SATAN'S CHILDREN

This film turned up a little late in the post-Manson "hippie Satanist" genre of the early '70s, but it's one of the weirder offerings, existing in a warped moral universe all its own. Bobby is a gangly, redheaded teen living Cinderella-style with a sexy, teasing stepsister and a cruel stepfather who makes him do yard work. He runs away, unsure of where to go, and is abducted and gang-raped by a group of macho, beer-swilling homosexuals. They dump him off (in his underwear, which is all he wears for the rest of the film) on the side of the road, where a group of long-haired, volleyball-tossing Satanists discover him and take him back to their commune to nurse him back to health. This causes a schism in the leadership of the group since homosexuality is looked down on as disgusting and weak by Satan, so several hangings ensue and the girl who has fallen for poor Bobby (who is in too much pain to move from the bed) is buried up to her neck and covered with ants. It's up to Bobby to find the inner strength to escape the Satanists and then return to save his lady love; in the process he exacts gory revenge against all who have abused him and begins a new life worshipping under the shadow of the Lord of This Earth. The pace is slow and clumsy, but the action is outrageous enough to astound the modern viewer (whatever questions might arise from the film's portrayal of homosexuals as villains and Satanists as heroes are better off unasked).