I have viewed several films in my time regarding the practice of a select and devout few. They proffer unshakable allegiance and dedication toward the divine entity to which they pledge their undying reverence. Knowing this, I feel confident reporting that writer-director Scott Cummings’s Realm of Satan reveals the worshipers of the dark lord of the underworld to be quiet, ordinary people.
We meet the leaders of the church. Explore their home. Ride along with them on their way to mass. They offer us a similar glance into auxiliary members and followers. Their houses range from palatial to quaint. The minutia or extravagance of their existence is on full display. But nothing one might expect from your garden-variety Satanist.
What was I expecting? Black Masses? Mutilations? Realm of Satan opens on graphically bizarre footage of a goat giving birth. Then, what follows are portraits, literally, of members of this 50-year-old religion, photographed in their daily routine and ritual of their regular dawn-to-dusk. That is really all you get.
“What is it to follow Satan as opposed to Christ?”
I kept waiting for Cummings to engage those pictured with questions of how, when, where, and why they have walked in the path of Satan? How has the fallen one impacted their existence since they turned to his teachings? Sadly, there is none of that. What is it to follow Satan as opposed to Christ? There were many a question that could have been posed liberally or individually, had any queries been posed. There is only so long footage remains enticing until it devolves into a music video, which doesn’t sync up with the song playing behind it.
That’s not to say Realm of Satan isn’t intriguing. It has its moments, but any visual information presented hangs before the eyes and remains an enigma. Characters that indeed speak volumes simply by their movement, attire, and appearance would have been better served with an equal amount of discourse touching upon their viewpoint as to nature versus the societal perception of their beliefs.
The documentary feels like something that could have been deeply engrossing had the filmmaker selected an alternate narrative structure. He needed to deliver more than surface without substance. Indeed, when we are finally welcomed to a congregation, much like the bulk of the duration of the film, I found myself disappointed at the co-opted quality of the ritual verse. All Realm of Satan has to provide is a purely visual account of the ordinary lives of your everyday Satanists. If that’s what you’re looking for, then watch this.
"…hangs before the eyes and remains an enigma."
