''Satan's Playground'', also known as ''Chemistry'', is a 2006 American

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed and written by

Dante Tomaselli Dante Tomaselli (born October 29, 1969, in Paterson, New Jersey) is an Italian-American horror screenwriter, director, and score composer. In 2013 ''Fearnet'' named Tomaselli one of their "Favorite Underrated Horror Directors", as they found his ...

. The film stars

Felissa Rose Felissa Rose Esposito, better known as simply Felissa Rose (born May 23, 1969), is an American actress and producer. Rose has amassed over 100 film credits, and is best known for her work in the horror genre, for which she is recognized as a sc ...

Ellen Sandweiss Ellen Sandweiss is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Cheryl Williams in ''The Evil Dead'' franchise. Career Sandweiss was born in Detroit, Michigan and is a graduate of the University of Michigan.. She went to Groves High ...

, and

Edwin Neal Edwin Neal is an American actor and voice actor, perhaps best known for his role as the hitchhiker in ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre''. He has been a voice talent and actor for years appearing on screen and off, including three voices in Wii's '' ...

. This was Sandweiss' first film appearance since 1981's ''

The Evil Dead ''The Evil Dead'' is a 1981 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Sam Raimi, produced by Robert Tapert and executive produced by Raimi, Tapert, and Bruce Campbell, who also starred alongside Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeMan ...

'', and was the first time Tomaselli did not serve as the producer of his own film.

Plot

Donna (

) and Frank (Salvatore Paul Piro) Bruno have decided to take a trip into the

Pine Barrens Pine barrens, pine plains, sand plains, or pineland areas occur throughout the U.S. from Florida to Maine (see Atlantic coastal pine barrens) as well as the Midwest, West, and Canada and parts of Eurasia. Perhaps the most well known pine-barre ...

with their

autistic The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

son Sean (

Danny Lopes Danny Lopes is an American actor and model. He played the lead role of "Bobby" in Dante Tomaselli's film Desecration in 1999. Tomaselli cast Danny for his second feature film, Horror in 2002 which also stars Kreskin. He earned his acting certifi ...

), new mother Paula (

), and her baby Anthony (Marco Rose). When their car breaks down in the middle of the forest Frank goes off to find help and comes across the house of Mrs. Leeds (Irma St. Paule), a

palm reader Palmistry is the pseudoscientific practice of fortune-telling through the study of the palm. Also known as palm reading, chiromancy, chirology or cheirology, the practice is found all over the world, with numerous cultural variations. Those wh ...

that lives there with her

mute Muteness is a speech disorder in which a person lacks the ability to speak. Mute or the Mute may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Mute'' (2005 film), a short film by Melissa Joan Hart * ''Mute'' (2018 film), a scien ...

daughter Judy (Christie Sanford) and her son. Mrs. Leeds rushes him into the house, insisting that the

Jersey Devil In South Jersey and Philadelphia folklore in the United States, the Jersey Devil (also known as the Leeds Devil) is a legendary creature said to inhabit the forest of Pine Barrens in South Jersey. The creature is often described as a flying bipe ...

lives in the forest. However, despite her concern, it soon becomes apparent that her family is just as dangerous when Judy murders Frank. One by one the people remaining in the car go out to search for their lost family members. Donna goes off in search of Frank and is assaulted and captured by the Leeds. Sean wanders off and gets lost in the woods. Paula initially tries to stay in the car and keep her baby safe, but inevitably leaves the car to investigate a police cruiser. However rather than containing help, it contains the corpse of an officer killed by the Jersey Devil. When she returns to the car she finds that Anthony has been taken and she goes off in search of him, which takes her to the Leeds house, where she's killed by the Leeds. Sean eventually makes it to the Leeds house where he is given a palm reading and then sent back into the night, where he gets sucked underground by what appears to be

quicksand Quicksand is a colloid A colloid is a mixture in which one substance consisting of microscopically dispersed insoluble particles is suspended throughout another substance. Some definitions specify that the particles must be dispersed in a ...

. This leaves only Donna alive, who manages to escape by bribing the Leeds son with

diazepam Diazepam, first marketed as Valium, is a medicine of the benzodiazepine family that acts as an anxiolytic. It is commonly used to treat a range of conditions, including anxiety, seizures, alcohol withdrawal syndrome, muscle spasms, insomnia, a ...

. She eventually makes it to safety and wakes up in a hospital bed, where she is told that the Leeds house has been abandoned for years. Donna manages to persuade the police to check out the Leeds house in the hopes of finding Anthony, only for the Leeds to murder the police officer accompanying her. Terrified, Donna flees the house and tries to once again make it to safety, but is then killed by the Jersey Devil.

Cast

as Donna Bruno *

as Paula *

as Leeds Boy *

Irma St. Paule Irma St. Paule (March 23, 1926 – January 9, 2007) was a Ukrainian-born American character actress who appeared on stage, screen and television from 1985 to 2007. Often portraying elderly characters, she appeared in productions on Broadway thea ...

as Mrs. Leeds *

as Sean Bruno * Christie Sanford as Judy Leeds * Ron Millkie as Officer Peters * Salvatore Paul Piro as Frank Bruno * Raine Brown as Prostitute * Robert Zappalorti as Cop * Marco Rose as Baby Anthony * Maureen Tomaselli as Reporter *

Jessy Hodges Jessy Hodges (born August 8, 1986) is an American actress. She played Sophie Parker in the web series ''Anyone But Me''. She is the daughter of '' The Evil Dead'' star Ellen Sandweiss. Biography Hodges lives in Los Angeles and is originally from ...

as Lost Teen * Chris Farabaugh as Stoner * Garth Johnson as Red Hooded Man

Reception

The film holds a rating of 67% on ''

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 ...

'', based on 6 reviews, with an average rating of 6.30/10. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' gave the film a positive review, noting that while it was more accessible than some of his previous films, it still would not appeal to all viewers. Overall the magazine called it a "richly atmospheric exercise in surreal horror". ''

JoBlo.com The JoBlo Movie Network includes a website, JoBlo.com, which focuses on news, film reviews, and movie trailers; and YouTube channels that focus on trailers, movie clips, celebrity interviews, original content, and as film distribution. Early da ...

'' and ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

'' both praised the film, and ''JoBlo's'' reviewer noted that the movie was "a relentless and uber entertaining circus of horror". '' Dread Central's'' review was more mixed, praising the film's look as "polished" while criticizing the film's acting and non-linear story line.

References

External links

* {{Dante Tomaselli 2006 films 2006 horror films 2000s avant-garde and experimental films 2006 independent films American avant-garde and experimental films American independent films American monster movies American supernatural horror films 2000s English-language films Films about autism Films about cryptids Films about families Films set in forests Films set in New Jersey Films shot in New Jersey Jersey Devil in fiction Films about mass murder Films about Satanism Supernatural slasher films 2000s American films