Horror Movie Review: Satan’s Little Helper (2004)

Dougie (Alexander Brickel) is a young boy obsessed with a video game. One in which you play Satan’s helper causing chaos everywhere you go. The lad loves the game almost as much as he loves his older sister, Jenna (Katheryn Winnick).

Dougie’s feelings for his sister are a little…odd for a child is age. He gets really upset when Jenna comes home for Halloween with her boyfriend, Alex. His behaviour is put down to the fact that he wanted to marry Jenna and is jealous of Alex. The kid is 9 years old…

Annoyed with the Jenna/Alex situation, Dougie wanders off. He then sees a man dressed in a costume arranging what is clearly an actual body on a porch. Dougie figures this must be Satan so asks him if he can be his helper and if they can get rid of Alex. Satan agrees by nodding and the duo set off to cause chaos!

Satan’s Little Helper is a very difficult movie to enjoy. Its plot is very slow, it is very poorly acted and the characters are mix of annoying and idiotic. The biggest culprit is Dougie who surely must be suffering from some form of mental health issue. Had this been part of his character it would have made his behaviour and motivations much more understandable. However, it’s never suggested that is the case.

This just makes him an obnoxious character who is shockingly stupid but that seems to be a family trait. Jenna is no better taking far too long to realise that it’s not Alex under the mask when Satan comes to visit.

As the film drags on more and more stupid decisions are made. Ones that just makes everything that little harder to watch. It leads to a finale that is gob-smacking in its absurdity. As the survivors invite in a silent and mask wearing police officer thinking he is there to save them.

The ‘comedic’ elements fall flat. Moments such as Satan and Dougie playing ‘Satan’s Little Helper’ in real life or Jenna’s ‘old timey sexy whench’ speak fail to even raise a chuckle.

Add that there is very little gore, very little memorable violence or death scenes and the only real positive that can be taken from the movie is the ‘Satan’ character itself. Never speaking a word, the character is forced to emote using body language and does a stellar job of it. It’s never truly convincing that it is Satan under the mask but there will be moments where you do wonder.