The Redeemer: Son of Satan!
Tags: cult, murder

Plot synopsis:
The first issue (Epistle) opens with the Redeemer and his maniacs purging a group of Ratskins for a crime Malakev (the narrator) cannot even say (they tried to run away). As Klovis tells one Ratskin that he should be thanking him for rewarding him with a martyr's crown, the Ratskin tells Klovis that he is sick in the head and calls to the Hive Spirits asking for vengeance for the deaths of his people. At this the Caller, the self-proclaimed Shaman of Shamans, bursts from the ground riding a giant Millasaur. He attacks the Redemptionists, proclaiming his intention to lead a revolution of Ratskins to vengeance against the Hivers. Klovis drives him off with a blast of fire from his crown, but the Caller later attacks the Redeemer at his own camp. After fighting him off, and discovering that the Bloodmare Stone (An eye from one of the- if not the- last of the Giant Necromunda Spiders) is the source of his great power, Klovis and his band set out deeper into the Underhive to purge the Caller. The remainder of this issue deals with the Redeemer slaying a mutant gang boss in a duel so that he and his men can head further down.
In the second issue, the Caller gathers his armies and the Redeemer is captured by a psyker called Ferron Voor, the Emissary of Karloth Valois; Master of Plague Zombies, who drains the life from several of his men to reanimate a monstrous mutant rat, with which he tries to kill Klovis (only to die in the process).
In the third issue, Klovis and the Caller's armies finally battle with each other, the Slaught-drugged Redemptionists wreaking great havoc whilst Klovis manages, in a superhuman effort, to destroy the Rat God (from the last issue), the Bloodmare Spider Queen and the Caller, despite being badly wounded in the process. The power leaking from the crumbling Bloodmare Stone turns his zealots against him, leading to Klovis scourging his own men. In the end, only one survives: Malakev, who is shown on the second last page of the issue to have been converted into a Scribe-Servitor, a mindless cyborg slave who will spend the rest of his existence writing down Klovis' deeds.

Review: The rural area surrounding it certainly lends to the feeling of hopeless isolation.Having originally seen this via the big box "Class Reunion Massacre" VHS at my local video store, I was instantly taken with it.
I for one enjoyed this little known film, first having seen it at a friend's house way back when VCRs were for people who had a bit of extra money to burn and were the darlings of the neighborhood.
Just notice how those of us who appreciate The Redeemer were young at that time and those who don't like it are young NOW and weaned on flashier "horror" fare that are really Tommy Hilfiger ads in disguise.Sure the lack of budget shows sometimes, but The Redeemer (later retitled Class Reunion Massacre for those who need a lot of help in knowing what a film is about in the title, what a joke) has many little things in it that really shine.
There are several tense scenes of chases that really offer some sense of dread and the killings are rather creative and effective for a film from 1978 (that blade going into the guy's head and the marionette are a wow).
Note also that this film was shot in 1976, so it pre-dated films like Halloween and others that were considered forerunners of the genre.There is much that leaves us befuddled: What's with the two thumbs, the kid possibly changing into the man and then back, why the lake.....but I enjoyed the film for trying and succeeding if you can just put aside the questions of logic and lack of budget.
I actually like when a film uses unknown actors, it helps you get into the characters and the story easier that way (and not being distracted by a very recognizable actor), and the fact that the actors aren't all young and pretty people posing as teens was a major plus.
Or just that like the awful retitling Class Reunion Massacre, by putting the words "son of Satan" in the title it grabs the attention of more gullible minds?
There are way too many big budget Hollywood films that can easily be forgotten, but little films like The Redeemer manage to stay in people's minds and over the years always manage to be brought up in conversation about memorable obscure films.
I'll be honest - I don't know what the hell was going on during most of The Redeemer (or Class Reunion Massacre as the version I watched called itself), but I know I sure did love it.
Although the plot sounds like a rather straightforward slasher (in fact, "the killer staging a fake reunion to lure classmates back" thing has been done a few times since), but it's anything but.It begins with a little boy rising from a lake and hoping aboard a bus to church (as one does) and joins the choir as a priest with two thumbs(?) gives a rousing fire and brimstone speech about damnation.
