American Satan

I thought this was a horror movie, but it definitely was not. It leaned more on the thriller film side. The soundtrack was actually decent, the acting and actors were great, the story was weak, rough, and tried to go too many places. Take out all the brutal shots and this could have been a lifetime movie.

Also, I had no idea who Andy Biersack was, but he was the only reason I kept watching.

I have been looking forward to this movie since I saw the IMDb page and watched the trailer. I was hoping that it would be THE movie for fans of metalcore. But it wasn't just my overly high hopes for this movie that made me incredibly disappointed. I am usually very good at seeing the good parts of bad movies, as in, "Well, the acting wasn't very good, but the story was great!" While parts of this movie were alright, maybe even good at parts, not one aspect of this film was good all the way through.

Writing: 3/10 The basic story of American Satan might have been good if it was handled better. However, the script, if indeed there was a script, was awful, and many, many times it was hard to tell if the bad product on screen was because of bad writing or bad acting. The production quality didn't turn out to be good enough to convincingly carry the scope of the film, which could have been better handled if the writer/director knew his own limitations.

Directing: 4/10 When I saw the movie, I didn't know that the writer/director, Ash Avildsen, is the CEO and founder of Sumerian Record, the label that produces Asking Alexandria, (a great band, for the record). If I had known this I might have had a slight inclination that this movie was made with no better prospects than to reel in Andy Biersack fangirls, and metalcore fans, myself included, and not delivered with passion for or love for the music, or even quality movies. What was caught on camera and put on screen, at times, was so chaotic and incoherent, as my friend and I were watching the movie, at a pivotal part of the film, my friend looked over at me and asked, "Wait, what happened?" and I had to explain what I was pretty sure had happened but was not clearly shown. Also, what the trailers showed of the band playing in the movie looked great and I was really looking forward to it, however what was shown in the movie looked like it was ripped straight from a concert tape of your average rock band. I couldn't get into it, even as a huge fan of the kind of music they play. All in all, it just wasn't good, and I believe the person most at fault for this entire catastrophe is the writer and director himself.

Acting: 5/10 The acting in this movie is very spotty. Sometimes it seems like the newcomers to acting and stars of the movie, Andy Biersack and Ben Bruce are doing very well with their acting debut, and other times its painful to watch. This goes for the experienced actors of the film to, finger pointed straight at Malcolm McDowell. But, as said before, it's often hard to tell if the poor product on screen is the fault of an actor doing their job poorly, or if the script they were given was just god-awful.

Overall: 4.5/10 There's not a lot to like here unless you're a die-hard Andy Biersack, Black Veil Brides fangirl, or boy, and consider everything he touches to be descended straight from heaven. Anyone who considers himself a fan of quality films, or at least have one thing, one good aspect of a movie to praise after devoting almost two hours to it, should probably go look somewhere else.

This movie tells a great story. The only thing that bothers me is that Andy doesn't sing. Why cast him if he's not going to sing? He has 10 times a better voice than the voice over

I've never rated a movie on IMDB but I feel obligated like so many others on here to balance the bad reviews. I don't know why they didn't like it. I loved it -I am disappointed I'll never be able to watch it for the first time again.

As an debut for so many of the cast and crew including the director/writer (first feature length drama) and Jesse Sullivan, who has basically NO acting experience, and two musicians (also no experience) it was well enough acted and well enough written to tell a great story.

There were revelations at just the right time and the last gimmick at the end was enough to make you say "ooooooooo!!!" to your movie watching partner next to you as the screen goes black and leads to credits.

To everyone saying it glorifies sex and drugs, (did you finish the movie?) I say when you make a deal with the devil where do you stop? Can you stop? Its not saying that drugs and groupie sex is the height of their career it's saying that they're getting caught up, as so many do. How many great artists have left us too soon due to heroin and other drug induced deaths?

This movie does well to be gritty and even makes you uncomfortable sometimes and it SHOULD! The content is raw and, from the perspective of a commoner with no knowledge of fame or (mis)fortune, real.

Loved it. Give it a shot. Have an open mind. If you like gritty independent stuff, you should like it!

I don't usually write reviews for films on here but I had to for this one, purely to counter balance the many negative reviews! Is the movie perfect, no, but it's actually pretty good if you like a little more 'indie' films and like alternative music. This movie isn't a 'supernatural' film but more like a thriller message about the dark side of the 'rock and roll music industry' and how wanting fame has it's costs on yourself and those around you.

I also thought the inexperienced actors were better actors and more convincing than the 'veterans'. I hadn't heard of Andy Biersack or Ben Bruce before this but for musicians to act they did a really good job and were very watchable, funny and convincing. The soundtrack is also very good plus 'The Relentless' bands music too has been on repeat since (Remington Leith's voice is perfect for Johnny Faust').

Overall it's not a bad movie, it's just more a film you'd stream at home than go and see at the movie theatre. I actually hope there is a follow up/TV series that had been suggested as I'd definitely watch it.

So if you're willing to not take yourself and this movie too seriously then I'd recommend watching it