Satan's Playground (2006)

 

 

(out of 5)



Satan's Playground (2006)
Directed By:  Dante Tomaselli
Starring:  Felissa Rose, Ellen Sandweiss, Edwin Neal, Raine Brown, Danny Lopes, Irma St. Paulie, Christie Sanford
Format:  NTSC Region 1 Personal Collection
Tagline:  Enter If You Dare.

     I love Dante Tomaselli movies.  Yeah sure some of them are a little out there and always have surreal supernatural overtones but the man knows how to put on a horrific show.  At least for me I mean Desecration wowed me when I first saw it.  Satan's Playground is a bit more of a straightforward horror film involving the evil Leeds family who lives out in the middle of no where and preys on hitchhikers, broken down cars, etc.  But that's not all that preys on anyone who enters this New Jersey forest, there is also an unseen evil of some kind that flies through the air and cuts it's victims to pieces without being seen. 

     The cast is amazing let me just start out with Raine Brown and while she doesn't have a big part in this she always is a huge plus for me.  Ever since I saw Barricade I've loved her, such an emotional actress.  Then we have Felissa Rose from Sleepaway Camp, Ellen Sandweiss from The Evil Dead and even Edwin Neal from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre...nice little line up of small horror icons.  Felissa definitely shines and I'm not sure why this woman never really became a bigger star than she is I mean everyone talks about her but she isn't exactly pumping out film after film or anything.  Next is the beautiful Ellen Sandweiss whom I've met...awesome woman to meet and she is another actress I'm not sure why didn't catch on more as a regular working actress.  All of these wonderful people did an excellent job in this film there really was no bad acting to speak of.  Danny Lopes as the mentally challenged Sean Bruno must get an honorable mention here I thought he did very well regardless of some of the reviews I've read on this movie.  Irma St. Paulie and Christie Sanford are by the far the creepiest of all the creepies in this one and both did a superb acting job.  Sanford especially was very frightening. 

     The surreal atmosphere of the forest and house is really the thing I liked most about this film.  Well all Tomaselli films for that matter.  Not a super amount of gore or anything but the film definitely has it's bloody moments.  The dialogue is very believable which is good for a film of this budget caliber.  Nothing is worse than a poorly written low-budget film, to me that's what absolutely has to be good. 
 
  The plot is fairly simple and nothing needs too much explaining as far as I'm concerned but then again I'm the type who doesn't need to know a whole lot.  Imagination is good to have sometimes.  The Bruno family breaks down in the middle of the forest and one by one they are drawn out of the car and attacked by a family of psychos.  What is not to love.  No bad effects either but again this is a Tomaselli film and he loves this unique effects, as do I.