (Valley of the Dolls).
George Thorogood and the Destroyers: Recorded song “Bad to the Bone.” Really?
Graceland: Satirized The Last Supper on album The First Snack.
Graham Central Station: Objectionable album art (Release Yourself).
Grateful Dead: “Synonymous with marijuana and LSD use.” Also not really dead.
Greater Than One: Objectionable album art (I Don’t Need God).
Grim Reaper: Recorded song “See You in Hell,” objectionable album art (See You in Hell).
Guns N’ Roses: “Sexual violence” in music, album art; inverted cross (Appetite for Destruction).
Nina Hagen: Objectionable album NunSexMonkRock contains song “Cosma Shiva” that mocks Christ and the Madonna.
Daryl Hall: Has large collection of occult material.
George Harrison: Universalism.
Healing Faith: Promote suicide (The Healing Faith).
Heart: Video includes occult imagery.
Hellion: Objectionable album art (Postcards from the Asylum).
Helloween: Objectionable album art (Keeper of the Seven Keys, Part 2).
Jimi Hendrix: Hypnotizing people through music, choking on own vomit, voodoo rhythms, rebellion, violence, “If 6 Was 9” used in interstitials.
Nona Hendryx: Sex.
Whitney Houston: “Saving All My Love for You” promotes infidelity; “so-called neutral stuff, by the very reason of its subtlety, is potentially more destructive than the over wickedness found in hardcore rock and roll.”
Huey Lewis & the News: “Step by Step” warns listeners away from salvation.
Huns: Fake crucifixion on stage, song called “Eat Death, Scum.”
Billy Idol: Rebellion, fake crucifixion in “Hot in the City” video, mock crosses in “White Wedding” video.
Impaler: Objectionable album art (Rise of the Mutants EP), eating raw meat on stage.
INXS: Recorded song “Devil Inside.”
Iron Maiden: Mascot Eddie told fan to kill himself; neuromancy, occult, rebellion, objectionable album art (Killers, The Number of the Beast, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son).
LaToya Jackson: Posed for Playboy.
Michael Jackson: Sex, “Thriller” video features occult imagery.
Colin James: Recorded voodoo-related song.
Rick James: El Cronado.
Jane’s Addiction: Drug abuse, objectionable album art (Nothing’s Shocking).
Jefferson Airplane: Recorded song called “The Son of Jesus,” rebellion.
Elton John: Commissioned family crest featuring Pan.
Robert Johnson: Sold soul to devil at crossroads, inspired rock and roll.
Judas Priest: Suicide, rebellion, objectionable album art (Hell Bent for Leather, Sin After Sin).
Killing Joke: Mock Catholicism in video.
Sam Kinison: Soft-porn videos, pentagrams, not being funny.
KISS: Bloody stage show, sex, rebellion, violence, El Cronado.
Kreator: Objectionable album art (Pleasure to Kill).
Cyndi Lauper: Promotes rebellion, recorded “She-Bop” about masturbation.
Timothy Leary: “Pharmacological guru of the rock ‘n’ roll generation.”
Led Zeppelin: Backmasked messages and references to Pan on “Stairway to Heaven,” Zoso = number of the beast.
John Lennon: Openly mocked Jesus.
Kenny Loggins: Objectionable album art (Keep the Fire).
Lords of the New Church: Combine “heavy metal imagery with poetic passion,” objectionable band name and album art (The Lords of the New Church, Killer Lords).
Ludichrist: Objectionable band name and album art (Immaculate Deception).
Lydia Lunch: Objectionable album art (Slow Choke). Gave handjob to Henry Rollins in a Richard Kern movie. I added that one.
Madonna: “Ex-porn star,” crucifixion imagery in “Like a Prayer” video, “brazenly pornographic style,” materialistic. Ex-porn star is a reach.
Richard Marx: Sex, sang on “All Night Long” by Lionel Richie, did Hazard concept album, are you paying attention?
Ron “Pigpen” McKernan: Untimely death.
John McLaughlin: Admits to being possessed while playing, occult.
MDC (Millions of Dead Cops/Damn Christians): Song “This Blood’s for You” mocks Jesus and inspired thousands of Christian t-shirts, objectionable album art (This Blood’s for You).
