In 1966, a one-time circus lion-tamer Anton Szandor LaVey founded The Church of Satan in San Francisco and grandiosely announced the age of Satan had begun, an age that would celebrate the carnal instincts in man, and would be characterized by the mantra of "indulgence instead of abstinence". Although a media non-entity since the early nineties, at the time, the fledging Church shocked and scandalized as much as it bemused and confused…and this was in no small part to LaVey's charisma, showmanship, and effective mixing of blasphemy (compounded in 1968 with the publication of 'The Satanic Bible') and of horror B-movie imagery which left many asking if it was just a racket, a reason to get naked for it's largely well-to-do white middle-class membership, or indeed had darker aspirations.However, this documentary in choosing to sacrifice the weightier aspects of the Church to the titillating nude alters and B-movie lighting offers such a superficial treatment that for those for whom "Satanis" is their introduction to LaVey and the Church, the reaction of snide dismissal is totally understandable. The documentary is basically composed of three strands: talking heads of neighbours (both sympathetic and antagonistic) and Church members; extended scenes of Satanic rituals; and interviews with LaVey. The ritual scenes begin as interesting but quickly become stale and interminable and (most boringly) designed to titillate…a theme which re-emerges when members of the Church discuss sex and masturbation and, despite supposedly being advocates of the flesh liberated from Judeo-Christian conceptions of shame, giggle like pathetic teenagers (something which visibly irks LaVey as he tries to talk). In the end the only interesting pieces of the documentary (few and far between) are the interviews with LaVey himself as he waxes lyrical on the tenets of his Church with an energy and enthusiasm he would lose in later years, something evident in the still-patchy-but-much-better later documentary "Speak of the Devil" (www.imdb.com/title/tt0183811/reviews-4).All in all, I would only recommend "Satanis" to people who are already acquainted with the Church of Satan and want to get a feel of what the first few years must have been like as to those coming to the Church for the first time would be forgiven for not seeing the nuances and complexities inherent in the organization. I recommend the documentary "Speak of the Devil" for its more mature approach and focus on LaVey himself but for those really seeking knowledge on the Church I recommend the authoritative and comprehensive book "The Church of Satan" by Michael Aquino available to download for free. Shemhamforash indeed.

This movie doesn't contain much that's really exciting, much less surprising, about the early Church of Satan, but it does show LaVey and his cronies at a time when he was still optimistic and not cynical about the future of his organization. There are also great shots of the Black House during its heyday (before the "androids" took over) and some interesting footage of Togare the lion. The filmmakers seem to have decided that Satanism wasn't as shocking as they'd hoped, so they went for humor where possible, and that wears thin after a while. The interviews where LaVey speaks for himself are fairly good, but the interviews with other Church members are annoying and at times you can see the embarrassment on Anton's face when someone else speaks – nobody in this film, aside from LaVey and his family, went on to become any kind of leader in the tiny marginalized world of the Left Hand Path, and that should tell you something about the quality of membership in SF at the time. I still find it an interesting piece, but I think about 40 minutes could be shaved off without losing anything.

Having spoken a well-read LaVey satanist in a Gothic pub one time, I figured I somehow understood what LaVey satanism was all about. It's just an expression of your hedonistic self. "Satan" is just a reference to self-indulgence and symbolic for the counter-cultural nature of this philosophy. It is just a way to separate the really enlightened individuals, who come to realize that self-indulgence is the highest form of existence. Or so he told me.Yet when I saw this video, I felt like LaVey was nothing but an adult with the mind of an adolescent, screwing around and inventing all sorts of generic rituals to incorporate into his "religion" just to shock the WASP environment and just to get off as his exhibitionist self with his friends and associates. This was not how I imagined LaVey to be and it really made me lose the last respect I still have for this guy.Considering this film is just a "shockumentary" filmed in the most boring way possible, it's hard to give any rating higher than a 2. The only reason I still give it a 2 instead of a 1 is the somewhat entertaining value of seeing a bunch of adults involved in the most ridiculous of rituals.

Anton LaVey was one of the most intelligent men that ever walked this earth.Satanism got a bad rap because everyone thought they were mutants that only lived to kill babies and listen to bad heavy metal. La Vey sets the record straight by pointing out it's 'natural' inclinations.La Vey came off as the showman that he is. One gets the feeling he loves putting people on.I thought seeing the other (Unknown) people that joined him was interesting. The fact that folks from all walks of life joined his movement.This really should be seen by those who truly believe in freedom of religion. This shows a side of one of the most misrepresented religions that ever existed.