''American Satan'' is a 2017 American

supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

directed by

Ash Avildsen Ashley Gregory Avildsen (born November 5, 1981) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and the founder and CEO of Sumerian Records and Sumerian Films. The son of director John G. Avildsen, he wrote and directed the film ''America ...

, who also wrote the screenplay with Matty Beckerman. It was released in theaters on Friday October 13, 2017, and stars

Andy Biersack Andrew Dennis Biersack (born December 26, 1990), formerly known as Andy Six, is an American singer. He is the founder and lead vocalist of the rock band Black Veil Brides and is its only remaining original member. In 2014, he started a solo mu ...

Ben Bruce Benjamin Paul Bruce (born 31 October 1988) is an English musician. He was the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of rock band Asking Alexandria until his departure in January 2024 and has also performed as a solo artist. Bruce founded the ban ...

Drake Bell Jared Drake Bell (born June 27, 1986) is an American actor and musician. Born in Newport Beach, California, he began his career as a child actor in the 1990s, appearing on ''Home Improvement (TV series), Home Improvement'' (1994) and in severa ...

Denise Richards Denise Lee Richards (born February 17, 1971) is an American actress, TV personality, and model. She rose to prominence with roles in the science fiction film ''Starship Troopers'' (1997), the erotic thriller film '' Wild Things'' (1998), and the ...

Malcolm McDowell Malcolm McDowell (born Malcolm John Taylor; 13 June 1943) is an English actor. He first became known for portraying Mick Travis in Lindsay Anderson's ''if....'' (1968), a role he later reprised in ''O Lucky Man!'' (1973) and ''Britannia Hospital ...

Booboo Stewart Nils Allen "Booboo" Stewart Jr. (born January 21, 1994) is an American actor, musician, and visual artist. He is known for playing Seth Clearwater in '' The Twilight Saga'', Warpath in '' X-Men: Days of Future Past'', Jay in the Disney televi ...

, and

Tori Black Tori Black (born 1988) is an American pornographic actress. In 2011, she became the first person to win the AVN Female Performer of the Year Award two years in a row. She was inducted in the XRCO and AVN Halls of Fame. Early life and educa ...

. The film marked

Larry King Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021) was an American TV and radio host presenter, author, and former spokesman. He was a WMBM radio interviewer in the Miami area in the 1950s and 1960s and beginning in ...

's final film role before his death in January 2021. It won an award for Best Narrative Feature at the 2017

Oceanside International Film Festival The Oceanside International Film Festival (OIFF) is an annual film festival held in Oceanside, California. It was founded in 2009 by the Oceanside Cultural Foundation. History The 11th annual festival was the first in person event since 2019. ...

. The movie successfully launched the titular franchise.

Plot

The Relentless are an aspiring rock band, half from England and half from the US, who all move to Los Angeles to become famous. The band's vocalist, Johnny Faust, lives in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

with his mother and his girlfriend Gretchen. After moving to Los Angeles they hold auditions for a bassist, and choose a woman, Lily. While leaving a liquor store, some of the members encounter a homeless man who tells them to rely on feeling more than perception. Moments later, the band is accosted by another man who implies he is the

Devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

and can make them stars if they perform a

human sacrifice Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease deity, gods, a human ruler, public or jurisdictional demands for justice by capital punishment, an authoritative/prie ...

. Lily tells Johnny that her ex-band member Damien raped her the night she left the band. Johnny learns his mother has breast cancer and cannot afford treatment. Damien insults Johnny's mother, so the band decides to sacrifice Damien. They lock him in a van and set it aflame, but Johnny has a change of heart and lets Damien out. Damien climbs an electrical fence and dies from

electrocution Electrocution is death or severe injury caused by electric shock from electric current passing through the body. The word is derived from "electro" and "execution", but it is also used for accidental death. The term "electrocution" was coined ...

