Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Satanik; here's the breakdown of my ratings:
Story: 0.50
Direction: 0.75
Pace: 0.75
Acting: 0.75
Enjoyment: 0.75
TOTAL: 4.00 out of 10.00
The primary element that ruins Satanik is the story - or the lack of one. There's little a director could do when the narrative was defunct. Nowadays, he trusts the CGI Director and their artists to fill in with overly-long eye candy fight sequences, like Justice League. However, in the sixties, all they could turn to was stock footage for stuffing, and that usually had to follow the storyline.
The concept is a passable one. An elderly scientist who has been visibly scared by life is offered a second chance at youth and beauty. One of her colleagues has been working on a fountain of youth serum. However, he's not ready for human trials though it works on the captive animals. There is one flaw. The mutated animals are not merely changed visually; they're mentally altered - they become aggressively violent. Dr Marnie Bannister cannot wait for her fellow researcher to change his mind, so she decides to take matters into her own hands. She kills him and goes all Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde. The grim turn of events should have given the writer carte blanche to deliver a dark and moody thriller. Sadly, the writer was lacking in imagination and skill. From the moment Dr Bannister awakens as the glamourpuss Satinik the story takes a steep nosedive into insipidity. Five minutes later, my attention shifted from the youthful reincarnation to other things. I'm unsure if Satanik is a dark force that does good or evil. That is how poor the story is. Even when the writer introduces the drug dealers and Satanik's infiltration of the gang, it's ambiguous as to what her goals are. Is she trying to stop them or trying to take over the business?
The direction is only slightly better. Regrettably, Piero Vivarelli isn't a maestro behind the camera. His cinematography borders on the mundane. Luckily for the audience, he does throw in a few semi-decent compositions. But as one reviewer states, when the action shifts to Geneva, we get a lot of "Holiday" footage showing how beautiful the city is, but nothing of import to the story.
The cast is abysmal, though that could come down to the direction. Magda Konopka is better and more credible as Dr Bannister than she is as Satanik. Satanik is a beautiful but blank individual with next to no personality, whereas Bannister is anxious and worried because she killed Professor Greaves.
I'd advise everyone to stay away from this poor excuse of a story. There are many better and more entertaining thrillers out there. But should you have watched them all, I suggest picking up a book and having a gander at the printed page instead of watching Satanik.
When the kick from the Serum Of Youth wears off, please visit my Killer Thriller Chillers and The Final Frontier lists to see where I ranked Satanik.
Take Care & Stay Well.
