Satan's School For Sluts

Shock-O-Rama Cinema return with another double of movie fun, though this time it's not no budget German zombies but in fact an overview of the work of newcomer director Terry M West with not only his old debut feature 'Blood For The Muse' but his latest Seduction all star devilish romp 'Satans School For Sluts'.

Inspired by the old TV movie 'Satans School For Girls', Terry West's modern variation follows schoolgirl Misty Mundae (Misty as a schoolgirl? What more could any hormonally challenged bloke ask for!) as she is sent to the Diablo School For Girls by her business wayward father when he sets off on his own jet set journeys. Before god fearing Misty even arrives at the school she is having lusty dreams about satanic ladies so when she does get there and is met by riding crop bearing headmistress Barbara Joyce and her new slutty goth room mate Ruby La Rocca she realises that this isn't your run of the mill establishment. What she doesn't know though is that over the years many girls have been posted as missing from the school and she is next in line for some depraved satanic action!

'Satans School For Sluts' is a decent enough no budget sexploitation diversion but perhaps not the most impressive executed from the 'ei' stable. On paper it could have been a cracker, the cast alone pulled together from the cream of the Seduction crop includes not only fan favorites such as Misty Mundae, Barbara Joyce, Darian Cane and Ruby La Rocca but even has a cool cameo by Factory 2000 boss William Hellfire getting knocked off by a masked killer in the films pre-titles introduction. West too is a solid enough director but the film often loses its momentum when the overlong soft core shenanigans kick in (and are made to feel even more out of place by the ambling keyboard music that's out of sync with the otherwise horror mood). In truth it would have been better if this one had decided its sense of direction before going into production - in either that it play as a straight down the line horror film or if going down the porno route it would have had more impact with the disembodied scenes of smut being of a hardcore nature. But what do I know? Fans of no budget exploitation will get a kick from this I'm sure (more so fans of the aforementioned Seduction ladies) but many will be left wanting for more.

Now what about the second feature on this double billing? 'Blood for the Muse' is Terry West's debut feature based on his comic book of the same name and concerns the a loner video store dweeb called Josh who deluded by his misguided belief in comic book muse Melpomene thinks that by sacrificing prostitutes can bring his muse to life. Not surprisingly no matter how many working girls he butchers his dream doesn't come true, but when he hooks up (and falls smitten) with kindred spirit movie buff Sarah (played by the lovely Tina Krause in a blonde wig) he convinces himself that she must be what is needed (by way of sacrifice of course) to get his muses attention. As you can imagine there's not going to be a happy ending here with the ongoing downward spiral of doom leading to a dark climax. Interestingly, 'Blood For The Muse' has everything that 'Satans School For Sluts doesn't offer - an impressive script with great flowing dialogue, good pacing and solid performances from start to finish and there's even some well perceived atmospherics and nice bloody effects sequences too. So inevitably you may ask what happened to a talented director such as Terry West who in his debut film made such an impressive feature end up delivering such a middling exploitation fare as 'Satans School' when he is so obviously capable of so much better? Well who knows but what is obvious in this package is that 'Blood For The Muse' is by far the superior viewing experience, in fact I would go as far as to say it's one of the more enjoyable low budget features I've seen in some time, and hence is good reason alone to buy this double bill release from Shock-O-Rama Cinema.

So back to this DVD release and the extra features on offer, first off there's two deleted scenes from 'Satans School For Sluts' - the first being the alternate opening sequence with Misty's cute sister Chelsea (yes gang, there's two of these lovely ladies) and her boyfriend that was reshot due to lighting problems, the second being a cool colour saturated dream sequence. Finally in the release specific bonuses there's a 15 minute on set featurette that really has no substance outside of sating Misty's obsessive fan base (well who else will have their hands down their pants watching her yawning whilst smoking!?) And as ever, there's the ever present smorgasbord of Seduction trailers that are always fun to wade through and a great appetiser for those of you out there new to the cult of 'ei Cinema'.

Sure. 'Satans School For Sluts' is very much a lackluster sexploitation venture seeking a sense of direction but 'Blood For The Muse' is a real treat of genre viewing fun that should satisfy most fans of the low budget genre scene and worth the entrance fee alone. Let's hope director Terry West returns to his roots soon - check it out!

Review by Alan Simpson

'Satans School For Sluts' can be ordered direct from Alternative Cinema by clicking here.