Satan's Little Helper Blu-ray Review

Written by Robert Gold

Blu-ray released by Synapse Films

Written and directed by Jeff Lieberman
2004, 100 minutes, Not Rated
Released on October 25th, 2022

Starring:
Alexander Brickel as Douglas Whooly
Katheryn Winnick as Jenna Whooly
Stephen Graham as Alex
Amanda Plummer as Merrill Whooly
Joshua Annex as Satan Man
Waas Stevens as Sean Whooly
Dan Ziskie as Vernon
Melisa McGregor as Nicole

 

Review:

It’s Halloween, young Dougie’s favorite day of the year and he is looking forward to trick-or-treating with his older sister Jenna, who is coming home from college. Dougie is obsessed with a new video game called Satan’s Little Helper in which a child joins Satan for a night of chaos. His mother takes him to the ferry to meet his sister and show off his red Devil costume, but his hopes are dashed when she arrives with her new “friend” Alex – and she has the nerve to invite this guy to join them on their special night out. When they get home, Dougie’s mom encourages him to give Alex a chance, but the boy runs away into the neighborhood. It is here he crosses paths with a silent man in a Satan mask placing corpses in his neighbors’ yards as decorations. Dougie believes this is all make-believe and offers to help if Satan will “kill” Alex, like in the game. With Alex out of the picture, Satan Man comes to the boy’s house where his mother and sister assume he is Alex in disguise and welcome him inside. Mayhem ensues as the body count grows, but what will happen when the family figures out young Dougie has befriended a psychopath on a killing spree?

Satan’s Little Helper is a high-concept chiller about a maniac taking advantage of a child’s innocence and benefiting from a case of mistaken identity. Written and directed by cult favorite Jeff Lieberman (Squirm, Just Before Dawn), the film takes place over the span of several hours on Halloween. Lieberman says in an interview on this disc that the idea for the story came while hosting a Halloween party and not knowing the identity of one of his attendees. Inviting a dangerous person into your house because you think he is someone else is fantastic and Lieberman milks it for all it is worth.

 

Horror films with children in the lead role can be tricky; luckily Alexander Brickel (Palindromes), who appears in almost every scene as Dougie, manages to avoid falling into the category of “bratty kid actor”. It helps that his character is genuinely likeable and not a jerk to his family. Dougie’s father turns up later in the film, but the boy shares an instant connection to Satan Man (Joshua Annex).The villain has a great look with his genuinely creepy mask and despite never speaking a word, it is always easy to understand his meaning. Katheryn Winnick (Hellraiser: Hellworld) co-stars as Jenna and has some of the most uncomfortable moments in the film with the killer, as she is convinced he is simply her horny new boyfriend. The real scene stealer is the always watchable Amanda Plummer (The Fisher King, Needful Things) as Dougie’s quirky mother. She owns every second of her screen time and shares great chemistry with the actors playing her children.

Satan’s Little Helper is a horror/comedy hybrid that mixes suspense and a decent amount of bloodshed with the pitch-blackest of humor. One highlight features Dougie and Satan Man in a grocery store parking lot with Dougie riding in a shopping cart playing “the game” in which the goal is to hit as many pedestrians as possible, with bonus points for successfully striking the blind person or the baby stroller! The small town setting is beautifully decorated for the holiday and there are plenty of fun costumes too. Released just in time for Halloween, Synapse presents the title “uncut” for the first time, although it has been a few years since I watched the DVD and, outside of some quick gory inserts, I cannot definitively say what makes up the extra four minutes of run time, and Synapse isn’t telling.

 

 (* UPDATE From Synapse Films: To Answer Robert's question a previous Blu release was trimmed (they used a TV version). This is the first time the uncut version has been made available on Blu.)

Video and Audio:

The film was shot with first-generation digital cameras and technology has advanced substantially in the last fifteen years. That being said, the picture quality is strong with the image presented in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Colors appear vibrant and tend to pop, especially reds while black levels appear a bit flat.

A DTS-HD MA2.0 gets the job done with clean, easily understandable dialogue and well-balanced music and effects cues. The score is at times powerful without becoming intrusive. Optional English subtitles are provided for anyone in need.

 

Special Features:

An archival audio commentary from director Jeff Lieberman reveals a great deal of interesting information tracing the production from inspiration to release. Lieberman is a no-nonsense guy who knows what he’s talking about and is pretty entertaining too. We get plenty of production stories and notes on his cast and crew and new cameras.

In the newly-produced featurette The Devil in the Details (2022, 33 minutes), we catch up with Lieberman and hear some similar stories from the commentary, but some even better ones too, backed up with interviews from the original mask artist, Jonathan Fuller; cinematographer Dejan Georgevich; and actor Alexander Brickel, among others. Brickel’s comments are particularly interesting as he looks back on his experience working as a child actor.

Mr. Satan’s Neighborhood: A Tour of the Filming Locations with Jeff Lieberman (2022, 23 minutes) is a self-explanatory piece in which the director returns to the various upstate New York locations – with Satan mask in tow. He talks about what made him choose these places and what work went into making them match his artistic vision.

The vintage Behind-the-Scenes Featurette (2004, 5 minutes) is made up of on-set footage narrated by Lieberman, who covers the grocery cart scene and a few of the kills.

A promotional trailer has been included.

 

Grades:

Movie: Cover
Cover
Video:
Audio:
Features:
Overall: 4 Star Rating

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Robert Gold
Staff Reviewer
Robert's favorite genres include horror (foreign and domestic), Asian cinema and pornography (foreign and domestic). His ability to seek out and enjoy shot on video (SOV) horror movies is unmatched. His love of films with a budget under $100,000 is unapologetic.
Other articles by this writer

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