American Satan
American Satan is a 2017 American supernatural musical thriller film written by Ash Avildsen and Matty Beckerman.[2] It was released in theaters on Friday October 13, 2017[3] and features rock artists Andy Biersack (his vocal performance provided by Remington Leith of the band Palaye Royale), Ben Bruce, and Drake Bell. It also stars Denise Richards, Malcolm McDowell, Booboo Stewart, and Tori Black. The film's soundtrack, including tracks performed by the film's fictional band "The Relentless", was released to accompany the film.[4]
| American Satan | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Ash Avildsen |
| Produced by | Ash Avildsen Matty Beckerman Sean E. Demott Andy Gould Jeff Rice Isen Robbins Aimee Schoof |
| Written by | Ash Avildsen Matty Beckerman |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Jonathan Davis Nicholas O'Toole |
| Cinematography | Andrew Strahorn |
Production company | Sumerian Films Jeff Rice Films Intrinsic Value Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 112 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $237,708[1] |
Plot
The Relentless are an aspiring rock band, half from England and half from the US, who all drop out of college and move to Los Angeles to try to become famous. Johnny Faust, lives in Columbus, Ohio with his mother and his longtime girlfriend Gretchen. After moving to Los Angeles they hold auditions for a bassist, and choose a girl named Lily. While leaving a liquor store, some of the band members encounter a homeless man who bears a name placard for "Reverend Jasper Williams". Before leaving, he tells them to rely on feeling more than perception. Moments later, the band is accosted by another old man twice before they agree to talk to him, without Lily. The man implies that he is the Devil and that he can make them huge stars if they trust him and perform a human sacrifice. As Lily had told Johnny that her ex-band member Damien raped her the night she left the band, and after Johnny has learned that his mother has breast cancer and cannot afford treatment and Damien having insulted Johnny's mother, the band decides that Damien will be the victim. They lock him in a van, pour gasoline on it and set it aflame, but midway through Johnny has a change of heart and lets Damien out. Damien tries to climb an electrical fence but dies after being electrocuted, thus fulfilling the sacrifice.
The Relentless get a record deal and record an album, called American Satan and then goes on tour to promote it. At a tour stop in Kansas, a bar fight leads to the death of a racist man, and Johnny is arrested. He goes on trial and is released after a period of time; the death is ruled self-defense. 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 and Lily, unbeknownst to Johnny, answers a call from Gretchen on Johnny's phone who then hears them having sex. At the same time, Ricky overdoses on cocaine and dies, leaving Leo distraught. As a result of Ricky's death, Leo begins to heavily use alcohol and pills. Gretchen dumps Johnny, and he turns to heroin (something that Lily introduced him to) and sex with Lily to try to cope. He also engages in much sex, as do the rest of the band. A fan's mother pays Johnny to take her teen daughter's virginity; he does, but then learns from Elias that the girl's dad killed himself because of what she and Johnny did. Johnny gets so involved with heroin that he overdoses and almost dies, but is revived at the last minute by a paramedic - who is revealed to be the same homeless man the group encountered outside the liquor store. Johnny then goes to rehab and begins to get clean. Lily refuses to go to rehab and disappears. The Relentless' album 'American Satan' is well-received and instantly tops the music charts. The band performs more shows and receive a lot of adoration but also a lot of backlash due to their songs, image, and propensity for having sex with teenage fans. This leads them to almost quit the music industry.
The band becomes well-off, and Johnny's mother is able to receive treatment for her cancer. It goes into remission. Johnny tries to get back together with Gretchen but Gretchen is unmoved by his pleas. The Relentless land a gig at a big music festival but the Devil says that they have to kill a supposedly mentally unstable man during their performance, though he intends to make it look like just part of the concert. The night of the big show, Lily returns just before they are set to go on stage but then leaves to go to the restroom. 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 told he has a visitor by a guard who reveals his identity to be the archangel Gabriel - it is the same man who they met outside the store and that revived Johnny. He tells Johnny that he has a choice in his future and again to go with his feelings. The visit is soon revealed to be from Gretchen who tells Johnny she still loves him. She brings with her a powerful lawyer, who happens to be Damien's father. The lawyer tells Johnny he can get him off on a technicality. The film ends with Johnny and Gretchen bending their heads toward each other while looking up conspiratorially at the lawyer. Gretchen tells Johnny it is two against one now, indicating the lawyer is the Devil's new disguise (supported by him using a distinctive knock that the Devil had used before) and that she will stay with Johnny and help him fight the darkness.
