“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.

You can watch this on YouTube.

“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.
• Kenneth Anger: Satanist filmmaker who made Invocation of My Demon Brother and Lucifer Rising
• Anthrax: Violent album art (Fistful of Metal),
• Anvil: Number of the beast (Metal to Metal),
• 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.
• ZZ Top: Sex.

You can watch this on YouTube.

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.

When people think of Marvel Comics or the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they think of Stan Lee as the creator of that universe, never mind the contributions of Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko or any of the other members of the Marvel Bullpen. But this documentary asks us to consider that Stan Lee is more than just the creator of Marvel (and Striperella; even I can argue that everything Lee did after 1970 or so).

Let me let them tell you.

“Many are unaware that Stan Lee purposely set out to repudiate God’s goodness and diminish His power. Lee not only sought to paint God as an inept and uncaring being but, driven by his own infamous ego, sought to exalt himself and his plethora of comic gods and superheroes above God. Did Stan Lee have a dark and nefarious agenda? Did Stan Lee seek to distort God into a bumbling creator unworthy of worship? Did Stan Lee and Marvel Comics portray Satan as the real hero or savior of humanity? Journey with us as we discover more troubling insights in Part 3 of Marvel and DC’s War on God series to discover how one of comics’ most prolific creative leaders, as well as his well-known associates Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, continues to indoctrinate and perpetuate Satanic lies to hundreds of millions of young people among his unsuspecting fans.”

Directed, written and starring Joe Schimmel — “Since 1987, Pastor Joe Schimmel has been equipping Christians with the truth of God’s word. His testimony of the transforming power of Jesus Christ in his own life can be seen in the powerful exposé, They Sold Their Souls for Rock & Roll, and has been heard during live presentations at churches around the world in which he describes his own deliverance from the bondage and satanic influence of Rock Music at the age of 18.” — this breaks down the creation of the Marvel Universe but through a Christian lens.

This often calls Stan Lee Stan Lieber, which seems like a dog whistle to remind us that Lee was Jewish (as was Kirby). Let’s let that go and get into this, which explains that so much of Marvel is based on gnosticism, which is best described as a mindset that “emphasizes personal spiritual knowledge above authority, traditions and proto-orthodox teachings of organized religious institutions.” This might sound fine to you, but these docs always follow the rule that any rebellion is inherently evil.

The documentary’s obsession with Gnosticism is a classic Satanic Panic point. Gnosticism posits that the physical world was created by an inferior, often bumbling or evil deity known as the Demiurge and that true salvation comes through Gnosis or secret knowledge.

To understand why a documentary like Marvel and DC’s War on God exists, you have to understand the vacuum Lee and Kirby filled. In the 1960s, the Marvel Bullpen wasn’t just making funny books; they were crafting a modern American mythology.

Unlike the DC heroes who were often portrayed as pristine, god-like icons (Superman as a literal savior), Marvel’s characters were defined by their humanity and their flaws. Ben Grimm was a monster who hated himself; Peter Parker couldn’t pay his rent; Tony Stark was an alcoholic. To a rigid theological mind, humanizing the “miraculous” or giving “god-like” powers to fallible men isn’t just storytelling. It’s blasphemy.

Here’s an example. The Silver Surfer, who is a character whgo was not created by Lee, but instead drawn by Kirby starting in Fantastic Four #48, as the herald of Galactus, a space god who had come to eat Earth. Lee would eventually dialogue and later write the character, but based on Marvel Style, the plot for the issue was Lee giving Kirby a brief idea of what it could be about, then Kirby going to draw all of that and turning it back in to Lee to dialogue. We can argue Marvel Style if you want and who created who, but that’s not what this movie is about.

