Scream Greats, Vol. 2: Satanism and Witchcraft

Disappointing follow-up to the phenomenal Scream Greats Vol 1 eschews the planned focus on esteemed contemporary horror film figures, instead embracing sensationalist examination of and commentary on, you guessed it, satanism and witchcraft.

Of little interest to rational Fangoria or Starlog readers, it consequently killed the series dead.

Originally, bearded filmmaker Tobe Hooper was to be the focus of this installment. What went wrong?

Recommended for superstitious adolescents and gullible adults, only.

Otherwise, don't bother.

I am a proud owner of Volume 1 of this series (can only two entries be considered a series? - ah well, I digress) and this entry explains why there was no third. Volume one was an excellent retrospective of Makeup man/FX artist Tom Savini. Volume two is... I don't know what it is other than a waste of time. As other reviewers have mentioned, this killed the franchise. Fangoria had a great idea with Volume 1 - present an in depth background of an influential person in the horror/fantasy film making world. I was looking forward to chapters about George Romero, Rick Baker, even Jim Henson! (Black Crystal?) This entry killed it. RIP.

I admit that I'm biased here. Paul Valentine is a friend I've known since grade school and this video was the first I'd seen of him since 1974. Wow! Paul used to say in school he didn't need math because he was going to be like Elvis - an entertainer. He dreamed of being a rock star and movie star and what do you know? Here he was headlining a Paramount Pictures video! I admit that as a Christian I was taken aback at first but the little boy I first met in second grade was there for all too see. I rapidly came to understand what Paul was presenting. He no more worshipped the devil than I do but he knew a potentially successful schtick when he saw it; a schtick he readily admits to having parlayed into 24 years of personal appearances, a mammoth "satanic" church, and hundreds of YouTube videos and BlogTalkRadio shows. Good job, Paul!

But I don't believe for a second you're a satanist.

It's been claimed that Fangoria magazine's Scream Greats Vol. 2 killed the series, but that is absolute nonsense. What ended it was not anger at and rejection of this installment by Fangoria readers and horror fans in general, but instead the company's own disinterest in continuing it. My pride in this is not just the fact that it features me and my then fledgling (one month old) Church of Satanic Liberation. Rather it is a valuable expose of factions on both ends of the spectrum - including mine, warts and all. That and the film clips are priceless.

In its initial release, the truly disturbing parts of this production were the obvious psychopaths claiming to have been witness to child sacrifice; acts which NEVER took place. According to an FBI report several years later, the whole "Satanic child abuse" hysteria was groundless, including reports by women claiming they'd been raised to be "breeders for Satan".

There are indeed comedic aspects. I believe the Warrens and Lady Rhea steal the show here, surpassing even my all too obvious drug induced (Comtrex and beer) ramblings. Why? They took their nonsense and themselves seriously. That was a trap I never allowed myself to fall into.

Overall, Scream Greats Vol. 2 is an interesting, important, and comical look into a major social issue of its time. Watch it with an open mind.

The only reason to watch this is the world's first glimpse of Paul Douglas Valentine. Sure the lunatics like Ed and Lorraine Warren and Ted Gunderson add some side-splitting moments, but PDV sticks out like a sore thumb as the only person knowing what’s going on and able to play the audience properly. A true atheistic satanist, Valentine was obviously having fun throughout and clearly had his tongue planted firmly in his cheek more than once. The “satanic panic“ was a joke and should be just another silly footnote to the 80s. Sadly, the 21st century has produced a new breed of “theistic satanists“ who actually worship him as a deity. Now THAT is scary.

And sad.

In the interest of full disclosure I should state that I am family.