Meat Loaf: El Cronado.
Megadeth: Occult, rebellion, objectionable album art (Killing Is My Business…And Business Is Good).
Men in Black: Objectionable album art (The Gospel According to the Men in Black)
Mercyful Fate: “Take their Satanism seriously,” rebellion, occult, objectionable album art (Don’t Break the Oath). Again, this one is a given.
Metal Church: Objectionable album art (Metal Church).
Metallica: Promote suicide on “Fade to Black.”
George Michael: Wants your sex; “so-called neutral stuff, by the very reason of its subtlety, is potentially more destructive than the over wickedness found in hardcore rock and roll.”
Joni Mitchell: Has male muse named Art.
Mötley Crüe: Equate sex and violence, used pentagram in album art (Shout at the Devil), El Cronado.
Motörhead: Crucifixion-themed album art (unknown source).
My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult: Marry Satanic message with “a sense of religious and poetic transcendence,” objectionable album art (I See Good Spirits & I See Bad Spirits). Also: They claim that they’re British when they’re from Chicago.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Combine Satanic imagery “with an intelligence and poetic passion rarely found” in heavy metal.
Nosferatu: Objectionable album art (unknown source).
Oingo Boingo: Unclear.
Overkill: Objectionable album art and video (Under the Influence).
Ozzy Osbourne: Rebellion, attacking Jim Bakker in “Miracle Man,” satanic imagery on album art (Blizzard of Ozz, No Rest for the Wicked), promote suicide on “Suicide Solution,” released album Mr. Crowley devoted to Aleister Crowley, El Cronado, scary face.
Jimmy Page: “One of the leading occultists of the rock generation,” owns occult bookstore, bought Aleister Crowley’s former home and had it refurbished by a Satanic decorator.
Anita Pallenberg: Girlfriend of several members of the Rolling Stones, also involved in the making of Kenneth Anger’s Lucifer Rising.
Robert Palmer: Sexual content in music videos, wrote about Master Musicians of Joujouka.
Pebbles: Sex.
Pink Floyd: Rebellion.
Robert Plant: Sex.
Plasmatics/Wendy O. Williams: Backmasked message about brainwashing, satanic symbols on album art (Coup d’Etat, Metal Priestess).
Poison: Violence, sex, objectionable album art (Open Up and Say…Ahh!).
Poison Idea: Mutilation-themed album art (Kings of Punk).
The Police: “Every Breath You Take” used in interstitial title screen.
Iggy Pop/The Stooges: Bloodletting at concert.
Possessed: General Satanism and witchcraft. Seven Churches is a great album.
Elvis Presley: Sexuality.
Pretty Poison: Voodoo imagery in video.
Pretty Things: Objectionable album art (Silk Torpedo), signed to Led Zeppelin’s White Swan label, which threw blasphemous record release party.
Prince: Sex, falsely promotes himself as new breed of Christian, recorded songs “The Cross” and “Batdance.” Wow.
Psychic TV:Music arm of Crowley-linked sect Thee Temple of Psychick Youth, objectionable album art (Live at Thee Circus).
Queen: Backmasking, drug abuse.
Rainbow: Violent album art (Straight Between the Eyes).
Ratt: Rebellion.
Raven:Recorded song “Hell Patrol.”
Lou Reed: Drug abuse.
Residents: Objectionable album art (God in 3 Persons).
RF-7: Objectionable album art (unknown source).
Lionel Richie: “So-called neutral stuff, by the very reason of its subtlety, [is] potentially more destructive than the over wickedness found in hardcore rock and roll.”
Rigor Mortis: Recorded song “Condemned to Hell,” objectionable album art (Rigor Mortis).
Rods: Violent album art (Let Them Eat Metal).
Rolling Stones: Recorded song “Sympathy for the Devil” on At Her Satanic Majesty’s Request, objectionable album art (Goats Head Soup, Undercover, Tattoo You), bankrolled sect called the Process, made Satanic movie Invocation of My Demon Brother.
David Lee Roth: Sex.
Peter Rowan: Likens music to “spiritual force.”
Todd Rundgren: El Cronado.
Rush: Invoked Greek equivalent of Pan on 2112, backmasking.
