''Satan, Hold My Hand'' or ''Satan Hold My Hand'' is a 2013 horror-comedy

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

edited, co-produced and directed by Courtney Fathom Sell. Written by his friend, Reverend Jen Miller, the film is notable for being the only feature-length film issued by

ASS Studios Ass most commonly refers to: * Buttocks (in informal American English) * Donkey or ass, ''Equus africanus asinus'' **any other member of the subgenus ''Asinus'' Ass or ASS may also refer to: Art and entertainment * ''Ass'' (album), 1973 alb ...

. The studio was known mainly for short subjects, as well as for the inclusion of writer

Jonathan Ames Jonathan Ames (; born March 23, 1964) is an American author who has written a number of novels and comic memoirs, and is the creator of two television series, '' Bored to Death'' ( HBO) and ''Blunt Talk'' ( STARZ). In the late '90s and early ...

as an executive producer. The film also marked the return of actor Robert Prichard, recognized for his roles in various

Troma Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974. The company produces low-budget independent films, primarily of the horror comedy genre. Many of them pl ...

films including The Toxic Avenger & ''Class of Nuke em' High''. Following a loose narrative, the film concerns a group of Satanic worshippers, who, after kidnapping two Catholic schoolgirls, soon realize that Satan isn't as evil as they hoped for.

Production

According to Sell, the estimated shooting budget on the film was only $27.00, which he claimed was mostly spent on alcohol and pizza for the cast. To further these claims, Sell, who is known for his no-budget film work announced publicly that the film was shot in "Drunk-O-Vision". In the same interview, the group jokingly claimed that

Janeane Garofalo Janeane Marie Garofalo ( ; born September 28, 1964) is an American comedian, actress, and former co-host on the now-defunct Air America Radio's ''The Majority Report''. Garofalo began her career as a stand-up comedian and became a cast member on ...

had been kidnapped in order to obtain a cameo, and only released upon giving a performance. Sell and Miller have mentioned that the idea and screenplay had been completed almost immediately during the time their now-defunct company

was launched. However, due to financial issues, they began shooting short films in order to gain momentum and attention for the project, which at the time was entitled "Satan's Bitches" then "Half-ASSed Satanists" and possibly written as a

soft-core Softcore pornography or softcore porn, is commercial still photography or film that has a pornographic or erotic component but is less sexually graphic and intrusive than hardcore pornography, defined by a lack of visual sexual penetration. Sof ...

feature. The title change was decided when the two felt that, though with no intentions of putting the film in the Festival circuit, would be a bit more publicly accepted. Sell helped obtain funding for pre-production working as a cook at various Lower East Side restaurants. Regarding the involvement of

in the film, Sell wrote:

''When our friend Jonathan Ames, writer and creator of HBO’s series Bored to Death decided to sign on as a producer, it saved us a lot of further hardship. People become interested. Sincerely interested. They were now curious. Jonathan had seen and enjoyed a bunch of our earlier work, and actually had been paid a not-so-subtle homage in our piece The Sinful Bitches. Rev had sent him over the screenplay and he was enthusiastic about playing the role of producer, though we are still trying to figure out what it all means to this day. It was sort of a Paul Morrissey-Warhol affair if you understand what I mean.''

Release

Satan, Hold My Hand premiered at Midnight in September 2010 at Anthology Film Archives in New York City. Writer Trav S.D. recalls on his official website,

The movie was dedicated to the late
Taylor Mead Taylor Mead (December 31, 1924 – May 8, 2013) was an American writer, actor and performer. Mead appeared in several of Andy Warhol's underground films filmed at Warhol's Factory, including ''Tarzan and Jane Regained... Sort of'' (1963) and ...
, and that was fitting, for the entire proceedings from soup to nuts seemed infused with his gonzo spirit, from the underground rawness of the movie’s assembly, to the absinthian cocktail of humor and anarchistic free-for-all, to the neo-Warholian constellation of bona fide "characters" who not only populated the film but the screening and the before and after festivities that book-ended it.

The film was released in May 2013 by MVD Entertainment.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 2642128 2013 films 2010s exploitation films 2010s English-language films 2013 comedy horror films 2010s sex comedy films