A Filipino village's Christian ritual is interrupted by the Prince of Magic and his evil minions, and in the process the local good sorcerer is killed.
The Prince of Magic.
Meanwhile,
the sorcerer's ex-con nephew, Lando (Ramon Revilla), is shot dead by
thugs, but the sorcerer transfers his life energy and magic powers to
the nephew, tasking him with defeating the Prince of Magic. The Prince
has abducted Lando's daughter and niece for nefarious purposes, so, with
buddy Renzo along for the journey, it's a crash course in magic as our
hero's quest brings him into conflict with Satan himself.
Lando and Renzo fight evil.
THE KILLING OF SATAN is another one that has been on my list to cover for this series for years, but it always got edged out by something I deemed more important. That wasn't fair, as it's uniquely insane in a way that contradicts itself. Possessing the tone and aesthetic of a cheap live-action Saturday morning teevee show from the early-1970's (while being made a decade later), there's flaying, nudity, dismemberment, Lando tying a venomous snake into a knot,
rotting corpses, a guy getting squashed by a boulder,
and random lashings of gore that are wholly at odds with the seemingly kid-friendly vibe.
And though definitely what I would consider a Christian/Catholic movie, the powers wielded by Lando seem more in line with outright wizardry rather than something derived from the Judeo-Christian God (who puts in an appearance, alongside Jesus in the guise of a mute child), and isn't that sort of thing condemned by the Church? Eh, whatever. Never let logic or the doctrines of the faith being depicted stand in the way of balls-out ludicrousness. And the title is in no way a cop-out, as Lando does engage the Lord of Lies in a to-the-death throwdown in which he comes out victorious, so what more could one ask for in a ridiculous time-waster?
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