An American Satan(2019)

A rare clip from 1994 warning of the dangers that lurk in America: homosexuals and Satanists.

These days it seems that nothing is as polarizing and controversial as religious belief. Everywhere one goes it seems that people are asking the question: Do we even need religion? Is it limiting our understanding? What kind of world is being produced by these faith systems? Regardless of your answers to these questions, it is hard to deny that worship still plays an important role in many people's lives and many people simply do not understand where others are coming from. Believers is a unique exploration of those questions related to faith by focusing the lens on five of the world's belief systems, Agnosticism, and the new Atheism. The film follows Sacha Sewhdat's personal journey towards understanding as he searches for the value of religion in modern society. With honesty and objectivity Sacha explores what it means to believe in a higher power or what it would mean to let those beliefs go. It will both inform and challenge what you know about religion in the 21st Century.

How do you reconcile a commitment to non-violence when faced with violence? Why do the poor often seem happier than the rich? Must a society lose its traditions in order to move into the future? These are some of the questions posed to His Holiness the Dalai Lama by filmmaker and explorer Rick Ray. Ray examines some of the fundamental questions of our time by weaving together observations from his own journeys throughout India and the Middle East, and the wisdom of an extraordinary spiritual leader. This is his story, as told and filmed by Rick Ray during a private visit to his monastery in Dharamsala, India over the course of several months. Also included is rare historical footage as well as footage supplied by individuals who at great personal risk, filmed with hidden cameras within Tibet.

To fight the anxiety that haunts him day and night, a young actor decides to explore his dark side. This initiatory quest will lead him to trace the history of Satanism in France, from the legends of the past to the black masses of today.

Over 2,500 years ago, one man showed the world a way to enlightenment. This beautifully produced Buddhist film by the BBC meticulously reveals the fascinating story of Prince Siddhartha and the spiritual transformation that turned him into the Buddha.

Mondo Cane and the Schoolgirl Report series stand as obvious influences on this occasionally amusing but generally rather tedious exploitation film that alternates between documentary, fake documentary and docudrama. The theme is Satanism and the linking thread is a recreation of what is supposedly the real-life case of a murder and attempted murder of two Munich teenage men by a quartet of girls who had been dabbling in devil worship. During the ensuing trial, the lawyer resorts to dilatory tactics while the hearing is frequently interrupted by the girls breaking into incantation, temper tantrums or shivery fits ostensibly bearing on demonic possession. When the subject of the Manson killings is brought up, the most obnoxious of the defendants breaks in indignantly, claiming that Sharon Tate’s “execution” was justified as she posed dangers to the Satanic community.

In 1989, I met Anton LaVey for the first time. At this time in his life, LaVey was seeing only a select few people. For this film, I've met and interviewed some of them, to try and create a composite image of what he was really like, and what he meant to these people. It's a memory lane trip, filled with personal stories, dark humor, great music and never before seen material with the Black Pope himself.

Realizing the urban legend of their youth has actually come true, two filmmakers delve into the mystery surrounding five missing children and the real-life boogeyman linked to their disappearances.

An experiential portrait depicting Satanists in both the everyday and in the extraordinary as they fight to preserve their lifestyle: magic, mystery, and misanthropy.

An epidemic of ritual abuse of children from infants to teenagers is sweeping through the country. According to recent TV and radio broadcasts 2 million children a year are reported missing, many too young to be runaways and 5 thousand unidentifiable bodies of children are found each year in the US alone. "Devil Worship: The Rise of Satanism" takes you behind the scenes into actual black witchcraft and satanic rituals. Former Satanists, practicing witches and law enforcement experts explain the vastness and diversity of the movement. Experts tell why people join and how Satanists recruit their members as well as their victims. Parents are given clues to determine if their children are involved. Most importantly, dangerous doorways into the occult are exposed.

But what is the Church of Satan? Who is Anton LaVey? Where is he from? Why does he do that? It does not take much to imagine the worst. Orgiastic ceremonies, where one revels in the blood of virgins, moonlight lamb sacrifices, noise concerts in the basement of a historical building… No, really nothing that amusing among the activities in the Church of Satan. Anton LaVey is nothing like a horned Charles Manson, and his path is all the more unexpected. Nick Bougas allows us to discover the artist, the musician, the philosopher, all through hallucinatory images retrieved from archives, making this rare documentary only two years before the author of the Satanic Bible disappeared.

Evangelist Bob Larson sits down with Zeena and Nickolas and tries to talk some good old fashioned religion into 'em, but they'll have none of it.