In short, from Wikipedia: “When Kirby turned in his pencil art for the story, he included a new character he and Lee had not discussed. As Lee recalled in 1995, “There, in the middle of the story we had so carefully worked out, was a nut on some sort of flying surfboard.” He later expanded on this, recalling, “I thought, ‘Jack, this time you’ve gone too far.” Kirby explained that the story’s agreed-upon antagonist, a god-like cosmic predator of planets named Galactus, should have some sort of herald, and that he created the surfboard “because I’m tired of drawing spaceships!” Taken by the noble features of the new character, who turned on his master to help defend Earth, Lee overcame his initial skepticism and began adding characterization. The Silver Surfer soon became a key part of the unfolding story.”

Kirby told Gary Groth the following:

JACK: I got the Silver Surfer, and I suddenly realized here was the dramatic situation between God and the Devil! The Devil himself was an archangel. The Devil wasn’t ugly – he was a beautiful guy! He was the guy that challenged God.

MARK: That’s the Surfer challenging Galactus.

JACK: And Galactus says, “You want to see my power? Stay on Earth forever!”

MARK: He exiled the Surfer out of Paradise.

JACK: And of course the Surfer is a good character, but he got a little bit of an ego and it destroyed him. That’s very natural. If we got an ego it might destroy us. People say, “Look at him – who does he think he is? We knew him when.” They throw tomatoes at you. Of course, Galactus, in his own way, and maybe the people of his type, are also doing that to the Surfer. They were people of a certain class and power, and if any one of ’em became pretentious or affectacious, they would do the same thing. We would do the same thing. If a movie star walked past you and gave you the snub, you’d give him a hot foot just to show him, “I paid my money to see you – and that’s what you’re living on.” You’re not just a face in the crowd – you’re a moviegoer, you plunk your dough down, and this guy lives off it.

He told an early San Diego Comic Con audience in 1970:

AUDIENCE: What was your inspiration for the Silver Surfer?

KIRBY: Gee, I don’t know. The Silver Surfer came out of a feeling; that’s the only thing I can say. When I drew Galactus, I just don’t know why, but I suddenly figured out that Galactus was God, and I found that I’d made a villain out of God, and I couldn’t make a villain out of him. And I couldn’t treat him as a villain, so I had to back away from him. I backed away from Galactus, and I felt he was so awesome, and in some way he was God, and who would accompany God, but some kind of fallen angel? And that’s who the Silver Surfer was. And at the end of the story, Galactus condemned him to Earth, and he couldn’t go into space anymore. So the Silver Surfer played his role in that manner. And, y’know, I can’t say why; it just happened. And that was the Silver Surfer, I suppose you might call it – I don’t know, some kind of response to an inner feeling.

The idea that the Surfer is the devil and Galactus is God, something Kirby says he moved away from, comes up here, as does the Lee and Moebius story Silver Surfer: Parable, which writes Galactus as the Old Testament-style, fire-and-brimstone God and the Silver Surfer as a self-sacrificing figure who lives poor and rejects anyone worshipping him; less like Satan and more like Jesus. Yet in this movie, this story is used as proof that the Surfer is the devil and Lee is against God. If anything, this story inspired me.

To wit:

1. Galactus arrives and tells humanity he is their God.
2. Humanity immediately falls into religious zealotry, war and chaos in his name.
3. The Silver Surfer serves as a pacifist martyr, suffering so humanity can learn to think for itself.

If anything, Parable is a scathing critique of blind fanaticism. the very thing Schimmel’s documentary represents. It suggests that a God who demands worship through fear is not worth having and that true divinity lies in self-sacrifice and compassion.

Kirby wasn’t drawing from Gnostic texts; he was drawing from the Old Testament. Galactus isn’t a bumbling creator. He is closer to the Cosmic Awe, the I Am That I Am that is beyond human morality. Kirby was trying to visualize the scale of the divine, which is often terrifying.

“Many leading comic book writers have admitted that they are using seduction, manipulation, the occult, and even the Bible to influence children to view the God of the Bible from a twisted slant,” says Pastor Schimmel. “Our series aims to help families recognize these underlying messages and equip them with a biblical response.”