Santana: Universalist.
Scorpions: Sex, cage imagery in “Rock You Like a Hurricane” video, objectionable album art (Blackout, Love at First Sting).
Scraping Foetus Off the Wheel: Objectionable band name and album art, lyrics include “The only good Christian is a dead Christian.”
Sex Pistols: Rebellion, self-mutilation, Rotten designed t-shirt with upside-down crucifixion.
Siouxsie and the Banshees: Recorded song “Sin in My Heart.”
Sister: Pentagrams.
Sisters of Mercy: Combine Satanic imagery “with an intelligence and poetic passion rarely found” in heavy metal.
Skulls: Crucifixion imagery (unknown source).
Slayer: Used pentagram on album art (Reign in Blood).
Smashed Gladys: Sex and necromancy on album art (Social Intercourse).
Patti Smith: Rebellion, recorded Joujouka-inspired album Radio Ethiopia.
Smiths: Combine Satanic imagery “with an intelligence and poetic passion rarely found” in heavy metal.
Sonic Youth: Obsessed with death (“Death Valley ’69”).
Spooky Tooth: Album cover depicts Jesus with hand nailed to head (Ceremony).
Bruce Springsteen: Makes money in rock industry.
Stiff Kittens: Crowley on album cover (Happy Now).
Suicidal Tendencies: Pentagrams.
Suicide: Promote suicide
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks: Objectionable band name, recorded “I Am the Lord Jesus” backwards.
The The: Unclear (“Gravitate to Me” may promote drug use).
Tone Loc: Sex.
Pete Townshend: Objectionable album art.
Tina Turner: Participated in Live Aid, where Mick Jagger ripped off her skirt.
Twisted Sister: Rebellion, violent album art (Stay Hungry)
Uncle Bonsai: Sex-themed album (Boys Want Sex in the Morning).
Undisputed Truth: Crucifixion imagery on album cover (unknown source).
Urge Overkill: Objectionable album art (Jesus Urge Superstar).
Uriah Heep: Objectionable album art (Abominog).
U2: Make money through rock industry.
Van Halen: Sex, song “Best of Both Worlds” about finding heaven on earth.
Venom: Album title Welcome to Hell, pentagram and goat imagery, how long do you have?
Virus: Objectionable album art (unknown source).
Void: Inverted cross on album art (Condensed Flesh).
Wall of Voodoo: So influenced by voodoo they took it as their name.
Warlock: Objectionable album art (Triumph and Agony), recorded song “All We Are” about earthly redemption.
W.A.S.P./Blackie Lawless: Rebellion, sex-themed and violent album art (Animal (F**k Like a Beast), Inside the Electric Circus).
Wasted Youth: Crucifixion-themed album art (Black Daze).
Jody Watley: Sex.
Wayne County & the Electric Chairs: Recorded song “Storm the Gates of Heaven.”
Whitesnake: Sex in “Is This Love?” video, objectionable album art (Lovehunter).
The Who: Violent stage act, incited riot at Cincinnati show that resulted in 11 deaths.
Toyah Willcox: Songs about occult, El Cronado.
Steve Winwood: Recorded “Higher Love,” “so-called neutral stuff, by the very reason of its subtlety, [is] potentially more destructive than the over wickedness found in hardcore rock and roll.”
XTC: Recorded “Dear God.”
Young Gods: Mutilation-themed album art (The Young Gods).
Zodiac Mindwarp: “Prime Mover” video promotes rebellion, destroys church.
Originally released in 1986, Truth or Dare: A Critical Madness has become a cult horror classic. This low-budget film, shot on 16mm, still resonates with fans of 1980s horror. It gained renewed attention when Elijah Wood called it his all-time favorite horror movie.
Truth or Dare remains one of the first direct-to-video, and it’s high time someone — like SRS — put them all out in one set.
Truth or Dare: A Critical Madness (1986): In the 1985 horror anthology, Tim Ritter created a short called “Truth or Dare” in the movie Twisted Illusions. A year later, he’d expand that story into this slasher.
While most 18-year-olds were worrying about prom, Tim Ritter was in Palm Beach County orchestrating a bloodbath. Despite the SO aesthetic common to the era, shooting on 16mm gave it a slightly more cinematic, if not grimy, texture.