Pretty soon, ol' priesty is dressing up like a clown, a hunter, and even the grim reaper himself to kill these people off one by one.This is probably the most straightforward part of the film (and the must substantial), but even this feels askew and dreamlike (in the best way).
I don't know if it's because of the quirky prologue and epilogue it's sandwiched in between or what, but this film really does feel like someone's horrible nightmare.The Redeemer has interesting cinematography, a good cast, phenomenally creepy music score, atmosphere out the ass, and a genuinely creepy villain.
See the climax to "Texas Chainsaw Massacre." An early-morning nightmare.) Anyway, I must be giving the worst review right now, but I thought I'd let people know that this is actually a very tense movie, with a merciless atmosphere of doom.
I don't even know if the writers of the film knew which direction they wanted to go in, but it all seems to work if you are into this kind of stuff.Basically, the beginning of the movie is strange as it starts with a boy walking out of a lake and getting a ride from a bus to a church.
Then, the movie seems to go into the past introducing a group of people, one by one, talking about going to their high school reunion.
When the group arrives at there old high school, they are locked in and one by one are murdered off in various ways by a man wearing multiple costumes.Everything about this movie is bizarre.
The music is very good appropriate and helps to build some dread, especially during the scene in which the boy at the beginning of the movie is walking out of the lake.
The whole storyline feels like it was two stories put together as the beginning and the end of the movie doesn't fit with the whole class reunion part.
The acting sucks (only Jeannetta Arnette seems to have any talent, and even then it's hard to be sure because of the poor sound quality--though she has proven it over the years, most spectacularly in Boys Don't Cry), the special effects are limited by budget, and the film is a technical shambles.
I don't quite buy all the pseudo-deep religioso explanations I see posted here, and I think the film-makers' intentions were way above their abilities, but, still, The Redeemer (and I do recall the "Son of Satan" tag as part of the title clear back in 1978)is worth seeing.
Wonderfully strange and offbeat "The Redemeer:Son of Satan!" aka "Class Reunion Massacre" tells the story of six old high school friends,who meeting up at their old school under the guise there is a reunion taking place.Of course this is a deadly trap.The Redeemer wants to punish them for their sins.Very bizarre and highly original slasher flick with dreamy atmosphere and the sense of impending doom.It's like a religious morality tale mixed with slasher elements on acid.There are some effective deaths including a really creepy scene involving the life size marionette and the killer dons a different costumes like in "Terror Train" or "Hollow Gate".He is clown,magician and grim reaper.The film is taking place within a nightmarish dream.It's time to punish sinners!Beware!From out of the darkness the hand of the Redeemer shall appear to punish those who have lived in sin...9 out of 10..
Oh yeah, and did I mention that the film is inexplicably bookended by the literal son of Satan emerging and entering a lake...or something?Opinion on "The Redeemer" (also released as "Class Reunion Massacre") seems to be divided, with some reviling the film for its religious overtones and sloppiness, while others herald its surreal disposition and dread; I tend to fall in the camp of the latter for a handful of reasons.
A large part of this weirdness is due to the bizarre supernatural angle that is woven into the film; the beginning and end almost feel as though they are part of a different movie entirely, while the mid-section is a fairly conventional (albeit atmospheric) slasher.
Each of the adult characters have a bit of personality and humanity to them which is supplied by capable performances, so there is an emotional gravitas to the film that makes the killings feel particularly mean-spirited; it also lends a potentially subversive ethos to the proceedings, as the extent to which the characters are truly "sinful" remains questionable as we watch them like lambs to the slaughter.In the end, it all comes crashing down in the same way it began.
Going into The Redeemer (or as my tape calls it "Class Reunion Massacre"), I didn't expect anything, but I'd been told it was a really weird movie I just had to see to believe.