If you’ve seen They Sold Their Souls for Rock n Roll, this is very much the same, only about comic books. Ditko escapes most of the tarred brush here — oh wait, the second part is all about Dr. Strange — but this one goes hard after Kirby, saying that he was possessed by demons as a child.

When it comes to religion in comics, I found this quote — from Michael Kobre’s “The Common Man Is Coming Into His Own” — interesting: “Though Kirby and Lee—the former Jacob Kurtzberg and Stanley Leiber—were both first-generation American Jews (like so many other creators who built the American comic book industry), Judaism exists as a kind of lacuna in their published work, a fact of both men’s backgrounds that’s conspicuous by its absence.”

Why is that? The author says that it was about something simple: survival.

“My generation lied to survive,” Kirby told a group of fans in a 1972 conversation when he was explaining why he changed his name from Jacob Kurtzberg. “When I tell you my generation lied or died I’m not kidding,” he said, going on to explain how he was perceived as “a total alien” by the kind of men from the Midwest or Texas with whom he served in the army, even citing one soldier from a small rural town who refused to believe Kirby was Jewish because he didn’t have horns.”

It upsets me that Kirby gets insulted so many times in this, a man who worked back-breaking 14-hour days in his studio to take care of his family in a world where he was told he was disposable and not the man who truly created so much of what we know as the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Kirby often wrote of gods, Norse and New, Inhumans and end-of-the-world realities, places where he could explore how he saw religion in his head. I think Jack Kirby would be hurt by what was said here; a man can do a comic book called Spirit World or The Demon and still be a good man. That’s what I believe, if not the people who made this. A demon, Etrigan, is trying to work with a human, Jason Blood, and they are both looking for redemption. That seems something maybe worth celebrating.

Kirby, a man who literally fought Nazis in WWII and was nearly killed in the infantry, is being accused of indoctrinating children by a man sitting in a studio. Kirby’s work was obsessed with theology. From The New Gods (which features a literal Source or Godhead) to The Eternals, Kirby was a man constantly searching for the divine in the stars. To call his work demonic is to ignore the profound morality at its core: the idea that even a monster like The Hulk, The Thing, or yes, Etrigan can choose to do good.

It is a bitter irony that Kirby, a man who spent his life creating a universe where anyone, no matter how alien or different, could be a hero, is being painted as a villain by those who claim to preach love.

Buckle up when you watch this and other films in this series. They move quickly, change subjects more often than I do, and are just as scattered as having a conversation with me.

You can watch this on Fawesome.

Did I watch all 13 of these?

You know I did.

Let’s concentrate on perhaps the best of this series, Pagan Invasion: Halloween Trick or Treat.

Let’s go to the sell copy: “Traces the pagan origins and history of Halloween. The Pagan Occult calendar of Druids, Witches, Pagans and Satanists marks Halloween as one of their highest holy days. The occult rituals seen in this video are real and not re-enactments. All the seemingly innocent symbolism of Halloween – black cats, snakes, broomsticks, bonfires, trick or treat…”

This feels dungeon synth, with an early computer-generated castle looming over everyone, which gives me a very warm feeling while also giving me the kind of chill I got from living through the Satanic Panic. This early green-screen technology makes the hosts look like they are broadcasting from a haunted screensaver.

This starts at a video sales convention, and we see some of the most wonderful horror movies of the 80s as the hosts clutch pearls, all before moving to meeting former Satanist Glenn Hobbs, who tells us about how he used to kill infants day and night. Wait, is that Hal Lindsay? It is, and he found a pentagram and a diaper in a shack, so there had to be more baby deaths. Seeing the author of The Late Great Planet Earth poking around a shack with a clean diaper? The peak of investigative journalism.

Like all Christian scare films, this liberally takes from Satanis, because where else are you going to get all that Anton LaVey interview b-roll? 

To understand Pagan Invasion, you have to understand the power couple of the 1980s counter-cult movement: Caryl Matrisciana and Chuck Smith. They weren’t just hosts; they were the architects of a very specific brand of California Charismatic paranoia. Caryl grew up in India, allowing herself to be marketed as someone who had firsthand experience with the darkness of Eastern mysticism. Chuck was a massive figure in American evangelicalism; he founded the Calvary Chapel movement and was a key player in the Jesus People movement of the late 60s. 

