“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.

The best Letterboxd reviewer, pd187, summed this one up: “nicki clyne (age 21, playing a lollipop-sucking raver teen) married allison mack & now runs the NXIVM cult – the only one who didnt go to prison.”

Imagine a world where everyone wears JNCO jeans and skateboards, a place where an aging stoner can raise Zolar (Jordan Hoffart, a pro skateboarder who now owns Black Plague Brewing), an alien who looks like a blue version of Capricon from Get Street Smart: A Kid’s Guide To Stranger Dangers. If you got that reference, you’re with friends.

A bunch of skater kids add him to their group, and yes, that’s Nicki Clyne playing Keiko, the girlboss of this. She slept with Keith Raniere for ten years and got a green card by marrying Allison Mack. Oh yeah, she was also on the new Battlestar Galactica. Jason Ellis was in this way before he tattooed his whole head. And I have no idea how they talked C. Thomas Howell into being in it, much less playing an evil alien.

Directed by Carl Goldstein and written by John Derevlany, this is all part of the grand awakening project, where we’ll all be fine with aliens coming here, because they can be rad and shred. But they won’t. They’ll eat us.

This was on Kids WB, and remember when there was a network with a singing frog? The WwwwwwwwwwwB!

You can watch this on Tubi.

Devilman started as a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Go Nagai. A high school student named Akira Fudo absorbs the powers of a demon with the help of his friend Ryo Asuka, becoming Devilman. There was a 39-episode anime series, a year-long run of the manga and even a crossover with Go Nagai’s other famous character, Mazinger Z vs. Devilman. While the anime had Devilman turning against demons to protect humanity, the manga has the entire world end, and God’s angels come to destroy what’s left. 

And then there’s this, a movie that Beat Takeshi said was “one of the four dumbest movies ever made after Getting Any?, Siberian Express and Pekin Genjin Who Are You?, saying that “there is nothing better than getting drunk and watching this movie. There is nothing better than getting drunk and watching this movie.” In Japan, people went to great lengths to hate on this film, including comedian Hiroshi Yamamoto, whose website was filled with bad reviews.

Imagine if a major comic book became a movie and it turned out to be the worst film ever, and then add in the fact that Japan has a national identity around its culture being important, and you get some idea of how hated this movie was.

Maybe it’s because music idols, the Izaki twins, were inexperienced at best and insanely horrid at worst in this. Or perhaps it’s impossible to tell the entire story in one movie. Or could it be the special effects that redefine bad? Could it be that every fight looks like a PS1 cutscene and not actual actors? 

Well, it has Bob Sapp as a TV announcer, so there’s that. And a hilarious scene where Akira finds the head of his love, Miki (Ayana Sakai), just left for him in his house. And it ends with the moon cracked, and I wonder, is this how Thundarr got here?

Director Hiroyuki Nasu made several manga adaptations, like the Be-Bop High School movies, as well as Beautiful Wrestlers: Down for the Count and Lesbians In Uniform. I have no idea how he made this, but he died a year later, so we can’t ask him.

Some people like to discuss the worst movies, and they always go back to the same well. Trust me, there are movies that are worse than anything you can imagine. This might be one of them: a movie blankly acted by singers unable to act, special effects unable to be special, and a beloved property treated like every 1980s comic book film other than Tim Burton’s Batman. 

You can watch this on Tubi.

We start at the funeral of Dawn Wiener, who got heavy, got acne, got date raped and then took her own life, all before the age of 20. Everyone worries that the way they treated her as a child is why this happened. Aviva watches these discussions and, despite only being a teenager — she’s played by eight different actors of different ages, races, and genders, but is supposed to be 13 — she wants a child.

She becomes pregnant by Judah, a family friend, and her family forces her to abort, which ruins her ability to become with child. No one tells her that, however. She runs away from home, has sex with a trucker and becomes part of the Sunshine Family, an ultra-religious home for orphans and runaways run by a father who hires a hitman to murder abortion doctors. And that killer is the trucker that Aviva just met, who she is sure that she’s in love with, until he kills the doctor, his daughter and himself via suicide by cop.

Finally, she meets Mark, who is suspected of touching Missy — the estranged sister of Dawn — who tells her that everyone is programmed to be one way or the other, that free will does not exist. But somehow, she’s able to find Judah again, who is now Otto, and feels that this time, she has a child.

Aviva is played by Emani Sledge, Valerie Shusterov, Hannah Freiman, Rachel Corr, Will Denton, Sharon Wilkins, Shayna Levine and Jennifer Jason Leigh in this Todd Solondz-directed and written movie. Of the casting, Roger Ebert said, “Consider the pathos brought to Aviva by the actress Sharon Wilkins, who is a plus-size adult black woman playing a little girl, and who creates perhaps the most convincing little girl of them all. Or Jennifer Jason Leigh, three times as old as Aviva but barely seeming her age. These individual segments are so effective that at the end of each one we know how we feel, and why. It’s just that the next segment invalidates our conclusions.”

Solondz doesn’t make easy films to watch or get your brain around. Good.

This Radiance Films release has a 4K restoration from the original negative by the Museum of Modern Art approved by writer-director Todd Solondz. Extras include a new interview with Todd Solondz by critic Hannah Strong; Todd Solondz and His Cinema of Cruelty, a new video essay by critic Lillian Crawford; a trailer; a limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Bence Bardos, extracts from the original press book, plus archival interviews with Solondz and composer Nathan Larson and a reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters.

You can get this on 4K UHD or Blu-ray from MVD.

Once called Vampz, this Steve Lustgarten (American Taboo, Power Slide)- directed and written movie is about Lillith (Sierra Tawan), Delilah (Tawanna Browne), and Cleo (Chantal Lashon), who are vampires who find that going out for their blood has become too dangerous. But what if they started a high-end call girl service, along with their familiar Dennis (Rick Irvin), and began using DoorDash to obtain the plasma they need so badly?

One night while they feed, a cop named Keith (Lamik Blake) sees them, which creates a psychic link that gets passed to his abused wife Eve (Emayatzy Corinealdi), who eventually becomes a vampire herself.

This looks a lot like a music video and reminds me of a time when between Blade and Queen of the Damned, it seemed like black vampires were about to have a moment. There are also two Blacula movies, as well as Vamp, Vampire in Brooklyn, and Ganja & Hess.

The best part of this? So much gore. These vampires don’t just drink blood; they devour people. There are some great ideas in it as well, so ignore the budget — you know that already — and just sit back.

You can watch this on Tubi.