The credits are interspersed with various bands recounting anecdotes about their experiences with the supernatural and how it influenced their music.
Cast
- Andy Biersack as Johnny Faust, lead singer of The Relentless. Johnny's singing is performed by Remington Leith of Palaye Royale
- Malcolm McDowell as Mr. Capricorn/The Devil
- John Bradley as Ricky Rollins, Manager of The Relentless
- Booboo Stewart as Vic Lakota, one of the two guitarist of The Relentless. Guitar sound by Lee McKinney of Born of Osiris
- Mark Boone Junior as Elias Collins, owner/head of the Akkadian Records
- Ben Bruce as Leo Donovan, one of the two guitarist of The Relentless
- Jesse Sullivan as Lily Mayflower, bassist of The Relentless
- Olivia Culpo as Gretchen, Johnny's girlfriend
- Sebastian Gregory as Dylan James, drummer of The Relentless
- Bill Goldberg as Hawk, The Relentless' tour manager
- Larry King as himself
- Bill Duke as Gabriel, the arch angel
- Denise Richards as Ms Faust, Johnny's mother
- Drake Bell as Damien Collins, member/leader of the band called Damien's Inferno
- Tori Black as Cassandra
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 75% based on reviews from 8 critics, with an average rating of 8.00/10.[5]
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."[6] Bobby LePire of Film Threat 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."[7]
Kaitlyn Tiffany of The Verge 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.[8]
Spin-off
A TV series spin-off, Paradise City, was created as a continuation of the film.[9] It is announced for streaming availability starting in March of 2021. Andy Biersack and Ben Bruce along with other cast members are to reprise their roles from the original film. The late actor Cameron Boyce makes a posthumous appearance in the show playing the role of Simon. Kellin Quinn of the band Sleeping With Sirens is to also appear in the show, as is Randy Blythe of Lamb of God and Sid Wilson of Slipknot.[10] Singer and actress Bella Thorne take over the role of Lily Mayflower, replacing Jesse Sullivan, and Asking Alexandria drummer James Cassells will be taking over the role of Dylan James, replacing Sebastian Gregory.
The first season of the show will have 8 episodes.[11] A teaser was released on May 1 and the official trailer was posted onto the Sumerian Records YouTube channel December 10, 2020.[12][13]
See also
References
- "American Satan (2017)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
- "Projects". Marty Beckerman. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
- Kika Chatterjee (June 18, 2017). "Watch 'American Satan' movie trailer starring Andy Black, Ben Bruce and more". Altpress. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
- "'American Satan' Soundtrack Released | Film Music Reporter". Retrieved October 22, 2019.
- "American Satan (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
- Emilie Black (October 17, 2017). "American Satan (2017)". Cinema-Crazed.com.
- Bobby LePire (June 6, 2018). "American Satan". Film Threat.
- Tiffany, Kaitlyn (October 24, 2017). "In American Satan, Game of Thrones' John Bradley eats plates of coke". The Verge.
- Hannan, Devon (April 2, 2019). "'American Satan' spin-off reveals relative release date". Alternative Press. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
- brownypaul (December 10, 2020). "Andy Black's American Satan/Paradise City Series is Coming to Amazon Prime in 2021". Wall Of Sound. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
- "Paradise City". Instagram.
- PARADISE CITY - Season One Teaser. YouTube. Sumerian Records.
- brownypaul (December 10, 2020). "Andy Black's American Satan/Paradise City Series is Coming to Amazon Prime in 2021". Wall Of Sound. Retrieved December 10, 2020.