You can watch this on YouTube.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 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. For links to her work, please visit https://www.jennuptonwriter.com or send her a Tweet @Jennxldn

I have no idea what I just watched. I do not know what this movie is about despite having watched its London premiere with about 20 other people at The Nickel Cinema in Clerkenwell.

Scarlet Warning 666 is the concept of “random” fully realized on celluloid. Specifically, random in the service of ego. The ego of one Palmer Rockey. The man who performed 7 roles on screen and 47 behind the camera. He also composed and sung all the songs on the soundtrack. One song made me laugh so hard I cried.

In preparation for an art history side-by-side slide exam on Edo period paintings, my professor once said, “If you can’t remember the facts about any of the images, just write about what you see.” This is the only way to write about this film.  I will list what I saw and heard. From here on. I will refer to Palmer Rockey as PR.

Here goes nothing:

• Several parking lots (one shot lasts only a few frames)
• PR in a parking lot playing finger guns
• Ladies in bikinis
• PR running through a cemetery to his own funk song
• PR running through a corridor to his own disco song
• PR shadow boxing and pretending to jump rope to his own funk song
• PR having a long chat with his St. Bernard puppy, Bernie
• PR making out with a lady in a bikini to his own love song
• PR making out and tenderly dry humping a different lady in a tight red shirt
• PR in a yellow shirt with a black stripe down the front
• PR with a yellow shirt with a black striped collar
• PR in a red shirt with a white star on the collar and cowboy hat
• PR shirtless with upsetting shorts (three times)
• PR dancing to his own disco song
• PR woofing down green grapes with a copy of his album prominently on display
• PR dressed as a hooded scarlet guard
• PR posing for the camera
• PR rolling around with a fat guy
• Fake blood on a baby doll
• A native America shaker thingy
• A hand with a flashlight waving the light around onto a plastic skull
• PR with fake blood on naked, fish belly white back
• More smash cuts than I could count
• PR in the “supernatural room” doing some sort of ritual while bikini ladies dance in a circle to bad foley and PR’s songs
• An actor (Not PR) in a purple outfit with a white belt hanging out behind a bush in a park for DAYS
• A bunch of feathers dyed and clumped together
• A black and white sequence in a locker room about PR and his buddy in med school
• A woman whose twin sister has died dancing around a white coffin.
• 4 shots of the pavement where the camera man dropped the camera
• A weird narration (sometimes in falsetto) by PR trying to explain to the audience what the movie is about and why he made certain “genius” and “anti-establishment” aesthetic decisions.
• An actor (Not PR) reading from his script – twice
• PR dousing his pits with lime juice from a plastic lime
• More PR running

Basically, the movie is all Palmer Rockey all the time.

The End.

Thank you, Grindhouse Releasing.

See it.

Brent and Blake Cousins are back. Directed and written by Brett and starring Blake, this takes the guys years forward from Slaughter Day to make a new SOV-inspired film in which a cop uncovers a conspiracy to off the leader of the U.S.A. Well, it was shot in the 90s and finished a few years ago and it goes much deeper than that description, as this liquid can turn normal people into terrorists.

The Cousins have not chilled with age, doing wild stunts and crazy camera angles all over again, while using modern FX, supers and dubbing to make it seem like this all goes together when it totally doesn’t. The Vice President wants the President dead, but like an Andy Sidaris movie, this never leaves Hawaii. Why should it? You have 50 minutes? Then you’re ready for Brent and Blake to take you on another ride.

Because the footage sat in a vault for decades, the movie acts as a bizarre temporal rift. You have the brothers as their younger, stunt-crazy selves, but the post-production feels like it was handled by someone who just discovered every filter in Adobe After Effects. I will always be here for that.

You can watch this on Tubi.