Content Advisory: Abuse, Child abuse/pedophilia, Animal cruelty or animal death
This review was originally published as part of my coverage of the 2023 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival
The story of a woman and a psychiatrist whose book helped kick off the 1980s Satanic Panic is told in Satan Wants You. In 1976, Michelle Smith visited Dr. Laurence Pazder in Victoria, British Columbia. During their sessions, Dr. Pazder supposedly uncovers repressed memories from Michelle’s childhood in the 1950s. She believes that she was kidnapped by a Satanic cult and forced to participate in horrific rituals. Michelle’s recollections were documented in Dr. Pazder’s 1980 book “Michelle Remembers,” the release of which helped to contribute to the period of Satanic hysteria in the 1980s and 1990s, now known as the Satanic Panic.
Satan Wants You Synopsis
Satan Wants You is a documentary directed by Sean Horlor and Steve J. Adams about Michelle Smith and her psychiatrist Dr. Laurence Pazder and how their book “Michelle Remembers” contributed to the 1980s Satanic Panic, to the point where the book was used as a checklist for other supposed cases of Satanic Ritual Abuse. The film utilizes reenactments to bring the audio recordings of Michelle Smith’s horrific stories to life, with the Satanic Cult supposedly involved in the ritualistic sacrifice of babies. However, the film proceeds to dissect the legitimacy of this story and the harm the subsequent Satanic Panic caused.
My Thoughts on Satan Wants You
Satan Wants You begins by heavily emphasizing the horror of Michelle Smith’s ordeal before evolving into more of a true crime documentary. While “Michelle Remembers” is probably not the sole cause of the Satanic Panic, it did end up providing a template for the other cases of supposed Satanic Cult activity, which not only resulted in innocent people going to prison but also insulted Anton LaVey‘s Church of Satan for spreading misinformation about Satanic worship. Satan Wants You is ultimately a chilling, yet somewhat darkly humourous, account of how one story can balloon into mass hysteria.