''American Satan'' is a 2017 American supernatural musical

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Ash Avildsen Ashley Greg Avildsen (born November 5, 1981) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and the founder and CEO of Sumerian Records and Sumerian Films. The son of director John G. Avildsen, he wrote and directed the films ''What Now' ...

, who also wrote the screenplay with Marty Beckerman. It was released in theaters on Friday October 13, 2017 and stars

Andy Biersack Andrew Dennis Biersack (born December 26, 1990), formerly known as Andy Six, is an American singer. He is the founder and lead vocalist of the rock band Black Veil Brides and is its only remaining original member. In 2014, he started a solo mus ...

Ben Bruce Benjamin Paul Bruce (born 31 October 1988) is an English musician. He is the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of rock band Asking Alexandria and has also performed as a solo artist. Bruce founded the band while he was living in Dubai but t ...

Drake Bell Jared Drake Bell (born June 27, 1986) is an American actor, singer, songwriter, and musician. Born in Newport Beach, California, he began his career as an actor in the early 1990s at the age of five with his first televised appearance on ''Hom ...

Denise Richards Denise Richards (born February 17, 1971) is an American actress, television personality, and former fashion model. Her most recognized roles are Carmen Ibanez in ''Starship Troopers'' (1997), Kelly Van Ryan in '' Wild Things'' (1998) and Bond gi ...

Malcolm McDowell Malcolm McDowell (born Malcolm John Taylor; 13 June 1943) is a British actor, producer, and television presenter. He is best known for portraying Alex DeLarge in ''A Clockwork Orange.'' He was born in the Horsforth suburb of Leeds and raised i ...

Booboo Stewart Nils Allen "Booboo" Stewart Jr. (born January 21, 1994) is an American actor. He is known for playing Seth Clearwater in '' The Twilight Saga'', Warpath in '' X-Men: Days of Future Past'', Jay in the Disney television film franchise '' Descend ...

, and

Tori Black Michelle Chapman (born 1988), known professionally as Tori Black, is an American retired pornographic actress. In 2011, she became the first person to win the AVN Female Performer of the Year Award two years in a row. She was inducted in the XR ...

. The film marked

Larry King Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021) was an American television and radio host, whose awards included 2 Peabodys, an Emmy and 10 Cable ACE Awards. Over his career, he hosted over 50,000 interviews. ...

's final film role before his death in January 2021. It won an award for Best Narrative Feature at the 2017

Oceanside International Film Festival The Oceanside International Film Festival (OIFF) is an annual film festival based in Oceanside, a town in North County of San Diego. It was founded in 2009 by the Oceanside Cultural Foundation. History Executive director Lou Niles curates the ...

Plot

The Relentless are an aspiring rock band, half from England and half from the US, who all move to Los Angeles to become famous. The band's vocalist, Johnny Faust, lives in Columbus, Ohio with his mother and his girlfriend Gretchen. After moving to Los Angeles they hold auditions for a bassist, and choose a woman, Lily. While leaving a liquor store, some of the members encounter a homeless man who tells them to rely on feeling more than perception. Moments later, the band is accosted by another man who implies he is the

Devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of ...

and can make them stars if they perform a

human sacrifice Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of dead ancestors or as a retainer sacrifice, wherein ...

. Lily tells Johnny that her ex-band member Damien raped her the night she left the band. Johnny learns his mother has breast cancer and cannot afford treatment. Damien insults Johnny's mother, so the band decides to sacrifice Damien. They lock him in a van and set it aflame, but Johnny has a change of heart and lets Damien out. Damien climbs an electrical fence and dies from

electrocution Electrocution is death or severe injury caused by electric shock from electric current passing through the body. The word is derived from "electro" and "execution", but it is also used for accidental death. The term "electrocution" was coine ...

. The Relentless get a record deal and record an album, called ''American Satan''. They go on tour. In

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

, a bar fight results in the death of a man, and Johnny is arrested. He goes on trial and is

acquitted In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as criminal law is concerned. The finality of an acquittal is dependent on the jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the ...

. This inspires The Relentless's fans to confront their bullies, leading to more deaths, all blamed on the band. Johnny and Gretchen try to maintain their long-distance relationship, but matters are complicated when Johnny and Lily sleep together. At the same time, Ricky overdoses on

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Ameri ...

and dies. This leads to Leo heavily using alcohol and pills. Gretchen dumps Johnny, and he turns to heroin and sex with Lily to try to cope. A fan's mother gets Johnny to take her teen daughter's virginity; he does, while Dylan has sex with the mother. They later learn that the girl's dad killed himself because of this. Johnny overdoses on heroin and almost dies, but is revived by a paramedic - the homeless man the group encountered outside the liquor store. Johnny goes to rehab. Lily refuses to go to rehab and disappears. ''American Satan'' is well-received and tops the charts. The band performs more shows and receive a lot of adoration but also a lot of backlash, leading them to almost quit the music industry. The band is successful, and Johnny's mother receives treatment for her cancer, which goes into remission. Johnny tries to get back together with Gretchen to no avail. The Relentless land a gig at a music festival but the Devil says that they have to kill a man during their performance, though he intends to make it look like part of the concert. The night of the show, Lily returns. A moment later, the Devil appears in the guise of Johnny's mother's new boyfriend, and when the band goes on stage and performs, Johnny takes the gun and first holds it to his head before shooting and killing the Devil. He is arrested. While in prison, Johnny is visited by the

archangel Gabriel In Abrahamic religions ( Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብ ...

