As far as low-budget films go, it’s safe to say I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of the horror genre. Sometimes I get a recommendation and when I check it out, I want to scream. I understand everyone has different tastes and mine are a tad off of the norm (so to speak), but some low-budget films are just unforgivable.
I kept hearing about a 2004 film called Satan’s Little Helper and it seemed like all the reviews and feedback I was hearing were positive, for the most part. Once I finally got my hands on it, I was pleasantly surprised. Jeff Lieberman (Just Before Dawn, Squirm, Blue Sunshine) wrote and directed SLH and despite a low budget and some cheesy acting, he manages to put out a pretty excellent Halloween-themed film that has an excellent plot and some pretty inventive stuff happening.
Young Douglas Whooly is obsessed with a video game called “Satan’s Little Helper” and he is convinced that on Halloween night he will find and assist Satan in all of his violent acts, collecting a various range of points for each murder (which he doesn’t understand are very real). Douglas continues to laugh and have a good time being Satan’s Little Helper until his family becomes next in Satan’s crosshairs.
This film is superb in that it explores the gigantic belief that violent video games and movies breed stupidity and violent crime, while remaining true to its horror roots, but not being afraid to have a tongue-in-cheek approach. Sadly this film may be overlooked as “just another low-budget horror movie” by people not willing to look past some of the silly acting or just the overall look of the finished product, which is clearly filmed on a cheaper camera.
The movie as a whole is ridiculously fun, hyper violent, and a comment to all the critics with such an unrealistic view of video games and movies. This is a groovy film worth checking out and you should do so, if you get a chance. I personally give this one 3 poisoned candies out of 5.
I agree. This movie was fun!