The Redeemer is about as weird as they come, but I wasn't expecting it to be quite as creepy as it is.Trying to decipher the first 15 minutes of this movie are next to impossible, but if you get past that, you'll find an eerie and atmospheric early slasher before "the rules" of the sub-genre had been created.The characters are colorful with special attention to Jeanetta Arnette's lovable floozy, Cindy.
The film is more like a standard Agatha Christie kind of movie (and no, it's not even close to being a giallo), sorta like a crude version of TEN LITTLE INDIANS, were people are locked up in some big mansion, in this case it's a rundown High School (it doesn't look like a school) and the stupid people are killed one by one by a maniac.
I expected Jessica Fletcher to pop in at any moment and try to solve the killings.If you look at the cast list at the IMDb page for this movie, the killer, or the REDEEMER, is played by T.G. Finkbinder, a doughy guy who overacts shamelessly in a theatrical manner and looks like he ate too many twinkies.
The superficial additions I suspect were added at the last minute to bookend the movie: they happen at the beginning and at the very end, with a little boy (sorta like Damien from THE OMEN) walking out of a lake(!) and heading for the school, and ends with the kid going back into the lake.
It's actually good and effective.If you expect an OMEN or DAMIEN kind of film with THE REDEEMER, well, you'll be sorely disappointed.
If you expect to see a slasher kind of film under its second title, CLASS REUNION MASSACRE, well, you'll be disappointed by it as well.
And if you expect a good movie of any kind, well, you won't find it with this sad excuse of a horror film..
I would like to preface these comments by saying that I saw this movie on a poor quality double feature DVD (paired with Andy Milligan's "CARNAGE") that I picked up at the dollar store, so I honestly wasn't expecting much from CLASS REUNION MASSACRE (aka "THE REDEEMER: SON OF Satan!") from the get-go.
There were a few interesting scenes in CLASS REUNION MASSACRE but for the most part I found myself laughing at the screen more often than not.Here's our "plot" more or less: six people, each a cartoonish stereotype representing a "deadly sin," (a greedy lawyer, a vain gay man, a lesbian, a rich bitch, a male chauvinist pig, and a promiscuous former teen-queen) return to their now-closed high school for a ten-year reunion, where they quickly discover that they're the ONLY people in the school building aside from a psychotic killer who locks the doors and proceeds to pick them off one by one while wearing a variety of masks and costumes.
They also tend to stand around in shock and horror after every death while the killer makes a long, drawn-out speech about their sinful lives, letting him say his piece rather than simply rushing the guy and trying to kick his ass.
I'm not even going to get into the kid with an extra thumb (?) who rises mysteriously out of a lake (!) at the prologue of the movie (accompanied by some of the most annoying synthesizer music ever recorded) and is not seen again till he returns there in the epilogue, because those scenes feel like they were pasted in from a different film.
The prevailing theory seems to be that the kid is actually "The Redeemer" and that he's the one pulling the strings (those of you who've seen the movie will get that reference, I'm sure) behind the Priest's murder spree, but overall CLASS REUNION MASSACRE isn't coherent enough for the viewer to know for sure.
All I remembered was that it seemed like something worth the three dollars the guy was asking, but after years of being burned in my search for decent-bad cinema, I wasn't all that shocked to discover that Class Reunion Massacre is, in fact, not worth the three dollars I paid.
Four People I barely noticed, Mr. metro- fem, and a lesbian are headed to their 10 year high school reunion where they can sit around and eat, and "act", and wonder where the hell everyone's at.
Class Reunion Massacre is one of the greatest films ever made about a guy that comes from the water to kill people.....at least i think thats what its about.....who knows!!!!
Typical gory, kids-come-back-to-old-high-school for a reunion and get chopped-to-bits movie.The one thing that does stick out in my mind is the opening sequence, when a school bus drives to an abandoned rock quarry and the son-of-satan character walks up out of the water and gets on the bus and then returns there at the end.
The epitome of slasher films, "The Redeemer/Class Reunion Massacre" actually introduces characters for the sole purpose of killing them off.
