SATAN'S LITTLE HELPER (2004)

Brickel plays a slightly morbid young chap who is obsessed with a computer game involving Satan. In fact, it’s Halloween and he’s dressed like the character in the game, after mum (Amanda Plummer) makes him a costume. When his beloved older sister (Winnick, looking a little like the blonde chick from Scrubs) brings along her boyfriend to spend Halloween, the kid gets a tad jealous and storms out. Here he stumbles across a mute neighbour in a Halloween mask that the kid mistakes for Satan. He’s spreading grisly bodies across his front lawn, but the kid just thinks they’re Halloween decorations. A strange bond develops between the two, with young Brickel not knowing that his new silent companion is a homicidal nutjob set to terrorise his family.
This film has the icky but undeniably interesting device of a bond between child and killer, with the Satan-obsessed youngster already a little nuts in my book from the get-go (and dude, do you have a crush on your sister or what? OK, so she has nice boobies, but dude, she’s your sister!). I must admit though, the film could’ve actually exploited the angle a little more. Sure, it would’ve made it a bit hard to watch, perhaps, but it would make the film stand out more. However, savour this aspect, folks, because it’s pretty much all this watchable-but-routine slasher flick has going for it. Even the Satan mask sucks (though Iron Maiden fans might see similarities to the band’s mascot Eddie) and I’m scared of guys in masks, so what does that tell you? I must admit, though, that towards the end of the film, when the killer decides to change masks, his choice is absolutely brilliant. And it’s a scarier one too, because it’s a mask of a certain (benevolent) religious icon. Innocuous masks are always more terrifying (and it’s pretty funny, too). Otherwise clichés abound including the guy with the disapproving and abusive dad, the supposedly amusing scene where drunken partygoers are oblivious to someone’s peril and the scene where the killer turns out not to be dead- which happens more than once. The characters aren’t terribly interesting (though Plummer sure makes for a quirky matriarch, her fans will probably want to see this) or even likeable, and many of the deaths are fairly bloodless. The one major exception features intestines being exposed, which for a sick puppy like me was somewhat enjoyable (It’s ruined by some unpleasant animal cruelty, something I’ve seen far too much of lately).
Child meets Killer gimmick aside, this plays like Halloween (even adopting a Carpenter-esque score) meets Child’s Play, without the technical mastery of the original, or the wonderful humour of the latter. The bright colour scheme and relationship between child and killer carry it for a while, but not far enough. And that computer game looks absolutely appalling. I’ve seen Commodore 64 games with better graphics (Ask your parents, kids). Aside from it’s gimmick, this is standard, somewhat cheap stuff, only the most diehard of slasher devotees will see this as anything more than average. But it’s not as though it didn’t have promise, perhaps more nudity and violence might’ve helped a tad (Isn’t that always the case, though?).