Satan's Blade (1984)

At a mountain resort, a local resident is possessed by the evil spirit of an ancient mountain man, and terrorizes a ski lodge.

Director:

L. Scott Castillo Jr.

Writers:

L. Scott Castillo Jr. (original story), Thomas Cue (screenplay)

Stars:

Tom Bongiorno, Stephanie Leigh Steel, Thomas Cue

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Bongiorno	...	Tony
Stephanie Leigh Steel	...	Stephanie
Thomas Cue	...	Al
Elisa R. Malinovitz	...	Lisa
Janeen Lowe	...	Lil
Ramona Andrada	...	Sue
Diane Taylor	...	Rita
Marti Neal
Susan Bennet	...	Mary
Ski Mark Ford	...	Ski
Fred Armond	...	Ben - Sheriff
Meg Greene	...	Ruth
Mary Seamen	...	Trish
Richard Taecker	...	Lodge Keeper Duncan Mackler
Carrol Cotion	...	Lodge Keeper's Mother

Storyline

At a mountain resort, a local resident is possessed by the evil spirit of an ancient mountain man, and terrorizes a ski lodge.

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Plot Keywords:

spirit | ski lodge | slasher | female nudity | nude woman murdered | 

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Taglines:

It Took Over 100 Years ... But the Blade Got Even

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

August 1988 (West Germany)

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Lake, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

M.C. Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

L. Scott Castillo Jr. doubled for another actor for the scene in which the killer cuts a woman's shirt off with a knife. The actress only trusted Castillo Jr. to do this without hurting her.

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Goofs

The blue ray release in 2015 is done as a full frame transfer so much information at top and bottom of the image is seen which reveals several boom microphones in the film. The film should have been transferred 16 by 9 which would leave the booms off screen like they were intended to be.

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Connections

Referenced in Adjust Your Tracking (2013)

User Reviews

Home is where the blade is

A pair of female bank robbers make off with $50,000 after they kill two bank tellers in cold blood. They lay low at a snowy mountain cabin while waiting to rendezvous with their partner, George. As they wait, one of the robbers gets greedy and shoots the other. She plans to do the same to George when he arrives, but she doesn't get the chance, as she's stabbed in the back by an unseen assailant while dragging her ex-partner's body. The next day, two married couples and a group of college girls show up to a mountain ski resort. As it turns out, the cabin where the criminals hid out is part of the resort. Despite being told of the murders and a local legend about a murderous mountain man who comes from the bottom of a nearby lake, the college girls decide to take the cabin, which is right next door to where the married couples are staying. As the two groups settle in, it isn't long before the unseen assailant returns to continue his killing spree. Is it the mountain man from the legend or just someone who has taken the tale a little too far?

This incredibly low budget slasher is rarely talked about. Perhaps there's a reason for that, be it the film's obscurity or the general consensus that it's a rotten entry into the genre. Personally, I really enjoyed it as a cheesy treat when I first got the tape a few years back. I was admittedly a little bored with it on my second go around, but I still had a fun time with it for the most part. The director just threw in too many scenes of people walking or driving as the synth score plays in the background. These bits make the film seem a tad longer than it is, which perhaps was the intention since there clearly wasn't a lot of money to work with. I would certainly be surprised if the rumored million dollar budget were true. The resort seems deserted except for the two main groups, and we never get to see any skiing or ski slopes for that matter. We also get a lot of blood without wounds and, in one case, blood on the wall behind a girl before she's shot to begin with.

That said, "Satan's Blade" has it's charms. There is an eerie vibe throughout, enhanced by the aforementioned synth score and a surprisingly unsettling dream sequence midway through. In fact, I would say that the limited locations used actually enhance the mood as well. If we had seen an active resort or a bunch of ski slope high jinks, I don't think the film would come off as effectively downbeat as it does. I think even the lack of gore effects works in the film's favor, as it appears that director L. Scott Castillo, Jr. attempted to compensate by having the victims writhe around in pain as they slowly succumb to their wounds. This makes for more disturbing death scenes than one would typically expect to see in a slasher.

The acting actually isn't all that bad. I've seen far, far worse, but some of the characters are grating. The scene of the two husbands getting drunk was a sterling example of just how grating the people in this movie could be. The constant lawyer puns (the lead character recently passed his bar exam) also get old really quick. To hell with really quick, they're old from the get-go.

My favorite part of the film is undoubtedly the scene where the lone survivor runs into the killer. This entire sequence with the revelation, the voice effects and the motive worked very well for me. It's one of my favorite reveals in any slasher. The ending is also quite something, like a surreal take on "Excalibur".

I like this one, but it's not a great film under any circumstances. It has it's upside, but if nothing else, it's worth seeing for the revelation scene and an out there ending.