American Satan (2017)

A young rock band, half of its members from England and half from the U.S., drops out of college and moves to the Sunset Strip to chase their dreams.

Director:

Ash Avildsen

Writers:

Ash Avildsen, Matty Beckerman

Stars:

Andy Biersack, Booboo Stewart, Ben Bruce

11 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Andy Biersack	...	Johnny Faust
Booboo Stewart	...	Vic Lakota
Ben Bruce	...	Leo Donovan
John Bradley	...	Ricky Rollins
Jesse Sullivan	...	Lily Mayflower
Sebastian Gregory	...	Dylan James
Mark Boone Junior	...	Elias
Denise Richards	...	Kat Faust
Malcolm McDowell	...	Mr. Capricorn
Bill Goldberg	...	Hawk
Olivia Culpo	...	Gretchen
Bill Duke	...	Gabriel
Drake Bell	...	Damien
Ramesh Pandey	...	Gurudev (as Ramesh Pandy)
Lily Berlina	...	The Virgin

Storyline

A young rock band, half from England and half from the US, drop out of college and move to the Sunset Strip to chase their dreams. Living in a van, their passion and talent exceed their means to survive. An enigmatic stranger sees their true potential and emotionally manipulates them during a time of weakness. Caught in the middle of a Faustian deal, their music and controversial altercations end up influencing society beyond anything this century has seen, but can they take back control of their destiny before it's too late?

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Plot Keywords:

rock 'n' roll | satanic cult | deal with the devil | sex club | price of fame | 

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Genres:

Drama | Music | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, drug use throughout, pervasive language, and some violence.

Did You Know?

Trivia

Andy Biersack and Scout Taylor Compton dated back in the early 2000s. Malcom McDowell stars in this movie with Andy and starred in the Rob Zombie Halloween movies with Scout Taylor Compton.

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Goofs

When boarding the bus to LA from Columbus, OH, mountains can be seen in the background. There are no mountains in or near central Ohio.

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Quotes

Ricky Rollins: Okay, okay, fine. So, what else do you do?
Hawk: Shit hits the fan, I'm the fan.
Ricky Rollins: Oh, good.

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Crazy Credits

The opening and closing credits include quotes from musicians, including Ozzy Osbourne, David Bowie, and Neil Young, about the Devil and the occult, and their place in rock and roll and their lives.

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Connections

Spin-off Paradise City

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Soundtracks

18 And Life
Written and performed by Skid Row
Courtesy Of Atlantic Records

User Reviews

Like watching a R-rated Chick Tract

OK so this won't apply to everyone but if you grew up in a certain kind of Evangelical Christianity - the type where every once in a while a "cool" speaker with a casual outfit and an allegedly dark past would come tell you about how Satan lurks in all the things you love - then this movie will seem weirdly familiar. From watching the trailer I expected a rock 'n roll horror movie, what I got was... something else entirely...

Firstly, this is not a horror movie, not even a little bit (there is some decent to good rock in it though). It's basically a sermon about the perils of moral Rock 'n Roll decadence, although much like most of those sermons it does a way better job of making sex, drugs & rock 'n roll seem awesome than in warning you against it.

I'm not using allusions to sermons lightly here. The movie both starts and ends with the same kind of out of context, industry insider quotes to make it seem like the devil is real, runs music and everyone involved knows it. Furthermore the movie has continual infodumps on the illuminati and how Satan supposedly controls everything from rock to hip-hop to Apple Computers. But unlike a sermon, there's not actually a point to any of this. Despite heavy handed character names like "Johnny FAUST", there never seem to be real stakes. Selling out to Satan is... sorta bad maybe? But maybe also no big deal? And maybe nothing matters?

I would say this is like a Chick Tract with more graphic nudity and drug use but honestly a Chick tract has way more punch to it!

Details

Official Sites:

film website

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 October 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

American Satan

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$135,378, 15 October 2017

Gross USA:

$237,708

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$237,708

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sumerian Films, Jeff Rice Films, Intrinsic Value Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1