The drama behind the scenes was as chaotic as the film itself. The creative differences”between Ritter and producer Yale Wilson led to Ritter being locked out of the editing room and taken off the credits. Wilson’s cut was the one that hit the shelves of mom-and-pop video stores, leading to a long-standing rift that Ritter finally resolved in later “Director’s Cuts.”
Mike Strauber (John Brace) finds his wife Sharon in bed with his best friend Jerry, and poor Mike has the kind of mental breakdown that inevitably turns one into a slasher villain.
The hitchhiker sequence is the film’s first true water-cooler moment, as if anyone works in a real office anymore or would discuss SOV murders at said water cooler. As Mike drives, he hallucinates a passenger who goads him into a self-mutilating game of Truth or Dare. The practical effects here, with Mike slicing into his own arms and chest with a razor blade, are uncomfortably tactile. When the camera reveals the passenger seat is empty, we realize we aren’t watching a standard slasher; we’re watching a breakdown.
A year later, Mike gets released from the Sunnyville Mental Institution. Blame budget cuts. Blame too many patients. Blame the fact that Mike is both crazy and smart. His good behavior is noticed, and the first thing he does when he gets out is kill Jerry and then go after his ex-wife. When he’s wounded in this murder attempt, he goes back to Sunnyville and is soon back to hallucinating disfigured patients telling him to destroy his face and wear a mask. After one of the attendants is dumb enough to taunt Mike with a photo of his ex-wife, he stabs the orderly with a pencil to the eye, Fulci-style and finds a cache of weapons, because that’s exactly what is sitting around a mental hospital.
At this point, Mike just goes wild, committing crimes such as hitting a stroller with his car — the baby launches high in the air — and then going back to roll over the mother; machine gunning an entire bench full of senior citizens; doing a drive-by chainsawing of a Little League player, and finally trying to kill his wife all over again. Oh, Mike, they’re just going to put you back in Sunnyville.
Ridiculous in all ways and therefore worth watching. I also believe that Rob Zombie completely stole the papier-mâché first mask Michael wears in his remake from this movie.
Truth or Dare: Wicked Games (1994): You can kind of sort of consider this the sequel to Tim Ritter’s Truth or Dare, even if it has none of the same characters, except that Gary (Kevin Scott Crawford) is the cousin of that first movie’s Mike. He’s having a lot of the same issues that that guy once did as he comes home to catch his wife riding another man. Now, a copper masked killer is running around and Gary’s friend Dan (Joel D. Wynkoop) starts to think that his buddy is that slasher.
We’re back to Sunnyville Mental Hospital, where Dr. Seidow (co-writer Kermit Christman) and it turns out that there may be more than one killer. Spoiler, there totally is or maybe this is all in Mike’s head and he’s been thinking of killing again. Dan is into kinky sex, Dr. Seidow is a maniac obsessed with one of his patients who likes to burn herself with cigarettes and all three — four — of them hate women.
The opening is a deliberate echo of the first film, the ultimate déjà vu of domestic betrayal. However, Gary’s reaction is less of a silent break and more of a loud, messy implosion. It sets the tone for a movie that isn’t just about a killer, but about a community of broken, predatory men.
It’s also the only film I’ve ever seen where a slasher takes a moment to take a bite of a sandwich while chasing his victim. It also has someone get killed with a sprinkler. By that, I’m saying they get a sprinkler jammed right through them.
Replacing the papier-mâché with a copper mask gives the killer a more urban legend feel. It’s cold, reflective and fits the 90s direct-to-video aesthetic while maintaining that homemade creepiness that makes these movies feel like they were found in a basement.
There’s another somewhat sequel to Truth or Dare, Writer’s Block, but that movie doesn’t have insane genius — I say that in the nicest of ways, trust me — of Tim Ritter, who imbues this with plenty of ridiculous energy. Is it central Florida giallo? Nearly.
Screaming for Sanity: Truth or Dare 3 (1998): In the years since Mike Strauber first put on the mask, a whole universe has started to swirl amongst him, like the man who treated him, Dr. Dan Hess (Joel D. Wynkoop), who also hates Mike; Clive Stanley (Ken Blanck), who was a victim of Strauber’s murder spree and lost his wife and child when they were run over in the first film; the man treating him, Dr. Reznor (Maurice Mayberry Jr.) and Ken Kregg (Franklin E. Wales), who is selling merchandise related to the killings.
