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SATANIC ATTRACTION (1990)
Directed by Fauzi Mansur
Complete Entertainment, Inc. VHS
Reviewed 06.14.07
Review by Joseph A. Ziemba
THE FILM
There's a fine line between expectation
and dread.
Fauzi Mansur is back. And, he brought
us a slasher! After a lengthy career
in porn, Brazilian smut peddler
Fauzi Mansur said goodbye to the
film industry with two outrageous
jolts of back-to-back sleaze. Barely
released by Complete Entertainment
(Deadly
Love) in 1990, the unpleasant
Ritual Of Death was
a garbled mess of extreme gore,
downbeat vibes, and sex with decapitated
goat heads. Hot stuff. Satanic
Attraction, an immediate follow-up,
retains the chaos. Such was my expectation;
such was my dread. Luckily, the
set of Satanic must've
been stocked with Twinkies and cocaine.
Progress this focused is impossible
to achieve without a little push.
Towards the middle of Satanic
Attraction, a fat cop exclaims,
"Now I don't understand anything!"
Mark those words.
Natives dance. A man in a humorously
large stuffed animal head performs
a satanic ritual. Two siblings have
their wrists slashed. Then, naturally,
it's 14 YEARS LATER! A killer, who
accessorizes with seaweed and skinny
knives, is on the loose. Apparently,
this man collects the blood of women
in order to rejuvenate his zombie-sister,
who lives in a coffin. How do I
know? Well, a lady DJ runs a "sensational"
radio show out of a broom closet,
on which she divulges intimate details
about the killings as they happen.
Shazam! From there, we get fixations
on lions and odd knick-knacks, a
bar of soap with embedded razor
blades, major incest, a supernatural
orb, people gorging on fruit immediately
after sex, atrocious gore (both
fake and at the expense of fish),
and a crack team of heroes (irritable
cop, tough sailor, pregnant woman
in a bikini). Comprehension is optional,
but not recommended.
At 102 minutes, Satanic Attraction
just won't end. Consider that a
minor beef. Taking cues from Cemetery
Of Terror and Jess Franco's
Bloody Moon, this film
appropriates American trash-slash
ambiance into something wholly unrecognizable.
It's creative, nasty, and incomparably
weird; similar to the more serious
Ritual Of Death, but better
proportioned. Because, in addition
to the mismatched script, fidgety
pace, and dark tone, Satanic
is frequently ridiculous. And funny.
Dubbed screams from cartoon libraries.
A zombie with slow motion voice
commands. That fruit eating scene.
Plus, there are fake saxophones
every five minutes. Always a sign
of excellence.
Fauzi Mansur crossed the line. Again.
This time, I was right there with
him.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
It's a ten. Also, the cover art
is embossed. Another ten.
EXTRAS
Dare you expose yourself to the
five minute trailer for Gangsters
In Love?! There's a guy who
does Three Stooges impressions and
a serious pair of stone-washed,
"zipper in the back" elastic
jeans that are meant to be attractive.
Can Psychos In Love top
that? I think not.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Fauzi goes out ahead. While not
a full-fledged hit, Satanic
Attraction offers a balanced
and fulfilling last gasp for sleazy,
direct-to-video 1980s weirdness.
Slashers don't get much more crazed
than this. On that note, I'd suggest
you attempt to find a copy of this
film. On another note, what do you
think of pregnant women in bikinis?
Better than goat-head sex? I know
what Las
Vegas Blood Bath would
say, but I can't decide. |
Dagger eyes
Fruits 'n' giggles
Legs Cut Off!
Yeah.
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