- the homeless man. He tells Johnny he has a choice in his future and to go with his feelings. He is also visited by Gretchen who tells Johnny she still loves him. She brings with her a lawyer, Damien's father. The lawyer gets Johnny off on a technicality.

Cast

as Johnny Faust, lead singer of The Relentless. Johnny's singing is performed by Remington Leith of Palaye Royale *

as Mr. Capricorn * John Bradley as Ricky Rollins, Manager of The Relentless *

as Vic Lakota, one of the two guitarist of The Relentless. Guitar sound by Lee McKinney of Born of Osiris *

Mark Boone Junior Mark Boone Junior (born Mark Heidrich; March 17, 1955) is an American character actor, best known for his TV roles as Bobby Munson in ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2008–14) and Patrick "Pat" Brown in '' Last Man On Earth'', and film roles in Christopher ...

as Elias Collins, owner/head of the Akkadian Records *

as Leo Donovan, one of the two guitarist of The Relentless * Jesse Sullivan as Lily Mayflower, bassist of The Relentless *

Olivia Culpo Olivia Frances Culpo (born May 8, 1992) is an American model, fashion influencer, social media personality, and actress. After winning the Miss Rhode Island USA competition, she went on to be crowned Miss USA, and then Miss Universe in 2012. ...

as Gretchen, Johnny's girlfriend *

Sebastian Gregory Sebastian Gregory (born 3 March 1990) is an Australian actor and musician. He is a self-taught guitarist, drummer and songwriter, who formed a band called Menace when he was thirteen. After being spotted in his own music video, Gregory was signe ...

as Dylan James, drummer of The Relentless *

Bill Goldberg William Scott Goldberg (born December 27, 1966), often known mononymously as Goldberg, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and former professional football player. He is best known for his tenures in WCW and WWE. One of the most ...

as Hawk, The Relentless' tour manager *

as himself *

Bill Duke William Henry Duke Jr. (born February 26, 1943) is an American actor and film director. Known for his physically imposing frame, Duke works primarily in the action and crime drama genres often as a character related to law enforcement. Frequently ...

Gabriel In Abrahamic religions ( Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብ ...

, the arch angel *

as Ms Faust, Johnny's mother *

as Damien Collins, member/leader of the band called Damien's Inferno *

as Cassandra

Reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval rating of 78% based on reviews from nine critics, with an average rating of 8/10. Emilie Black of ''Cinema Crazed'' gave the film 4 out of 5 and wrote: "''American Satan'' is a film it might take time for fans to discover but it will more than likely get a following in the next few years." Bobby LePire of Film Threat gave it a grade of A- and wrote: "''American Satan'' doesn't put enough time toward one of the most crucial relationships in the movie for it to work. But the acting is excellent, the directing is stylized and energetic, the characters are interesting, the ending is remarkable." Kaitlyn Tiffany of ''

The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American technology news website operated by Vox Media, publishing news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, consumer electronics news, and podcasts. The website launched on November 1, 2011, and uses Vox Media ...

'' gave it a negative review: "In the space of 90 minutes, it captures some of the worst acting ever committed to film..." saying that star Andy Biersack has no acting ability whatsoever.

Television series

A TV series spin-off, ''

Paradise City "Paradise City" is a song by the American rock band Guns N' Roses, featured on their debut album, ''Appetite for Destruction'' (1987). Released as a single in January 1989, it is the only song on the album to feature a synthesizer. The song pea ...

'', was announced as a continuation of the film.

and

along with other cast members reprise their roles from the film.

Cameron Boyce Cameron Mica Boyce (May 28, 1999 – July 6, 2019) was an American actor. He began his career as a child actor, appearing in the 2008 films '' Mirrors'' and '' Eagle Eye'', along with the comedy film '' Grown Ups'' (2010) and its 2013 sequel. ...

makes a posthumous appearance in the show playing the role of Simon.

Kellin Quinn Kellin Quinn is an American singer and musician. He is the lead vocalist and keyboardist of the post-hardcore band Sleeping with Sirens. Aside from his band, he is well-known for collaborating with other artists. Career Quinn is the vocali ...

of the band Sleeping With Sirens is to also appear in the show, as is

Randy Blythe Randy is a given name, popular in the United States and Canada. It is primarily a masculine name. It was originally derived from the names Randall, Randolf, Randolph, as well as Bertrand and Andrew, and may be a short form (hypocorism) of them ...

of Lamb of God and

Sid Wilson Sidney George Wilson (born January 20, 1977) is an American musician. He is the turntablist for the heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he is designated #0. Wilson was the youngest member of the band until bassist Alessandro Venturella and dr ...

of Slipknot. The first season of the show has eight episodes. A teaser was released on May 1 and the official trailer was posted onto the Sumerian Records

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel on December 10, 2020. The series was released on Amazon Prime Video on March 25, 2021, while also being available to purchase on other platforms.

References

External links