Review of Satan's Playground (2006) by Joe A — 01 Oct 2012

Dante Tomaselli's films follow a more dream like structure then a traditional narrative. They are driven more with visuals and atmosphere and while there is a story, he tends to tell it in the same fashion that our dreams occur, sometimes vearing from one spooky scene to another and not always stopping to explain things or dot the "I"s.

If you don't mind this more avant garde low budget style then you might enjoy this surreal and creepy tale of a family's unfortunate experiences when they break down in New Jersey's legendary Pine Barrens and come across the very strange "Leeds" family.

Could they be the same Leeds of legend? Tomaselli takes them and us through a journey filled with madness, murder, cult rituals and very possibly a meeting with the infamous Jersey Devil itself. A strange and bloody little movie that has both a fairy tale and nightmare quality to it.

I like Tomaselli's flicks but admit they are both an acquired taste and a guilty pleasure. Stars genre vets Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp) and Ellen Sandweiss (Evil Dead).