In the original 1986 film, Clive was just a background casualty of Mike’s nihilism, the man who lost his wife and child in the infamous stroller/car sequence. Clive isn’t just a survivor; he’s a man whose soul was deleted by Mike Strauber. His habit of slicing himself open isn’t just a callback to Mike’s razor-blade game; it’s a physical manifestation of his Survivor’s Guilt. He is literally carving Mike’s legacy into his own skin.
Oh yeah, the copper mask is back and worn by people who dream of being Mike or want to have sex with him. Plus, Dr. Hess is also being stalked, and his wife even gets nailed to a wall. Having Joel D. Wynkoop return, this time as Dr. Dan, creates a delicious bit of casting confusion for Ritter fans. Is he the same Dan from Wicked Games? In the Ritter-verse, the faces remain the same even as the roles shift.
Hess represents the medical establishment that failed to contain Mike. His hatred for Strauber isn’t just professional; it’s visceral. Watching his life get dismantled, specifically the brutal imagery of his wife nailed, proves that in the Truth or Dare cinematic universe, being near Mike Strauber is a death sentence for your loved ones.
Directed by Ritter, who wrote it with Ron Bonk and Kevin J. Lindenmuth, this is the Truth or Dare? sequel I always wanted. This is totally for continuity nerds, where a supporting character becomes the lead.
By ending on a cliffhanger, Ritter essentially promises that the critical madness is an infinite loop. It’s not about Mike the man anymore; it’s about Mike the Idea.
And hey — footage from the first movie comes back! This then sets up the next film, which I appreciate.
Deadly Dares: Truth or Dare Part IV (2011): Tim Ritter updates the franchise’s core theme: the dangerous intersection of fragile male egos and deadly games. In 1986, Mike Strauber was driven mad by a private game; in 2011, Tuner Downing (Casey Miracle) is driven mad by a public one.
Directed by Ritter (who wrote the script) and Joel D. Wynkoop, this follows the theme of all these films: women break men when they dump them, games of truth or dare can quickly turn deadly, and lots of people will be killed. Rose (Heather Price) Tuner’s girlfriend left him because he wouldn’t get naked for a dare video. This leads Tuner to DareTube.com, which acts like the Ice Bucket Challenge, except the dares get as wacky as you’d hope.
This entry ditches the 16mm grain and the 90s camcorder fuzz for a sharp, sterile digital look. It makes the violence feel more real and less cinematic, mimicking the actual videos found on the dark corners of the internet.
Tuner’s friend Axel (Billy W. Blackwell) and his perhaps new girl, Dara (Jessica Cameron), grab a video camera and head out to record dares, while Tuner paints his face copper. As those dares get more intense, Tuner breaks into the mental hospital where Strauber has been kept, only for it to end up being Rose, who was trying to see if he’d do the ultimate dare to prove his love. She stabs him, he dies…
Turning the final girl into the villain is a sharp subversion. When Rose reveals that the breakout was a test. It reframes the entire franchise. It suggests that the women in this universe aren’t just victims; they are the architects of the games that destroy the men.
The final revelation that the entire movie — the breakout, the murders, the betrayal — has all been a dying hallucination as Tuner kills himself is the ultimate “Ritter” ending. It’s a return to the psychological roots of the original. Mike Strauber’s legacy isn’t a body count; it’s a mental illness that convinces you to destroy yourself.
I Dared You!: Truth or Dare Part V (2017): Directed by Tim Ritter and Scott Tepperman, this centers on a man named Dax (Tepperman) has gone insane after a past attack by Mike Strauber. Since then, he’s grown angry not just at his attacker, but with the man who let him go, Dr. Dan Hess (Joel D. Wynkoop), who is now a private detective.
Before we get to that. we see Dax in a video store, where he finds a copy of the original movie. A woman grows angry at him and chases him from the store, as he steals a porn magazine. As he reads it in the woods, he is attacked by Strauber, becoming one of the victims of the infamous chainsaw car attack from all the way back in 1986.
