Satan's Blade

Director - L. Scott Castillo Jr.
Starring - Tom Bongiorno, Stephanie Leigh Steel, and Thomas Cue
Release Date - 1984
Genre - Horror
Format - BluRay (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Lately I seem to find myself in the never ending zombie slump and as much as I love zombie films, I have watched way too many for any fan.   I wanted to mix it up a bit and return to another sub-genre I love.  I decided to check out the Slasher//Video and Olive Films release of the 1984 obscure slasher Satan's Blade on blu.  If you pay any attention to my reviews then you know I fucking love 80s slashers.  I thought I had heard of them all but Satan's Blade was a new one to me and with Olive Films behind this blu release I knew it would be worth watching at least once.  Hell, regardless of how bad the slasher was it was still better than checking out another bland zombie flick trying to steal The Walking Dead's thunder.
     The film begins with three thieves robbing a bank and fleeing to a cabin.  Once there they take their mask off we learn that two are females and one of them is a greedy bitch.  She kills one of her female partners but someone is lurking nearby wielding a knife and kills her.  Meanwhile, a group of women have moved in next door for a little fun outdoors and skiing.  They clean up the blood and the next day two couples move into the cabin for some of the same outdoor fun but they are not alone.  The same man that killed the bank robber is still there stalking and killing.  There is a legend in there about a madman that wields Satan's blade.  The two groups start dying one by one when the local police get involved but they may not be the help they are looking for.
     Now I love a good slasher.  Hell, I love a shitty slasher and I welcome any slasher from the late 70s and 80s over any new zombie flick released in the last 5 years so when I heard that Slasher//Video and Olive Films was teaming up to release Satan's Blade on blu I had to check it out.  I can't recall anyone ever mentioning this slasher so that added some mystery to the film which really excited me.  Sadly, the slasher film fell short on the entertainment but was still a welcome change to the zombie kick the horror community has been on.  The acting in this one is not the best I have seen and definitely not up there with the best slashers.  In fact, it reminded me a lot of the porn flicks from that era.  The cast does not try to make their characters feel real.  All they do is spit out their lines and hope for the best.  The story for this one is not your typical slasher but still contains all the elements.  The story for this one does not follow any particular killer unlike most slashers.  Instead, it follows a knife that possess those that hold it to kill.  This is a strange way to introduce a killer but it does mix it up from the typical slasher films.  With that being said, the film unfolds like a normal slasher with the killer lurking and, well, slashing.  Also, the film does not offer up anything in the way of on screen kills.  The ones we do get are week and poorly executed.  The practical effects we do get are not that great as well which is one of the many things slasher fans look for in a slasher flick.  Finally, the release from Olive Films is a 2k scan of the original 35mm and it looks decent in comparison to other versions of the film floating around but it is not the best I have seen from Olive.  The film also comes with a director's narrative, Remembering Satan's Blade documentary, photo gallery, scrapbook, Dutch and Japanese home video scene, trailer and fan trailer for Satan's Blade 2.  Overall, Satan's Blade is a below mediocre slasher that is easy to forget but Slasher//Video along with Olive films was able to put together a pretty solid release for the film.  This is a release for hardcore slasher fans only because the typical horror fan may not respect the film the way it deserves.