I pity the fool who watches DVDs for these educational "extras". Always self-serving they provide more misinformation than words to the wise, and spending 24 minutes with full-of-himself "writer and satanist" Gavin Baddeley will rot your mind.
A destitute man's Colin Wilson, Gavin is the sort of know-it-all that you encounter at a cocktail party and after five minutes comes the cue for you to say "Excuse me, I have to mingle". He makes a lame case for Satanism as a lifestyle, I guess the way s&m folk in my neck of the woods use the euphemism "the leather lifestyle".
What's most alarming about listening to this windbag is that he proclaims endless gibberish as if -wink, wink- it were the obvious truth, almost conventional wisdom. According to him all worthwhile art comes from the dark side or at least has a wicked slant to it, and that of course includes movies and literature. Among his more fatuous statements are his linking of '60s rebelliousness to such things as satanism - I prefer Colin Wilson's well-researched Outsider theory instead. Apparently Gavin has replaced Colin on the talking heads circuit when it comes to the occult. He treats the rock star phenomenon of the '60s as unprecedented -apparently he's never heard of Frank Sinatra and his initial effect on his fans, or seen Ken Russell's film Lisztomania.
As far as movies are concerned, this short is an excuse for Mondo Macabro to throw in clips from lots of its product line, as well as a stray scene from a competitor (Something Weird). Gavin's analysis of the Rosemary's Baby phenomenon loses him any credibility as an expert, as he manages to talk about its exploitation without ever mentioning producer William Castle. His take on The Omen is also suspect, and his trashing of William Friedkin's classic The Exorcist is 100% nonsensical.
Whole presentation is from a veddy British point-of-view, as evidenced by Gavin's overstatement of the historical importance of novelist Dennis Wheatley. Lots of mentions of Aleister Crowley doesn't end up giving the viewer any real feel for the man or his work. I'm certainly not going to read any of Gavin's books -apparently written to get cash from the wide-eyed fans of goth and Marilyn Manson.
