Maybe Satan's not so bad after all

Rating: 10/10 (21 January 1999)

Of course it looks bad at the outset: young Rosemary is unwittingly impregnated by the Prince of Darkness. In the end, is it really so different than the "immaculate conception" story associated with Jesus? Sure, he probably had better spin doctors, so of course his tale sounds a little more wholesome. What this film seems to say is that Satanism is just another choice of belief. For worshipping Satan, the cultists do very little that is egregious. Their sneaky behavior looks bad because they had to be sneaky, since such momentous events as the birth of Satan's son is apt to be misconstrued by polite society. What I'm saying is that the reason this film is so creepy is that the characters are all so "normal" (if a bit eccentric). Revealing to mainstream America the concept that even Satan worshippers are not so different from the culture at large is perhaps more disturbing than a film like "The Hills Have Eyes," because there is no safe distance for the audience from the material.