Rating summary
| Movie |  | 2.5 |
| Video |  | 3.0 |
| Audio |  | 3.5 |
| Extras |  | 2.0 |
| Overall | | 2.5 |
Satan's Sadists Blu-ray Movie Review
Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 20, 2020
Note: This film is available as part of
Al Adamson: The Masterpiece Collection.
Disc Seven of The Masterpiece Collection offers two Adamson efforts with at least a tangential connection to biker gangs. Angels' Wild
Women focuses on, well, women, while Satan's Sadists is given over more to men.
Russ Tamblyn had something of a career renaissance with Adamson, and he's on hand here as another mad motorcycle henchman, this time named
Anchor, in a down and dirty film that became a rather sensational hit for Adamson in 1969. This is a film with not one but several rapes, as Anchor
and his crew maraud through a number of locations, with a lot of the film taking place at a diner that the biker gang kind of takes over, in a plot
element that seems suspiciously like a combo platter of elements lifted from
Key Largo and
The Wild One. This is among
the more violent Adamson films, and it features a kind of interesting "culture clash" between the "hippie" bikers and more straight arrow types,
including some older characters and a returning Vietnam vet.
Satan's Sadists Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality
Satan's Sadists is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.34:1. While it's pretty evident
from detail levels and a fairly swarthy grain field that this was sourced from 16mm, the IMDb lists it as having been shot in Super 16, which may beg a
question as to this release's aspect ratio, but I found nothing really untoward in any of the framings. Grain is pretty heavy throughout the presentation,
and clarity is not always optimal, but a lot of the time the palette is very nicely suffused, and the outdoor material can help support fine detail levels at
least a little better at times. The darkest scenes can show pretty significant crush. Damage is relatively slight on this one.
Satan's Sadists Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality
Satan's Sadists features a nice sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono mix that makes the most out of sound effects like the roar and
sputter of motorcycle engines. There are some cool organ based rock tunes that seem modeled on The Doors, but which are officially the product of the
Nightriders, which sound fine throughout. Dialogue is delivered without any problems. English subtitles are available via the button on your remote.
Satan's Sadists Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras
- Archival Audio Commentary with Producer / Distributor Samuel M. Sherman
- Outtakes (480p; 8:57) are silent.
- Trailers (1080p; 3:56)
- TV Spots (480p; 00:43)
- Radio Spot (00:31)
Satan's Sadists Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation
Satan's Sadists is kind of undeniably trashy, but it's also surprisingly visceral, and it's obvious Tamblyn is having a field day playing this kind
of nut job. Technical merits are okay (video) to very good (audio), and there's another great commentary by Samuel M. Sherman.
