"Satan's Blade" follows two separate groups of people lodging at a mountain resort in the aftermath of a bizarre murder. Local legend has it that a "mountain man" native to the area still lurks (in spirit), possessing individuals to undertake his murderous impulses via a mysterious dagger.Even by most slasher fan standards, "Satan's Blade" is a disaster, not just because it's generally shoddily-made, but because it's predictable. Bad filler dialogue played over during shots of cars meandering up the road? Check. A stilted monologue about a vaguely-sketched supernatural villain told from the front desk lady (which she happens to unload just as two large groups happen to arrive)? Check. Disparate characters (largely female) who spend inordinate amounts of time in various states of undress? Check.You get the picture. All this said, I'll admit it: I liked this film. Its cardinal sin is that it's tedious for a good deal of its middle part, but the beginning and ending are surprisingly engaging. The lull in the middle is largely laborious to watch because not only does very little happen, but what does is serviced with underdeveloped dialogue, weak acting, and little intrigue. The shoestring budget (and lack of experience) shows.The film is actually well-photographed and captures the wintry mountain setting nicely, and once things do pick up, there are some surprisingly brutal murder sequences where the effect belies the technical limitations. The film evokes a distinctive late-seventies atmosphere (it was apparently shot in 1980, but not released until 1984), featuring cabin decor that would horrify even your grandmother, but it does add to the film's charm and time-capsule appeal. Atmospherically, I'd liken it to something of a mashup between "Madman," "Ghostkeeper," and "Unhinged." As I noted before, the acting is not good, although the leading heroine does prove herself to be serviceable in the finale.Overall, "Satan's Blade" is a textbook example of an amateur horror film, but it does have flashes of charm and is no less spunky and atmospheric. Its biggest problem is that it doesn't really know what to do with itself, which is indicative of poorly-planned and/or poorly-executed writing. It feels thrown together in a lot of ways, but this is part of what makes it endearing. It's a technically bad film with enough atmosphere and well-executed set pieces to keep a select few genre extremists on board—and I suppose I'm one of them. 6/10.

A man terrorizes a ski lodge in the wake of being possessed by an evil spirit. Director L. Scott Castillo Jr. makes neat use of the bleak and isolated wintry landscape, takes time to develop the characters, generates a reasonable amount of tension in the harrowing last third, pulls out the sadistic stops for the shockingly brutal murder scenes, tosses in some tasty gratuitous female nudity for trashy good measure, and tops everything off with a surprise bummer ending. Thomas Cue's sincere script offers a cool supernatural spin on the slice'n'dice formula. The acting from the game, but variable cast is decidedly hit or miss, with Tom Bongiorno as the amiable Tom and Stephanie Leigh Steel as fetching coed Stephanie in particular giving perfectly serviceable performances in their respective roles. The gradual pace may prove to be a bit difficult to endure for less patient viewers, but it's the slow burner approach that in the long run helps add substantially to the overall eerie and desolate atmosphere. The hefty body count rates as another major plus. Terry Kempf's competent cinematography boasts a few nifty fades. Martin Jaquish's wonky synthesizer score does the shuddery ooga-booga trick A fun low-budget fright flick.

As a slasher fan, surely I'm going to give this a good review. Since most of my favorite horror movies come from this type of sub-genre, I thought this was going to be pretty nice and I suppose it is. I had expected low budget, dreadful acting, and the usual slasher plot line.The movie starts with two lesbians robbing a bank, in which the robbers are later murdered after returning to their cabin. We are then introduced to a duo of policemen along with a group of cute young women and two married couples. The group of young women and the couples are on their way to a snowbound cabin for a vacation. Unsurpringly, they start getting killed off. After nearly all of them are killed off, the plot throws a huge supernatural twist at you that ends the movie off in a surprisingly downbeat ending.I have to admit, to me this movie had an ending that had a twist equivalently as shocking to the machete scene in Unhinged. The movie title itself is kind of a spoiler, but I had never really taken the title that seriously. I thought "Satan's Blade" just meant it was some nutty psychopath waving a knife in his victims faces, but this movie took it a step further than just the usual slasher movie killer. It's a zero budget movie, but it actually had a really good idea lined up. If it had a little bit more budget, more reasonable acting, and perhaps better dialogue, this movie could be considered a classic.

I am flabbergasted that so many people can not appreciate classic cinema when they see it! I have seen thousands of horror movies and this is one of my all time favors! Granted the budget is non-existent and the acting at times is not award worthy...but that's what makes this such a non-stop hoot! In this golden era of horror flicks there was a deluge of let's-get-together-and-make-a-movie movies to fill up all the video stores that were opening up. Of all these, "Satan's Blade" was the tops. ****SPOILERS****From the babes-only bank robbery to the cheesily convoluted plot it was a pleasure. At least they attempted a plot line...a very small one, but it was there. And the busty beauties-snuffed topless of course-all with the haunted knife comes back at the end "twist" it was just a fun film that should be on DVD!There seems to be some folks who made this here-contact Anchor Bay or Troma or Something Weird!!! Get together for a commentary and let the rest of the world in on this classic!