Halloween Edition: Satan's Little Helper (2004) Movie Review

Satan's Little Helper (2004) Movie Review

I reviewed this film based on a recommendation from a family member. I think next Halloween when I do another Halloween Edition of the movies review, I may go solely on horror movie recommendations.

A 9 year old boy Douglas (Alexander Brickel) is obsessed with playing a video game where he helps Satan carry out his evil missions. So when Douglas sees a man dressed as Satan "setting up" a Halloween display, he asks to help him carry out his missions as well as Douglas's mission to help him get rid of his sisters boyfriend Alex (Stephen Graham) who she brought home from school for Halloween. The kid however believes that everything Satan is doing is not real, but of course it is.

Although the concept is different and original, it's not a flawless movie. First of all, what the heck is wrong with the mother Merrill (Amanda Plummer)? What kind of mother let's her 9 year old child play a video game that is about helping Satan carry out his evil deeds? This goes into a whole long thing about children and video games but to sum up my feelings toward it, either the kid is too young and immature to be playing a game like that (even though it's cartoon version) or the kid is mature enough and the parents have had an open discussion about why this is just a game and explain the difference between games and reality. Clearly this mother gets an F on her parenting report card. A kid that sees someone in a mask (which let me say barely resembles Satan) and immediately trusts him and wants to help him with evil deeds is clearly an immature kid that doesn't understand the difference from reality to a video game, hence shouldn't be allowed to be playing it. Even when Satan is pushing Douglas in a grocery cart through the parking lot he gives points to every person he hits with the cart. He also doesn't seem to understand that he shouldn't talk to strangers.

Several other things to note about this movie is the sister actress and the very disturbing cat death. The sister Jenna (Katheryn Winnick) played a very ditzy college character and it was either bad writing or a badly written character flaw that she couldn't tell that the man wearing the Satan mask was in fact not her boyfriend Alex just goofing around. First of all, their height nor weight was the same and the fact that he never took off his mask or spoke really should have tipped her off. However I am willing to forgive her since (after watching this movie I realized) that she is Lagertha from Vikings (which if you haven't seen, you should!). Now the cat death was pretty disturbing for a movie that was more on the comedic side rather than the horror gore side. Satan picks up a cat and repeatedly slams him against a door. I don't think it was necessary to show just how bad Satan is when we already see him kill people. It's a personal thing but I just hate animal violence, no matter how small or fake it may be, it's just a pet peeve of mine (pun intended). 

The beginning of the movie focus's mainly on Douglas and Satan and all the stuff that they do and the trouble that they get into, but halfway through the movie the focus changes to the sister and the boyfriend. This is about the time that it starts to lose its momentum and go downhill. Also the ending gets quite repetitive with Satan trying to frame Alex's father for the murder's just to turn into God and appear to Douglas again. He believes God so he lets him in and he ends up almost killing Alex who he puts a mask on so when the sister and the mother find him they think it's Satan and they kill him only to have the man come back as a cop. The movie ends with the little boy letting the cop into the house in typical cliffhanger form before the screen goes to black and Jenna says "Mom, why won't he say anything?" only to have Douglas respond "He's afraid Satan will hear him"

Once again, this movie gives NO back story to the man underneath the Satan mask. When we come across him, he has already done evil deeds to set up his Halloween display, but WHY?!? Throughout the horror reviews I have done this month, I seem to constantly be complaining about lack of back story. I don't need a twenty minute explanation but come on people, a little something would be nice.

If you are looking for a movie on the lighter side of horror than this movie is for you. It has some scary scenes but also some that are pretty silly which balances it out. If however you are looking at the movie poster thinking that you are going to get a scare-you-out-of-your-pants movie, trust me, you won't.

Grade: C-

Check back on Monday for a horror movie review from a 1991 title!