Satan's Little Helper

Jeff Lieberman's long-awaited comeback has become a pitch-black and sadistic horror comedy in which chuckles definitely get the upper hand. I've always been a great fan of Lieberman's work and I consider him an essential director for the cult-genre, even though he only made two really notable films ("Squirm", the only creature feature revolving on killer worms and "Blue Sunshine", a splendid psychedelic drug-movie). Hopefully, this "Satan's Little Helper" will become his third cult classic within a few years! This is an outrageous satire, hilarious in case you have a morbid sense of humor but practically unendurable in case you exclusively swear by intelligently plotted films. During his rather long absence (he only made a couple of unnoticed TV-movies during the nineties), Lieberman apparently did a lot of observing, as his new screenplay is a spoof on many modern society issues such as video games, the spoiled youth, religion etc… The story centers on a spoiled little brat who wastes most of his time by playing an immoral and violent video game called Satan's Little Helper. When he encounters a man dressed like Satan on Halloween's day, he thinks it's an act and he nearly begs this guy to assist him on his murder spree. Without realizing the seriousness of his crimes, young Douglas laughs at many violent massacres and he even introduces this personification of evil to his family. The plot sounds like a bunch of absurd nonsense – and actually, it is – but it's FUNNY nonsense! The comical effect is reached by the stupidity of the characters and – especially – by the portrayal of Satan! He doesn't speak but the mask he's wearing is great and his spontaneous reactions are hilarious. The "gags" in this film are pretty unethical (a cat is smashed against a wall, pregnant women & blind men are ran over by carts, intestines are being knotted…) and I'm sure many people won't even grant this film the littlest smile. Too bad for them, because "Satan's Little Helper" is unique in its own peculiar way and certainly worth checking out for people with no morals. There's some nice acting to admire, too! Amanda Plummer (her face alone scares me) is good as the eccentric mother and the gorgeous Katheryn Winnick shines as the sexy sister. I hope to see a lot more work from this young and obviously talented actress! The only disadvantage of this film is that it's slightly too long and the end sequences could easily have been cut from the final product. Nonetheless, a very cool film!

What we have here with Satan's Little Helper is a pretty predictable, occasionally silly, and overall average written and acted film. But it's also a pretty fresh and unique flick that should be a welcome viewing for any horror fan.

The story revolves around a little Jewish looking kid, who because of his new favorite video game, Satan's Little Helper, has now combined the game's ideas with everyday life. His sister is home from college and all he wants is to trick or treat with her. Well, young lovely sister has brought home college boyfriend and this is ruining lil brother's dreams of a great Halloween. With this new found love for Satan, because of the video game, he runs out and looks for Satan to go trick or treating...I think. Well, luck be told he finds a creepy lookin guy dressed up like Satan. Even though this guy may or not may be Satan, he sure doesn't lack in the evil department. Unbeknownst to lil boy, he's befriended a serial killer on the loose during Halloween, and he's truly become, Satan's Little Helper.

The flick overall, isn't really anything that special. Even at just over 90 minutes, the film felt a tad too long. I was constantly checking the time during the last 30 or so minutes. Plus the kid who plays the lead, is one annoying little kid with one-dimensional acting skills. Watch the little girl in The Fall to really watch good child acting. Anyways, the film does succeed in it's unique idea. Having a silent murderer leading a little kid around to help kill people is pretty sweet. For a low-budget horror flick, it's definitely a nice treat for any horror fan. But all the ridiculous high praise is just a lot of hot air. It's good, but it ain't that good.

Satan's Little Helper arrived just in time for the Halloween holiday and was perfectly fitting. It certainly has the Lieberman stamp of dark humor all over it. This is Jeff Lieberman's first genre offering in a long time (since 1987's underrated Remote Control) and it's a nice welcome back. Lieberman has loaded this thing with satire. It seems he has a lot to say about video games and parental unawareness. It could come off as heavy handed if he weren't having a blast poking fun at it. Here's the plot: Dougie's favorite game is Satan's Little Helper and he's dressed as such for Halloween. In the game, you follow Satan around and help him murder and plunder and such. Dougie happens across a serial killer dressed like a devil and, staying true to his favorite game, follows him around and lends a helping hand. It's very funny in the "should I be laughing at this?" sense. There are many moments and one-liners that would have made me spew milk from my nose if I were drinking milk at the time. This movie is definitely not for everyone, but it will surely get more laughs than scares. I would classify Satan's Little Helper as a Halloween guilty pleasure.

This film is exactly what a horror should aim to be. The film itself is sick, twisted and has a creepy sense of humour that is always lurking underneath the atmosphere. This film is by far no means perfect and you can very easily tell that the budget was not very high. But the director works well with what he has and gives the viewer something that up mostly scares them and makes them feel for the characters. This film is a great horror/slasher movie and whoever enjoys films like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre or House of 1000 corpses should definitely pick this up as it is well worth watching.

A scary 7/10

Very Original Horror The very original concept of 'Satan's Little Helper' is almost enough to overlook the poor editing, acting, and total lack of a musical score. Yep, almost.

I only saw this film to drool over blonde bombshell Katheryn Winnick after seeing her in 'Hellraiser VIII.' Well I wasn't disappointed by the fact that she spends the entire film dressed for Halloween as a renaissance bar wench showing off her "assets" and by the fact that her younger brother has a crush on her.

Anyway the original concept of 'Satan's Little Helper' revolves around an unknown serial killer dressed in the frightening rubber mask seen on the cover box. Halloween is actually a good day to go on a mindless bloody rampage. He can get away with dragging around dead bodies, or body parts, and wielding weapons without the police batting an eye. Screams for help and 911 calls are also dismissed. Attacking people in their homes is easy. Everyone is prepared to answer the door at night for a masked stranger with candy in hand, rather than a gun. (For the record I do still keep a gun by my door even on Halloween.) Maybe the ease of being a serial killer on Halloween is why Michael Myers always chooses this day. How does he spend his time the other 364 day of the year? A young boy Dougie witnesses the murders but assumes they're all part of Halloween fun and offers to become Satan's little helper. Hence the mute serial killer uses Dougie as an accomplice in his murder spree.

In a very funny scene, after realizing the killings are real Dougie prays to God. (Much more effective than calling the police or grabbing a weapon.) The serial killer now being hunted by Dougie's family changes Halloween costumes and appears a Jesus. Dougie lets him in the house believing his prayers were answered.

Where the film fails isn't in its poor production quality but in its horror movie clichés. Once the family realizes the masked serial killer is real do they, RUN LIKE HELL? Hide? Hold up and wait for help? Grab a weapon? Or simply fight back? (After all the serial killer doesn't have any super powers, he's just one man.) NO! They follow the usual horror movie clichés of splitting up wandering around dark areas and investigating strange noises in the basement.

But I do give the film credit for having a GREAT ending. Always key and very difficult in horror films. A bad ending can ruin an entire horror movie.

Worth a viewing for an original idea. Only worth a second viewing to drool over Katheryn Winnick a second time. And brace yourself for the poor production quality.