Nikolas Schreck — The Satanic Screen- An Ilustrated Guide
The Satanic Screen is an in-depth, detailed, and wholly fascinating look at the devil’s appearance and influences throughout the ages of cinema. It’s a wonderfully researched and highly readable study- taking the reader from the camera Obscura projections of the 1500s to the new dark age of the 2000s.
The book was first published in 2001, and this 2024 revised edition pushers the original page count from two hundred and fifty pages to nearly double that length. It’s a perfectly bound paperback book- with as its subtitle suggests ( monochrome) illustrations throughout.
The book's author Nikolas Schreck- is an American living in Berlin. He was the founding/frontman/ main member of the controversial 80’s and 90’s goth/ death rock band Radio Werewolf. Since the early 80’s he’s been a practitioner of the black arts- working with organisations such as The Church Of Satan and The Temple of Set. He also co-led the magic school of the Werewolf Order with his then-wife Zeena- the daughter of Anton LaVey. In the 2000’s he co-founded the Sethian Liberation Movement in Berlin. To date, he has three other non-fiction books to his name- The Manson File, Flowers From Hell: A Satanic, and Demons Of The Flesh: The Complete Guide to Left Hand Path Sex Magic with Zeena.
Throughout The Satanic Screen, Schreck writes in a well-researched, informative and authoritative manner. Often you’ll be surprised by his decidedly different, and often less-than-positive views on more known/ mainstream films such as The Exorcist and The Omen. The book often finds him praising offbeat and lesser-known fare though he is a big fan of Rosemary’s Baby.
The book features eleven chapters in all. These open with Darkness Visible, which looks at the historic groundings of the devil/ Satan, as well as how this archetype has developed and impacted both literature and books of belief.
In the second chapter Through The Devil’s Looking Glass, he looks at the early begins of cinema with the 1500’s camera Obscura, onto the Fanta scope projections of the 1830’s. Chapter three is fairly explanatory with its When Satan Was Silent looking at the devil's impact on the silent era. As the book moves on we go through the 30’s and 40’s- detailing key/ important productions, as well as key occultic figures and events that are tied to satanic cinema.
As you’d expect as we move into more(relatively) modern periods like the 60’s and 70’s the appearance of Satan becomes more common places, as well as popular. But as mentioned he is highly opinionated/ outspoken on some of the more known productions. By chapter eight Raising Hell In The Reagan Years- we’re into the 80’s, then the 90’s in chapter eight Even Hell Has It’s Heros. The book finishes with the 2000s with The New Dark Age chapter.
Through most of the book's four hundred and thirty pages Schreck keeps the reader both engaged and fascinated- balancing historical research, with well-realised options. I’d say he’s slightly less impressive with the 2000’s, as he openly declares that the 'digital age killed the movies in the decade'- so as a result his overview of post-2000s is decidedly sparse/ underwhelming- with more than a few titles he could have covered/ discussed been missed out. But most film writers do have their base towards certainly decades- so some of this can be slightly forgiven
I wasn’t aware of the first edition of the book- though the subtitle of ‘illustrated’ had be expecting that this new edition was going to be primally a more picture-based/ less text-based affair- but it’s far from the case, as the text featured is detailed and far-reaching. Simply put if you have any interest in where the devil meets cinema, and its substantial impact on the form The Satanic Screen is a must!.