Scream Greats, Vol. 2: Satanism and Witchcraft (1986) Poster

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6/10
Hilarious!
BandSAboutMovies8 February 2021
Warning: Spoilers
The first Scream Greats may have been about Tom Savini, but the second Fangoria VHS documentary release suddenly remembered that it was being released in the dead heart of the Satanic Panic.

Of course, Ed and Lorraine Warren show up to warn everyone watching this that the world was in a constant battle with demons. Of course, according to the Hollywood Reporter, "in the early 1960s, Ed Warren initiated a relationship with an underage girl with Lorraine's knowledge. Now in her 70s, Judith Penney has said in a sworn declaration that she lived in the Warrens' house as Ed's lover for four decades." But yeah, please tell us about Amityville.

Director Damon Santostefano also made Fright Show for Starlog magazine and the first volume of this series and trust me, I've heard for years how angry readers were that the second installment wasn't about horror movies.

This was made during the period where Anton LaVey was strangely enough not doing publicity, so his only appearance here is via clips from Satanis. Otherwise, the rest of the blurred out devil worshippers come off as ridiculous, except for Paul Douglas Valentine, who led the Church of Satanic Liberation.

This was $39.95 when it came out, which really seems like a small price to pay to upset anyone that saw it on top of your VCR. Take it from someone who was obsessed with offending people in high school. I would have totally bootlegged this.

Also, this came out on laserdisc, which we all know is the most Satanic of all media formats.
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2/10
Scream Greats, Vol. 2: Bad Idea
kingfrat17 May 2005
Disappointing follow-up to the phenomenal Scream Greats Vol 1 eschews the planned focus on esteemed contemporary horror film figures, instead embracing sensationalist examination of and commentary on, you guessed it, satanism and witchcraft.

Of little interest to rational Fangoria or Starlog readers, it consequently killed the series dead.

Originally, bearded filmmaker Tobe Hooper was to be the focus of this installment. What went wrong?

Recommended for superstitious adolescents and gullible adults, only.

Otherwise, don't bother.
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1/10
This explains so much
daniel-mcgarry16 March 2010
I am a proud owner of Volume 1 of this series (can only two entries be considered a series? - ah well, I digress) and this entry explains why there was no third. Volume one was an excellent retrospective of Makeup man/FX artist Tom Savini. Volume two is... I don't know what it is other than a waste of time. As other reviewers have mentioned, this killed the franchise. Fangoria had a great idea with Volume 1 - present an in depth background of an influential person in the horror/fantasy film making world. I was looking forward to chapters about George Romero, Rick Baker, even Jim Henson! (Black Crystal?) This entry killed it. RIP.
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10/10
An excellent insight to the mythical "Satanic child abuse" of the 1980s.
macaddict185629 October 2006
It's been claimed that Fangoria magazine's Scream Greats Vol. 2 killed the series, but that is absolute nonsense. What ended it was not anger at and rejection of this installment by Fangoria readers and horror fans in general, but instead the company's own disinterest in continuing it. My pride in this is not just the fact that it features me and my then fledgling (one month old) Church of Satanic Liberation. Rather it is a valuable expose of factions on both ends of the spectrum - including mine, warts and all. That and the film clips are priceless.

In its initial release, the truly disturbing parts of this production were the obvious psychopaths claiming to have been witness to child sacrifice; acts which NEVER took place. According to an FBI report several years later, the whole "Satanic child abuse" hysteria was groundless, including reports by women claiming they'd been raised to be "breeders for Satan".

There are indeed comedic aspects. I believe the Warrens and Lady Rhea steal the show here, surpassing even my all too obvious drug induced (Comtrex and beer) ramblings. Why? They took their nonsense and themselves seriously. That was a trap I never allowed myself to fall into.

Overall, Scream Greats Vol. 2 is an interesting, important, and comical look into a major social issue of its time. Watch it with an open mind.
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9/10
Don't let the cover fool you!
billyclub227 March 2008
Warning: Spoilers
I remember when this video came out in video stores like 1987-1988. I would have watched then, but the cover was misleading. The front cover showed what looked like to be human/animal sacrifice, the back of the cover said something like "this video isn't for the squeamish" or something like that and I thought it was gonna be all bloody and stuff. Thats why I never watched it years ago. Recently my friends had showed it to me and it had NOTHING to do with human/animal sacrifice or anything bloody and gross. Instead I was introduced to REAL Satanism and what is truly is and what it is not. I had always wondered if this was an attempt to sabotage the World Church of Satanic Liberation because they weren't like the Church of Satan. Maybe Paul Valentine would have made a better cover boy than the late Herman Slater, but the fact is Paul Valentine wasted no time in telling what his organization is all about, what he does and what the WCSL stands for. ( Goto youtube and watch his videos! Scream Greats 2 is on there!!) He will tell you what Satanism is and what is not. Also, he points out the fallacies of Wicca/Wiccians, why Christianity doesn't not work, and its OK to think for yourself. Its a MUST see!
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10/10
Een korreltje zout!
skepticinns18 April 2009
The only reason to watch this is the world's first glimpse of Paul Douglas Valentine. Sure the lunatics like Ed and Lorraine Warren and Ted Gunderson add some side-splitting moments, but PDV sticks out like a sore thumb as the only person knowing what’s going on and able to play the audience properly. A true atheistic satanist, Valentine was obviously having fun throughout and clearly had his tongue planted firmly in his cheek more than once. The “satanic panic“ was a joke and should be just another silly footnote to the 80s. Sadly, the 21st century has produced a new breed of “theistic satanists“ who actually worship him as a deity. Now THAT is scary.

And sad.

In the interest of full disclosure I should state that I am family.
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10/10
An hour of fun and education!
EricaMann7912 November 2009
I admit that I'm biased here. Paul Valentine is a friend I've known since grade school and this video was the first I'd seen of him since 1974. Wow! Paul used to say in school he didn't need math because he was going to be like Elvis - an entertainer. He dreamed of being a rock star and movie star and what do you know? Here he was headlining a Paramount Pictures video! I admit that as a Christian I was taken aback at first but the little boy I first met in second grade was there for all too see. I rapidly came to understand what Paul was presenting. He no more worshipped the devil than I do but he knew a potentially successful schtick when he saw it; a schtick he readily admits to having parlayed into 24 years of personal appearances, a mammoth "satanic" church, and hundreds of YouTube videos and BlogTalkRadio shows. Good job, Paul!

But I don't believe for a second you're a satanist.
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