In Satanic Panic, Samantha ‘Sam’ Craft (Hayley Griffith) is your everyday girl, working at a takeaway restaurant and delivering pizza to make some coin. When her two co-workers refuse to travel to deliver an order to the rich side of town, Sam is quick to accept the order as every delivery has a potential tip at the end.
After dropping the order off, Sam has the door closed on her with no tip. Already having a bad day, Sam refuses to let another customer not tip and decides to make her way around the outside of the house till she comes across an open door which leads Sam to a group of adults having a meeting. With no care of interruption, Sam starts asking around for the man who took the pizzas and discovers she has walked into a cult that are worshiping Satan and in search of a virgin. With no surprise, Sam is that perfect fit for who they’re after, and is quickly captured and tied up.
Waking up confused and frightened, Sam discovers she has been locked in room with Samuel Ross (Jerry O’Connell) where he fills her in that his wife, Danica Ross (Rebecca Romijn), is the cult leader and needs Sam as part of their sacrifice summoning. Unclear as to what is going on, Sam makes a run for it and hides out at one of the local neighbours where she meets the cult leader’s daughter, Judi Ross (Ruby Modine). Having opposite beliefs to her mother, Judi decides to help Sam hide from the cult, but with the sacrifice needing to be done before sunrise, this cult isn’t holding back from getting what they need.
I wasn’t familiar with Hayley Griffith before seeing this film, but I felt she did a great job as the leading actress and was able to deliver a solid and likeable performance. Jerry O’Connell only appears for a short scene, which I found a little odd and random with how well known he is. I would’ve like to have seen more of him, as I was more familiar with his work out of all the cast members, but he still was able to deliver an enjoyable scene to show that he’s still got it.
Mixing comedy and horror is not always the best combination, as sometimes it can come off looking tacky and uninteresting fast. I felt that Satanic Panic added the right amount of humour to this film, where it didn’t feel shoved in my face and focused more on the storyline.
Check out Satanic Panic at selected cinemas Australia from November 3rd.