''Satan's Playground'', also known as ''Chemistry'', is a 2006 American

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

directed and written by

Dante Tomaselli Dante Tomaselli (born October 29, 1969, in Paterson, New Jersey) is an Italian-American horror screenwriter, director, and score composer. In 2013 '' Fearnet'' named Tomaselli one of their "Favorite Underrated Horror Directors", as they found h ...

. The film stars

Felissa Rose Felissa Rose Esposito (born May 23, 1969), better known as simply Felissa Rose, is an American actress and producer. She has amassed over 150 film credits, and is best known for her work in the Horror film, horror genre, for which she is recogni ...

, Ellen Sandweiss, and

Edwin Neal Joseph Edwin Neal Jr. (born July 12, 1945) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as the hitchhiker in ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' and has been a voice talent, appearing on screen and off, including three voices in Wii's '' Me ...

. This was Sandweiss' first film appearance since 1981's ''

The Evil Dead ''The Evil Dead'' is a 1981 American independent film, independent supernatural horror film written and directed by Sam Raimi (in his feature directorial debut). The film stars Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker ...

'', and was the first time Tomaselli did not serve as the producer of his own film.

Plot

Donna (

) and Frank (Salvatore Paul Piro) Bruno have decided to take a trip into the

Pine Barrens Pine barrens, pine plains, sand plains, or pineland areas occur throughout the U.S. from Florida to Maine (see Atlantic coastal pine barrens) as well as the Midwest, West, and Canada and parts of Eurasia. Perhaps the most well known pine-barre ...

with their

autistic Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...

son Sean (

Danny Lopes Danny Lopes is an American actor and model. He played the lead role of Bobby in Dante Tomaselli's film ''Desecration'' in 1999. Tomaselli cast Lopes for '' Horror'', his second feature film, in 2002, which also stars Kreskin. He earned his acting ...

), new mother Paula ( Ellen Sandweiss), and her baby Anthony (Marco Rose). When their car breaks down in the middle of the forest Frank goes off to find help and comes across the house of Mrs. Leeds (Irma St. Paule), a

palm reader Palmistry is the pseudoscientific practice of fortune-telling through the study of the palm. Also known as palm reading, chiromancy, chirology or cheirology, the practice is found all over the world, with numerous cultural variations. Those w ...

that lives there with her

mute Muteness is a speech disorder in which a person lacks the ability to speak. Mute, Mutes or the Mute may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Mute'' (2005 film), a short film by Melissa Joan Hart * ''Mute'' (2018 film), ...

daughter Judy (Christie Sanford) and her son. Mrs. Leeds rushes him into the house, insisting that the

Jersey Devil In South Jersey and Philadelphia folklore in the United States, the Jersey Devil, also known as the Leeds Devil, is a legendary creature, or cryptid, said to inhabit the forests of the Pine Barrens in South Jersey. The creature is often describ ...

lives in the forest. However, despite her concern, it soon becomes apparent that her family is just as dangerous when Judy murders Frank. One by one the people remaining in the car go out to search for their lost family members. Donna goes off in search of Frank and is assaulted and captured by the Leeds. Sean wanders off and gets lost in the woods. Paula initially tries to stay in the car and keep her baby safe, but inevitably leaves the car to investigate a police cruiser. However rather than containing help, it contains the corpse of an officer killed by the Jersey Devil. When she returns to the car she finds that Anthony has been taken and she goes off in search of him, which takes her to the Leeds house, where she's killed by the Leeds. Sean eventually makes it to the Leeds house where he is given a palm reading and then sent back into the night, where he gets sucked underground by what appears to be

quicksand Quicksand (also known as sinking sand) is a colloid consisting of fine granular material (such as sand, silt or clay) and water. It forms in saturated loose sand when the sand is suddenly agitated. When water in the sand cannot escape, it crea ...

. This leaves only Donna alive, who manages to escape by bribing the Leeds son with

diazepam Diazepam, sold under the brand name Valium among others, is a medicine of the benzodiazepine family that acts as an anxiolytic. It is used to treat a range of conditions, including anxiety disorder, anxiety, seizures, alcohol withdrawal syndr ...

. She eventually makes it to safety and wakes up in a hospital bed, where she is told that the Leeds house has been abandoned for years. Donna manages to persuade the police to check out the Leeds house in the hopes of finding Anthony, only for the Leeds to murder the police officer accompanying her. Terrified, Donna flees the house and tries to once again make it to safety, but is then killed by the Jersey Devil.

Cast

Reception

The film holds a rating of 67% on ''

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 ...

'', based on 6 reviews, with an average rating of 6.30/10. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' gave the film a positive review, noting that while it was more accessible than some of his previous films, it still would not appeal to all viewers. Overall the magazine called it a "richly atmospheric exercise in surreal horror". ''

JoBlo.com JoBlo.com is an anchor website of the JoBlo Movie Network focused on news, film reviews, and film trailers. The network has YouTube channels that focus on trailers, movie clips, celebrity interviews, original content, and film distribution. H ...

'' and ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

'' both praised the film, and ''JoBlo's'' reviewer noted that the movie was "a relentless and uber entertaining circus of horror". '' Dread Central's'' review was more mixed, praising the film's look as "polished" while criticizing the film's acting and non-linear story line.

References

External links

* {{Dante Tomaselli 2006 films 2006 horror films 2000s avant-garde and experimental films 2006 independent films American avant-garde and experimental films American independent films American monster movies American supernatural horror films 2000s English-language films Films about autism Films about cryptids Films about families Films set in forests Films set in New Jersey Films shot in New Jersey Jersey Devil in fiction Films about mass murder Films about Satanism 2000s American films English-language horror films English-language independent films