Movie Review: Hail Satan?

Hail Satan? *** ½ / *****

Directed by: Penny Lane.

 

It’s pretty hard to argue with the Satanists – at least on logical grounds. Because, after all, if America is a secular nation – as it’s supposed to be, then they either shouldn’t allow any religious symbols on public grounds, or prayer before government meetings, etc. – or else, accept all of them. So, if you want to put a monument to the 10 Commandments on the grounds of your State Capital for instance, then you should have to put up a statue of Baphomet – a demon goat - on the grounds as well. If not, you’re not really secular, are you?

 

The film focuses on The Satanic Temple – an organization started in 2013 by Lucien Greaves, among others, and but really does seem to be more of an atheist group than a Satanic worship group – like the Church of Satan, founded by Anton LaVey in the 1960s. More than anything, they seem like they have adopted their mantra of Hail Satan for shock value more than anything else, and to make a point of course. Can you really have a monument to atheists? What would it be? Here, you get attention from the media, and protestors, which is – of course – the point.

 

Greaves is an interesting person – and is as much of the focus of the movie as The Satanic Temple itself. When they started, he wanted to be the brains of the operation, but not the face – but it became apparent that no one else would say what he wanted to say, the way he wanted it said, so he gradually became the face anyway. He is adept at playing the media game, mainly because he plays it straight. Whether he’s throwing his support behind Governor Rick Scott in Florida – who passed prayer in school bills, saying that it confirms Satanic Children’s rights to pray in public school, or else all those fights to try and find a place for their Baphomet statue, it’s hard to tell when he’s joking, and when he’s not. That is his purpose after all – his job is basically to troll everyone, and that’s what he’s doing. He delights in giving interviews to media people – who have to know he isn’t entirely serious, but act as if he is anyway, or the Evangelical Protestors he despises, who seem to think he wants to turn everyone into Satan worshippers, he is having fun.

 

At least at first. As the film moves along, it documents what happens to The Satanic Temple as it grows larger and larger. It basically operates on a franchise model – with people starting different chapters across America, and then the world. One of the first is in Detroit – run by Jex Blackmore, who was always more extreme than Graves to begin with. At first, that’s fine – it brings them attention, and Blackmore is nothing if not committed. But as the organization grows, power becomes centralized, and they have to be more concerned with appearances than ever before. Their whole strategy is basically to do everything precisely by the book – to give the government and the courts no reason whatsoever to reject them other than on the basis of religious belief, which of course would be unconstitutional. But when Blackmore goes further and further – even advocating (not seriously, but still) murdering President Trump – they have to cut ties.

 

It also becomes expensive to be this group. It’s one thing to be right – and have the law on your side – but if the government refuses to do so anyway, you have to sue to get your way. You may eventually win – but it will cost you a lot of money to win. Are you really going to spend it all on getting a Baphomet stature erected in Kentucky?

 

The film was directed by Penny Lane – whose last film, Nuts! – was a fascinating portrait of an early 20^th Century conman, who said he could cure impotence by implanting goat testicles into men. The Satanic Temple are conmen in the same way – but she does have a skill in diving into the weird side of American life – which she does here as well. I do think there is a better – deeper – documentary here to be made. This one skims the surface – but perhaps that’s the right choice here. Its hard enough to get people on the side of the Satanists – but at the end of this movie, you’d be hard pressed to say they’re wrong – even if you don’t like them.