Satanis The Devil’s Mass DVD

REVIEW: SATANIS — THE DEVIL’S MASS (1970) 

“Behind the black curtains of suburbia… the Devil throws a house party.”

Long before goat skulls became Etsy chic and Satan turned meme-worthy, Satanis: The Devil’s Mass dragged America’s moral guardians kicking and screaming into the lair of Anton Szandor LaVey — High Priest of the Church of Satan, organ enthusiast, lion owner, and self-proclaimed Antichrist of San Francisco.

Shot in grainy vérité by Ray Laurent, this 1970 curiosity isn’t your typical drive-in shocker or midnight splatterfest. No, Satanis is something far stranger: a voyeuristic descent into ritual madness, backyard heresy, and the strangely mundane mechanics of modern Satanism. Think Mondo Cane meets a Rosemary’s Baby home video.

What do we see? Nude altars. Goat heads. Sinister chants. A woman’s back branded with a pentagram. All served with deadpan seriousness and an organ soundtrack that sounds like Nosferatu’s karaoke night. LaVey struts through it all like Bela Lugosi running a fetish club — theatrical, sinister, and charming in a way that feels dangerous because it’s smart.

But don’t let the ritual blood fool you. Satanis isn’t just here for the shock value. Between the ceremonies, we hear from neighbors (“He seemed nice until the lion showed up”), followers (“It’s about freedom”), and skeptics (“He’s full of it, but damn entertaining”). It paints a picture not of devil-worshipping monsters, but of rebels, oddballs, and thinkers who found a strange kind of home in LaVey’s dark circus.

If you’re expecting gore, look elsewhere. This is psychological unease. Existential dread. A film that chills not with demons, but with the unsettling idea that the Devil might not be a monster… he might just be your neighbor with a pipe organ and a philosophy.

Verdict:

A grainy gem of cult cinema. Equal parts sleaze, sociology, and Satan. Essential viewing for horror heads, occult junkies, and anyone who likes their documentaries laced with brimstone.

Come for the Black Mass. Stay for the lion.