Review: Satan, pizzas and the wealthy collide in 'Satanic Panic'

In “Satanic Panic,” Hayley Griffith plays a pizza delivery girl who gets sucked into a world of satanic rituals, blood sacrifices and upper-class suburbia run amok, all because of a stiffed tip.

It won't convert any non-believers, but this horror comedy is self-aware enough to deliver the right mixture of laughs, gross-outs and demon-tinged ridiculousness to please its intended audience of gorehounds and genre geeks.

Griffith is plucky as Sam, who on her first night working for Home Run Pizza takes a delivery on the outer edges of town. When her appallingly rich customer fails to tip on delivery of five pizzas, Sam storms into his mansion, only to interrupt a satanic ritual already in progress.

Danica (Rebecca Romijn in a game performance) is leading the proceedings and settles her eyes on Sam, since she needs a virgin to complete a ritualistic sacrifice. Sam is offended Danica presumes she’s a virgin, which is indicative of the film’s loose, fun sense of humor.

“Satanic Panic” is produced by Fangoria, whose blood-splattered print magazine has offered many a titillation to young horror fans the world over. And “Satanic Panic” doesn’t forsake its legacy, delivering several sequences of icky, squishy, gut-churning grossness that fit well under the magazine’s banner.

Griffith, for her part, makes an impression as a sweet-natured innocent in a world gone mad. And if director Chelsea Stardust, working from a script by Grady Hendrix, doesn’t quite deliver a scathing commentary of wealthy 1 percenters, she makes several attempts.

Mostly “Satanic Panic” is a lark, a goof-off with a great name. It's a lot like a bad tip: it ain't much, but it’s better than no tip at all. 

'Satanic Panic'

GRADE: B-

Not rated: Violence, language, sex, nudity, gore, witchcraft, disturbing imagery

Running time: 89 minutes

agraham@detroitnews.com

@grahamorama