Artivels Undescribable Perfection

Protraph Lack of good storyline.

FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Roman James Hoffman In 1966, a one-time circus lion-tamer Anton Szandor LaVey founded The Church of Satan in San Francisco and grandiosely announced the age of Satan had begun, an age that would celebrate the carnal instincts in man, and would be characterized by the mantra of "indulgence instead of abstinence". Although a media non-entity since the early nineties, at the time, the fledging Church shocked and scandalized as much as it bemused and confused…and this was in no small part to LaVey's charisma, showmanship, and effective mixing of blasphemy (compounded in 1968 with the publication of 'The Satanic Bible') and of horror B-movie imagery which left many asking if it was just a racket, a reason to get naked for it's largely well-to-do white middle-class membership, or indeed had darker aspirations.However, this documentary in choosing to sacrifice the weightier aspects of the Church to the titillating nude alters and B-movie lighting offers such a superficial treatment that for those for whom "Satanis" is their introduction to LaVey and the Church, the reaction of snide dismissal is totally understandable. The documentary is basically composed of three strands: talking heads of neighbours (both sympathetic and antagonistic) and Church members; extended scenes of Satanic rituals; and interviews with LaVey. The ritual scenes begin as interesting but quickly become stale and interminable and (most boringly) designed to titillate…a theme which re-emerges when members of the Church discuss sex and masturbation and, despite supposedly being advocates of the flesh liberated from Judeo-Christian conceptions of shame, giggle like pathetic teenagers (something which visibly irks LaVey as he tries to talk). In the end the only interesting pieces of the documentary (few and far between) are the interviews with LaVey himself as he waxes lyrical on the tenets of his Church with an energy and enthusiasm he would lose in later years, something evident in the still-patchy-but-much-better later documentary "Speak of the Devil" (www.imdb.com/title/tt0183811/reviews-4).All in all, I would only recommend "Satanis" to people who are already acquainted with the Church of Satan and want to get a feel of what the first few years must have been like as to those coming to the Church for the first time would be forgiven for not seeing the nuances and complexities inherent in the organization. I recommend the documentary "Speak of the Devil" for its more mature approach and focus on LaVey himself but for those really seeking knowledge on the Church I recommend the authoritative and comprehensive book "The Church of Satan" by Michael Aquino available to download for free. Shemhamforash indeed.

johnslegers Having spoken a well-read LaVey satanist in a Gothic pub one time, I figured I somehow understood what LaVey satanism was all about. It's just an expression of your hedonistic self. "Satan" is just a reference to self-indulgence and symbolic for the counter-cultural nature of this philosophy. It is just a way to separate the really enlightened individuals, who come to realize that self-indulgence is the highest form of existence. Or so he told me.Yet when I saw this video, I felt like LaVey was nothing but an adult with the mind of an adolescent, screwing around and inventing all sorts of generic rituals to incorporate into his "religion" just to shock the WASP environment and just to get off as his exhibitionist self with his friends and associates. This was not how I imagined LaVey to be and it really made me lose the last respect I still have for this guy.Considering this film is just a "shockumentary" filmed in the most boring way possible, it's hard to give any rating higher than a 2. The only reason I still give it a 2 instead of a 1 is the somewhat entertaining value of seeing a bunch of adults involved in the most ridiculous of rituals.

zeeboe82 "Satanis: The Devil's Mass" is a United States account concerning the "Church of Satan". It was released in 1970 and is directed and produced by Ray Laurent. It shows various clips of interviews of "Church of Satan" founder Anton LaVey's family, neighbors and "Church of Satan" members.I screened this picture for the first time ever tonight and I thought it was boring and a cure for insomnia. I've seen a lot of scary films and things in my personal life, so perhaps that's why the documentary didn't disturb me. I suppose if you've never viewed the kind of eccentric activities Mr. LaVey and his followers do, you may find the movie entertaining. I felt however that the only good part of the flick was when Anton LaVey talked about what he believes, but that's it.I realize in it's day, this might have been a scary and shocking flick since Satanism was a taboo subject. Be that as it may, standards have changed greatly in society, so anyone living today will most likely not be affected by it because it's tame compared to other projects.This motion picture is most likely not intended to be frightening, but to educate. However, I think most viewers who are not familiar with the topic mostly are going in for shocks and scares and it does not have that in my view. In any case, if you're needing to seriously study this subject, it makes for a good movie and will teach you what you need to know.

sleepdirt This film swings the doors to the early days of the Church of Satan (CoS) wide open and was, for quite some time, the only interview footage of Anton Szandor LaVey available. (Scenes from this film are still in use today in news specials and documentaries, often times used as propaganda by some groups to turn people FROM Satanism. Most of the humor in this film will not be seen by the audiences that these groups are trying to influence.)This documentary interviews neighbors, friends and enemies of Anton LaVey and his church and helps shed some light (dark?) on origins of the philosophies that were codified in this unique religious movement. This ilm is not without it's tongue-in-cheek moments. During one of the opening scenes, one of a Satanic ritual, the participant's solemn mood is broken when the Priest of the ceremony (LaVey) says, "Okay, that's enough for that part." Perhaps it was the director's idea to show some incidental humor in the film.One thing that will probably strike everybody as strange is the sense of humor shown throughout the film by most of the people that are interviewed. Satanists are often seen as dour, humorless folk, but, as Anton LaVey points out in the film, a person without a sense of humor is intolerable at worst, and doesn't make a good Satanist. Humor abounds and stands in stark contrast to the rituals.Also seen, as noted before, are some of the enemies to LaVey's cause. There are interviews with Mormon missionaries and priests from the area and they are given a chance to voice their outrage towards this philosophy. This film is highly recommended as a documentary of a rather maligned religion. It can be a bit hard to find, but it is available.