. The Relentless get a record deal and record an album, called ''American Satan''. They go on tour. In

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, a bar fight results in the death of a man, and Johnny is arrested. He goes on trial and is

acquitted In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal means that the criminal prosecution has failed to prove that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the charge presented. It certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an o ...

. This inspires The Relentless's fans to confront their bullies, leading to more deaths, all blamed on the band. Johnny and Gretchen try to maintain their long-distance relationship, but matters are complicated when Johnny and Lily sleep together. At the same time, Ricky

overdoses A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended. Retrieved on September 20, 2014.

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

and dies. This leads to Leo heavily using alcohol and pills. Gretchen dumps Johnny, and he turns to

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

and sex with Lily to try to cope. A fan's mother gets Johnny to take her teen daughter's virginity; he does, while Dylan has sex with the mother. They later learn that the girl's dad killed himself because of this. Johnny overdoses on heroin and almost dies, but is revived by a paramedic - the homeless man the group encountered outside the liquor store. Johnny goes to rehab. Lily refuses to go to rehab and disappears. ''American Satan'' is well-received and tops the charts. The band performs more shows and receive a lot of adoration but also a lot of backlash, leading them to almost quit the music industry. The band is successful, and Johnny's mother receives treatment for her cancer, which goes into remission. Johnny tries to get back together with Gretchen to no avail. The Relentless land a gig at a music festival but the Devil says that they have to kill a man during their performance, though he intends to make it look like part of the concert. The night of the show, Lily returns. A moment later, the Devil appears in the guise of Johnny's mother's new boyfriend, and when the band goes on stage and performs, Johnny takes the gun and first holds it to his head before shooting and killing the Devil. He is arrested. While in prison, Johnny is visited by the

archangel Gabriel In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), Gabriel ( ) is an archangel with the power to announce God's will to mankind, as the messenger of God. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. Many Chris ...

- the homeless man. He tells Johnny he has a choice in his future and to go with his feelings. He is also visited by Gretchen who tells Johnny she still loves him. She brings with her a lawyer, Damien's father. The lawyer gets Johnny off on a technicality.

Cast

as Johnny Faust, lead singer of The Relentless. Johnny's singing is performed by Remington Leith of

Palaye Royale Palaye Royale is an American rock band from Las Vegas, formed in 2008 by brothers Remington Leith, Sebastian Danzig, and Emerson Barrett. Formed under the name Kropp Circle, the band released one EP and two singles before changing their name to ...

as Mr. Capricorn * John Bradley as Ricky Rollins, Manager of The Relentless *

as Vic Lakota, one of the two guitarists of The Relentless. Guitar sound by Lee McKinney of

Born of Osiris Born of Osiris is an American progressive metalcore band formed in 2003 in Palatine, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The band currently consists of drummer and sole remaining founding member Cameron Losch, lead vocalist Ronnie Canizaro, and guit ...

Mark Boone Junior Mark Boone Junior (born Mark Heidrich; March 17, 1955) is an American character actor, best known for his TV roles as Bobby Munson in ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2008–2014) and Patrick "Pat" Brown in '' Last Man On Earth'' (2016-2017), and film roles ...

as Elias Collins, owner/head of the Akkadian Records *

as Leo Donovan, one of the two guitarists of The Relentless * Jesse Sullivan as Lily Mayflower, bassist of The Relentless *

Olivia Culpo Olivia Frances Culpo (born May 8, 1992) is an American model, actress, and media personality. Culpo has won Miss Rhode Island USA, Miss USA 2012, and Miss Universe 2012. Early life and education Olivia Frances Culpo was born on May 8, 1992, ...

as Gretchen, Johnny's girlfriend * Sebastian Gregory as Dylan James, drummer of The Relentless *

Bill Goldberg William Scott Goldberg (born December 27, 1966), often known Mononymous person, mononymously as Goldberg, is an American professional wrestler, actor and former American football defensive tackle. He is signed to WWE. He is best known for his ten ...

as Hawk, The Relentless' tour manager *

as himself *

Bill Duke William Henry Duke Jr. (born February 26, 1943) is an American actor, director, and producer. Known for his physically imposing frame, Duke works primarily in the action and crime drama genres often as a character related to law enforcement. As a ...

