Horror Movie Review: The Redeemer: Son of Satan (1978)

“From out of the darkness the hand of the Redeemer shall appear to punish those who have lived in sin… and return to the watery depths of Hell”.

The Redeemer: Son of Satan or Class Reunion Massacre as it is also known is a wacky and unusual slasher horror flick that fails to spark. Directed by Constantine S. Gochis and starring Damien Knight, Jeanetta Arnette, Nick Carter and Nikki Barthen.

The movie opens with a young boy emerging from a lake fully clothed. He then gets on a bus and heads off alongside other boys to a church where he is part of the choir. Yes, it really is that strange of an opening.

Then the preaching starts…

The Redeemer (the priest of the Church) rants and raves about the sins of the world highlighting six particular people. We then meet these six people who all receive invites to their 10-year high school reunion. Each one has lived a life of sin (at least from the point of view of The Redeemer) and head off to the school.

Unfortunately for them, this is not a high school reunion but actually the work of a psychotic killer who has sinister plans for all of them.

The wackiness of The Redeemer: Son of Satan comes from the scenes that don’t tie into the slasher tone. Book-ending the movie, the film has ties to the supernatural and Satan. As reveals go, it’s pretty solid so it really is a pity that the majority of the film is so bland. The slasher side of the movie just falls flat and if it wasn’t for some entertaining kills, it really wouldn’t be worth watching.

It’s not like the cast do much to help matters. Stiff and wooden characters delivering stilted and awkward dialogue. There isn’t a single one that is worth caring about.

Shot poorly, the film seems to want to shock those with more sensitivity as we get many a lingering image of violence. Almost like the director was purposely trying to covert controversy. Considering the era it was made and released, it really wasn’t necessary.

Far too much of the movie drags its heels and the killer is fairly obvious from the moment he starts ranting and raving about sinners. The ‘twist’ of Satan’s involvement is pretty good though making the intro seem far less misplaced.

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