you know, in the mid-80s there was this media frenzy involving satanic cults, human sacrifices and Devil worshiping that had Mexico and the U.S. locked-down in fear. The mass hysteria probably started when David Berkowitz (Son of Sam) had said that he had several accomplices during the July 1976 to August 1977 senseless killings in New York. Berkowitz, a social pariah, had confessed that he was part of a satanic cult that had ordered him and others to go out into the hot summer nights in New York and do their bidding. Many have dismissed Berkowitz’s claims and believed that he had made the story up. While incarcerated, Berkowitz said: “There are other Sons out there, God help the world.”

Years later around 1989 I was a child living in Guadalajara, Jalisco. I remember how one particular day everyone seemed to be talking about a gruesome mass grave being found in Matamoros, Tamaulipas. A state in Mexico known for its close proximity to the south end of Texas and drug trafficking. The grave was shallow and had the remains of 15 victims. One of them being Mark J. Kilroy. A student at University of Texas at Austin. Mark was in Tamualipas enjoying what the college kids called “Texas week”; spring break in Mexico. Mark Kilroy was part of a human sacrifice done by Mexican priests and priestess of a cult practicing ‘Palo Mayombe‘, a religion that has its roots in African, Dominican, Cuban and American societies. Like most African based religions, ‘Palo Mayombe’ isn’t the “evil” religion as depicted by western stigma. Of course, there are those few people that always seem to bring in the wrong type of attention. (like most religions)

Being in a predominantly Catholic society, it seemed like everyone around me was more appalled at the fact that ‘Devil worshiping’ was occurring in their country than the fact that these murdering priests and priestess were part of a large drug trafficking operation. They had ordered the sacrificing of human beings in order to protect their drug business.

The images that flooded the news were gruesome. Mutilated bodies, blood-drawn pentagrams and goat’s skulls being pulled out of this dilapidated shack, somewhere in the Matamoros country side. The fear of Satan worshipers was all too real. I grew up fearing these cults. Cults that I had no prior knowledge of. All I knew is that my parents told me that they were bad and that they were out there, hunting humans.

I still feel somewhat unnerved by these types of stories. Although I now know the true basis of Satanism and its many denominations, I am more tolerant of them. I don’t particularly think they are good because I do believe in restriction and self-discipline. Most people assume that these types of religions believe in human sacrifices. Something that is completely not true. Satanists do not believe in harming any animal, except livestock  (food) and in self-defense. Which I can totally agree on.

Last year, I watched this movie called ‘The House of the Devil’. A new flick made in 2009, ‘The House of the Devil’ has a retro feel and look to it. Bringing you back to those days were movies depicted Satanists as “devil worshiping bike gangs” hunting hitchhikers and lost travelers.  THOTD grew quickly to become one of my favorite horror films in recent times. Most horror films that are produced nowadays are a joke to me. Somehow director Ti West got it right with this one.

Gang, I hope you enjoy this movie. It scared me. So get out your popcorn and ‘fullscreen’ that movie!

The House of the Devil – 2009 from Juz2C on Veehd.