Now, Chainsaw Dax wears a half-mask, much like the man who ruined his face. He starts killing — and playing truth or dare — while Hess searches for people using the DareTube.com site, which has been up for a few years, so they must have good SEO.
The man who treated Dax, Dr. Desmond Hall (Jim O’Rear) was really setting this all up, putting Dax on the path to murder, setting him up with Sara (Trish Erickson-Martin) and putting him after Hess, all because that man stole his woman. So Dax goes and records Hess having sex with Linda (Ashley Lynn Caputo) and posts it on the internet, which in no way seems as godo of a revenge as killing someone. Linda gets kidnapped and Hess has to do a series of dares, like taking heroin which is just a bunch of video effects, to save his wife.
After cutting off his own finger, robbing a bank, hitting a cross-dressing Dr. Hall with an axe and jaming a syringe into Dax’s eyeball, Hess finds his wife and walks away.
Seeing Dax find a physical copy of the original Truth or Dare creates a movie-within-a-movie loop. It suggests that in this universe, Mike Strauber’s crimes were so infamous they were turned into the very exploitation films we are watching. By the time Hess walks away, the franchise has come full circle. It started with a man losing his mind over a cheating wife and ends with a man losing his finger (and his dignity) to save one.
Extras on this SRS blu-ray release include all new commentary tracks, short films, trailers, photo galleries, interviews, making ofs, behind the scenes footage and more. You can get this from MVD.
Man, so much to unpack here. Let’s break it down song by song:
“Animals” by Maroon 5: Somehow, we go from this video — yeah, I get it, Adam Levine wanted to make a horror movie — but somehow this ties into him wearing an AC/DC t-shirt and claiming to like the song “Night Prowler.” Who knew that this video, in which Levine stalks his wife, would tie into real-world problems rather than just be seen as art? Or was Levine also inspired by Richard Ramirez and Ted Bundy? Or am I enjoying the breathless narration about headless women while pilfered clips play, and often the music disappears, so this can still be on YouTube? Fair use or thou shalt not steal?
Somehow, we go from Maroon 5 to Dahmer. Ah, well, everyone finds religion in prison.
“God Is a Woman” by Arianna Grande: You know, you try and have a bisexual, lesbian, transgender last supper performance at the VMAs and some people get enraged. I know, I know. The voiceover asks if Grande should be shunned or in a jihad as if she had done this about Mohammed; people love Arianna Grande and her perversion more than God, so the voiceover claims. This performance was even predicted in the Bible, or so this says, then we cut to a picture of Sam Kinison, and we talk about how he died young because he mocked Jesus, and soon, perhaps, this will happen to the singer.
How long until we get to Shiva and the triple 6 hand symbol? About this long.
Is the song “Trouble” about deals with the devil? Or is licking doughnuts as evil as she gets? She also told Complex that she went to the gateway to hell and was possessed by a demon. Or haunted by it. Who can say? She claims, We were in Kansas City a few weeks ago and went to this haunted castle and were so excited. The next night, we wanted to go to Stull Cemetery, which is known as one of the seven gates to hell on Earth. The Pope won’t fly over it…”
Yes, it’s a quick trip from that to the Kabala: as in the video for “Break Free,” she wears a Kabala bracelet and kills a man with the Tree of Life symbol; this feels more like Mortal Kombat than Satanic. Man, I thought this was just lame AI dance music and didn’t even realize how dark this all went. Metal bands have so much catching up to do.
Damn these perverse women!
That leads us to Lady Gaga, Marina Abramovic and spirit cooking, as well as James Franco featuring Kenneth Anger in one of his videos, which was incorrectly referred to as one of the founders of the Church of Satan. Oh, Mr. Crowley, you have your left fingers in every pie. Or every Spirit Cooking meal.
The Lady Gaga section is wild because it misconstrues Gaga talking about the nature of evil and racism; instead, it’s said that she is describing Satan and her relationship with him. Also, she’s wearing a bra in one scene, and her entire body is blurred. Then, the video reminds us that Lady Gaga is not happy, can’t keep a man and has demon issues.
And now, Beyonce.
