Lumaban ka, Satanas

When the Devil's minions begin to terrorise his village and kidnap his daughter, a powerful magician's nephew decides to take action and discovers that he has inherited his uncle's gift of magic in this decidedly offbeat horror film from the Philippines. True to the title, the protagonist does eventually find himself fighting against Satan incarnate, but his minion battles are actually the highlight here as he has to fend off shape-shifting snakes, minions who kill by staring cross-eyed at their victims and the list goes on. Amusing as all this might sound, 'The Killing of Satan' remains a rather mixed bag overall. The first half-hour is actually pretty dry cut with only a single nightmare involving a boulder death standing out. The special effects are also incredibly cheesy and unrealistic to the point that the film is never all that scary and there are some irritating silly sound effects too, not mention many ridiculous costumes. There remains, however, something quite appealing about the filmmakers taking such an uncanny premise and running with it. The dialogue is not exactly first rate, however, the film is played straight (not as a comedy) and while never all that frightening, there are some genuinely unsettling moments to be had - plus where else can one find a film in which its hero defeats a snake by tying it into a knot and throwing it over a pile of rocks?