Quartile rating: 4.5/10 · 1 rating
Four friends on their way to Coachella stop off in Los Angeles to tour true-crime occult sites, only to encounter a mysterious young runaway who puts them on a terrifying path to ultimate horror.
Satanic (2016) is a generic low-budget horror outing that fails to distinguish itself in any meaningful way. The plot follows a well-worn template of teenagers stumbling into supernatural peril, offering little tension or originality in its execution. The acting is serviceable but unremarkable, with characters who feel like genre archetypes rather than real people. Cinematography is competent but forgettable, typical of low-budget direct-to-video fare. The film's novelty is minimal — the satanic cult premise and road-trip-gone-wrong structure have been done countless times with more style. The ending is particularly weak, offering an abrupt and unsatisfying conclusion that fails to deliver genuine dread or meaningful resolution, squandering whatever tension had been built.