It's hard to tell if the humor was accidental, but it's great for parties, so I recommend it for anyone who enjoys cheesy films.It has a good stable of slasher movie stereotypes too: the humorous fat guy, the good-looking Italian guy, the slutty girl, the evil priest and, of course, the lesbian.
Immediately after starting the film I was very excited with the fact that I have finally found the movie after 17 years of wanting to see it again.
The basics of the movie is that a number of students from a school are invited to a fake 10 year class reunion to be offed for their sins.
(There are Spoilers) What really disturbs me, as well as a lot of the people who've seen this movie, is how it uses revenge against a number of innocent, if not at all that biblically observant, persons in "crimes" that they committed that almost everyone watching the film did at one time or another in their life: #1.Greed #2.Arrogence #3.Hunting for sport #4.Stuffing oneself with food, mostly cheeseburger's.
Daniel for his actions which were nothing more then having a big and abusive mouth was given the death penalty at the end of the film.The movie then switches directions in what seems to be a totally different story with the graduating class of the 1967 Stuart Morse Academy coming together for a class reunion.
The scene has to be one of the most shocking scenes ever put into a horror/slasher film with it not having a single drop of blood in it.The killer for some reason takes off his disguise when he confronts John, Damien Knight, and gives him this whole line of BS of why he deserves to be killed.
This pre-Halloween movie follows more in the venue of Italian "giallos" films, except you get to "see" the killer function like a chameleon constantly changing props and costumes with different setting for each killing.There was some great chilly moments such as the theater stage scene where one of the characters gets a sword in his head.
The boy goes back to the lake, where he walks into the water and disappears.The movie closes with this: "From out of the darkness the hand of the Redeemer shall appear to punish those who have lived in sin...
and return to the watery depths of Hell."Shot in July 1976 and also known as Class Reunion Massacre, this movie is way ahead of its time.
Or was it just an easy set-up for a slasher.After a truly baffling prologue involving said water-kid, a sermon, and a janitor murder, Class Reunion Massacre (aka The Redeemer) sets the scene.
THE REDEEMER is an early slasher film with a character all of its own and plenty of creepy atmosphere to see it through, even if the story is rather light and stretched out.
they should watch this...There are 6 people who have done something sinful, who knows what it was-- and these six people get invites to a class reunion at their high school..
And he basically murders the six people who try desperately to elude this loony toon to get out of the school alive!!!The preacher also uses like 4 different disguises, a skeleton, clown, and something else....I really didn't care whether these characters lived or died-- it was that boring...The deaths are basic--- shotgun, revolver, sword in head, little flamethrower another sword killing, and a girl gets drowned in a restroom sink!!!!6 different deaths for each of the six people..!!!As it turns out, they all never escape, and they ll get murdered!!
While this is still a slasher film, draped in religious subtext regarding the "wicked" paying for their sins, credit I think goes to the filmmakers for creating this really eerie ambiance throughout, in just the way it is scored and shot, there's just this weird atmosphere it has that worked it's power over me.
In my opinion this movie was extremely unique and scary.The beginning was a little slow- but after 10 minutes the action begins.There were plenty bizarre, twisted, and freakish scenes of brutal murder.The "killer" in the film plans "perfect" murders for each "sinner" which coincides with their sin.The murder scenes are longer than typical murder scenes.If you like classic horror movies and enjoy being engaged, mortified, surprised and scared this is a sure winner for you.I give it a A- (I enjoyed its uniqueness of its time period, even though the ending a bit involved..
Another movie dealing with High School graduates returning for a "reunion" and get killed off.
Most of them look like the type of people who would watch gore films all the time, but except for the characters in the SCREAM series, it's as if all these dumb dodos have never seen even ONE slasher flick in their soon-to-be-curtailed lives.
Combining elements from both the slasher and the demonic horror sub-genres, The Redeemer sees a group of old college pals gathering at their now abandoned school for a class reunion where a killer is waiting to punish them for leading sinful lives.The film opens in surreal style with a young lad, Christopher (Christopher Flint), emerging from a lake and boarding a bus, travelling to a church where he joins a tone-deaf boys' choir and gets bullied by a fellow chorister brandishing a knife.