Gabriel In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), Gabriel ( ) is an archangel with the power to announce God's will to mankind, as the messenger of God. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. Many Chris ...

, the arch angel *

as Ms Faust, Johnny's mother *

as Damien Collins, member/leader of the band called Damien's Inferno *

as Cassandra

Reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has an approval rating of 78% based on reviews from nine critics, with an average rating of 8/10. Emilie Black of ''Cinema Crazed'' gave the film 4 out of 5 and wrote: "''American Satan'' is a film it might take time for fans to discover but it will more than likely get a following in the next few years." Bobby LePire of

Film Threat ''Film Threat'' is an American online film review publication, and earlier, a national magazine that focused primarily on independent film, although it also reviewed videos and DVDs of mainstream films, as well as Hollywood movies in theaters. ...

gave it a grade of A− and wrote: "''American Satan'' doesn't put enough time toward one of the most crucial relationships in the movie for it to work. But the acting is excellent, the directing is stylized and energetic, the characters are interesting, the ending is remarkable." Kaitlyn Tiffany of ''

The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American Technology journalism, technology news website headquarters, headquartered in Lower Manhattan, New York City and operated by Vox Media. The website publishes news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, cons ...

'' gave it a negative review: "In the space of 90 minutes, it captures some of the worst acting ever committed to film..." saying that star Andy Biersack has no acting ability whatsoever.

Television series

A TV series spin-off, ''

Paradise City "Paradise City" is a song by the American rock band Guns N' Roses, featured on their debut album, ''Appetite for Destruction'' (1987). Released as a single in January 1989, it is the only song on the album to feature a synthesizer. The song pea ...

'', was announced as a continuation of the film.

and

along with other cast members reprise their roles from the film.

Cameron Boyce Cameron Mica Boyce (May 28, 1999 – July 6, 2019) was an American actor. He began his career as a child actor, appearing in the 2008 films ''Mirrors'' and ''Eagle Eye'', along with the comedy film '' Grown Ups'' (2010) and its 2013 sequel. Hi ...

makes a posthumous appearance in the show playing the role of Simon.

Kellin Quinn Kellin Quinn Bostwick (born April 24, 1986) is an American singer and musician. He is the lead vocalist and keyboardist of the post-hardcore band Sleeping with Sirens. He is known for his distinctive, high-pitched vocals and for collaborating wi ...

of the band

Sleeping With Sirens Sleeping with Sirens is an American rock band from Orlando, Florida, currently residing in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The band currently consists of Kellin Quinn (lead vocals, keyboards), Nick Martin (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Justin Hills ...

is to also appear in the show, as is

Randy Blythe David Randall Blythe (, born February 21, 1971) is an American vocalist, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Lamb of God (band), Lamb of God and Burn The Priest. He has also performed guest vocals fo ...

Lamb of God Lamb of God (; , ) is a Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, title for Jesus that appears in the Gospel of John. It appears at wikisource:Bible (American Standard)/John#1:29, John 1:29, where John the Baptist sees Jesus and exclaims, " ...

and

Sid Wilson Sidney George Wilson (born January 20, 1977) is an American DJ and keyboardist. He is the turntablist for the nu metal band Slipknot, in which he is designated #0. Biography Sid Wilson was born in Des Moines, Iowa. Both of his parents are from ...

Slipknot The slip knot is a stopper knot which is easily undone by pulling the tail ( working end). The slip knot is related to the running knot, which will release when the standing end is pulled. Both knots are identical and are composed of a slipp ...

. The first season of the show has eight episodes. A teaser was released on May 1 and the official trailer was posted onto the Sumerian Records

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel on December 10, 2020. The series was released on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

on March 25, 2021, while also being available to purchase on other platforms.

References

External links