The announcer just loses her mind here, breathlessly telling us about the Luciferian Illuminati and how Jay-Z promotes the Eye of Horus. You know, the thing on our money. Are we supposed to get rid of paper money? I thought they wanted us to not use digital money? And hey! There’s Anton LaVey again! There’s Aleister Crowley again! And there’s taking some liberties with Baphomet!
How about Katy Perry?
She makes the joke that she sold her soul to the devil by moving away from religious music, and yes, that’s an admission.
What’s weird here is that whenever a video can’t be shown because of copyright strikes, the Jeopardy theme plays, which is also copyrighted and being stolen.
Hey! There’s Aiwass!
Anyways, once Katy sold her soul to Satan, she made teeny boppers lesbians. We’d listen to more of the song, but, again, artists like to copyright the music they create.
This has somehow turned into a liveblog of this.
Were those sharks in her halftime show demons?
“Dark Horse” by Katy Perry: Oh no! Stevie Nicks met with Katy and…oh, never mind, there’s Anton LaVey again. In the video, it’s Egyptian magic; in the video above, it’s Western black magic. Well, LaVey said there’s no difference between white and black magic, a fact this movie uses. Wouldn’t using the Black Pope as a source be evil?
But hey — Russell Brand gets called out as a hero at the end.
Time for Bruno Mars! But first…the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the first band that Mars wanted to be with him during the Super Bowl. Also, excitedly, the announcer tells us that Crowley ate poop! But how about Bruno Mars worshipping alcohol like a god? That could be every country artist ever.
And man, Snoop Dogg! Is everyone down with the left-hand path?
Man, this comes back to Crowley every few minutes. But damn anyone who sings “Imagine” by John Lennon. And then this gets into Queen, homophobically shaming the life choices of lead singer Freddie Mercury and suggesting how “One Vision” is all about the New World Order. Yes, a song that ends with the lyrics “Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme fried chicken!”
There’s also a 60 Minutes interview where Bob Dylan talks about the deal he made with someone on the other side to be where he is. That said, Dylan at one point in his career embraced evangelical Christianity, recording several albums of songs with religious lyrics. Let’s not think too long; let’s get into Robert Johnson.
According to Far Out Magazine, Dylan answered the question of why he keeps performing like this: “”It all goes back to the destiny thing. I made a bargain with it a long time ago, and I’m holding up my end.” He was then promptly asked who he made a deal with, to which Dylan gave a wry smile, laughed and said: “With the Chief Commander of this earth and the world we can’t see.””
This documentary won’t let John Lennon forget that bigger than Jesus quote, either. I thought the Rolling Stones just caught a stray, but then I remembered…they did put out enough Satanic stuff to definitely get a whole bunch of words. You have to give it to the devil, I guess, because “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “Their Satanic Majesties Request” came out at the same time and man, that quality doesn’t exist anymore. And hey — there’s Jayne Mansfield. Come on, Good Fight. You didn’t have the time to search for this photo?
Ah man, even Mike Stone — the writer of Enter the Ninja— is in this, as the Memphis Mafia talks about Elvis trying to use occult powers to get Sonny West to kill the karate man who stole Priscilla. Elvis also believed in Madame Blavatsky, so he had that going for him, even supposedly trying to get Don Rickles to read from her book on stage.
According to Newsbreak, “Elvis was watching Don Rickles perform his comedy act in Las Vegas. Rickles invited Elvis onstage, and the singer was only too happy to oblige. He brought the New Age Voice spiritual journal with him. He insisted that Rickles read aloud from the journal. This went on for an uncomfortable amount of time.”
Also: “We Are the World” is anti-God because it’s New Age and a one-world government song. Love is all we need is bullshit, because we crucified love incarnate on the cross. Hey, they said it, not me. There’s some Michael Jackson, some Led Zeppelin — I get it, that one I’ll agree with, as Page had tons of Crowley influence — and hey, there’s the cover of Houses of the Holy, with the children climbing the mountain.
“So the world is spinning faster
Are you dizzy when you stall?
Let the music be your master
Will you heed the master’s call
Oh, Satan and man.”
Is anyone ever going to pay Satanis and its producers for as many times as it’s been ripped off with no attribution in these movies?
Paige playing that violin bow solo was Crowley magick. Then this movie tries to make sense of The Song Remains the Same.
Man, I should live-stream this while I scream at the screen. Who would even want to watch that?
I mean, me. I would watch my own livecast if it wasn’t me.
That sounds Satanic.
A lot of people ask, “What do you do on your website?” Oh, I just watch really long movies that try to convince me that all music is Satanic.” Yes, there are two paths I could go by, but in the long run, I can’t change my ways, you know? I wonder, don’t all songs have multiple interpretations? And yes, just in time, backmasking!
Like all these movies, we get to The Doors, which you would expect by now.
And then there’s Prince. Prince, who was a devout Jehovah’s Witness, having converted from his childhood faith as a Seventh-day Adventist, had beliefs that significantly influenced both his personal life and music. Yes, he also sang about sex, but Prince was devout that he delayed surgeries as a result of his beliefs.
And U2? Yeah, they’re here. As much as I hate them, the film gets into them playing “Helter Skelter,” forgetting that Bono started the song live by saying they were taking it back from Charles Manson. Bono being Mephistopheles and The Fly being a Satanic character, and “Even Better than the Real Thing” being a Sgt. Pepper reference, which is a Satanic reference, and U2 acted like they were Christian.
And as much as I dislike Metallica, “The God That Failed” isn’t about disbelief. The song is about James Hetfield’s emotional turmoil resulting from his mother’s death due to her Christian Science beliefs, as a result of her refusing medical treatment.
On the way out, a mention of Bowie and how he sang, “I’m closer to the Golden Dawn. Immersed in Crowley’s uniform of imagery.” But “Quicksand” is about the worry that the only way to get all the answers in life is by dying, while the next song on Hunky Dory, “Fill Your Heart,” suggests the only way to be happy is to forget the future and just try and live your life in love.
You can watch this yourself on YouTube. This is from Good Fight, and I’m excited to see more of their movies.
Accused of murdering his own bully, soft-spoken poet Dorian Beecher relies on Jessica’s assistance to prove his innocence.
Season 3, Episode 11: Night of the Headless Horseman (January 4, 1987)
What begins as a humorous deception ends in a murder investigation; now, Jessica must clear Dorian’s name after his elaborate lies make him the perfect suspect for Nate Findley’s death.
In smaller roles, Brandon Douglas plays Todd Carrier, Donald Thompson is Robert, Adam Ferries is Brendan, Sanford Clark is a man, Gary Pagett is a deputy, Tom Ohmer is a cop, John England is another guy, Bill Baker is a young blonde guy in a car, and Forry Smith is a man.
What happens?
After that beginning, with Dorian being accused of murder, he then gets harassed by a figure dressed like the Headless Horseman. He thinks it’s Nate Findley who wants to steal his girlfriend, Sarah. But no, it’s just a kid at first, then Doc Walker, who has stolen Nick’s horse.
But Doc, well, poor Doc has been going through it too. Nate killed his fiancée, Gretchen, and then basically told Doc that he did it.
Lots of death for such a new small town.
Who did it?
Doc Walker isn’t your typical villain. He’s a sympathetic figure driven by grief, which makes the episode’s ending hit much harder.
By the end of this, Nate is dead, the groundskeeper is under arrest for embezzlement, the dentist is under arrest for murder, Gretchen is also dead, and Sarah has broken up with Dorian. Dorian is not guilty, at least.
The fact that Nate killed Gretchen before the episode even started suggests that this quiet town has been harboring a monster for a long time. Jessica doesn’t just solve a murder; she lances a boil that has been festering in the community.
Who made it?
This was directed by Walter Grauman and written by R. Barker Price, who also wrote David Schmoeller’s Catacombs.
Does Jessica dress up and act stupid? Does she get some?
No! Come on!
Was it any good?
I liked it. I really liked it.
Any trivia?
McClure, Lange, Crockett, Siebert and Weaver have all been in multiple episodes of this show.
Give me a reasonable quote:
Jessica Fletcher: You’re up for a murder charge. Murder! Twenty years to life. Maybe more!
What’s next?
While on a flight to London, a wealthy woman’s chauffeur dies suddenly, and when the priceless necklace he was carrying turns up missing, it becomes a case of murder.
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