Sheitan (Satan) (2006)

50% of critics liked it
(16 reviews)
52% of users liked it
(4,259 ratings)

Four friends looking for a good time are lured into a strange and dangerous netherworld in this wildly offbeat horror film from France. It's Christmas Eve, and twentysomethings Bart (Olivier Barthelemy), Ladj (Ladj Ly), Thai (Nico Le Phat Tan), and Yasmine (Leila Bekhti) are bored and looking for… More Four friends looking for a good time are lured into a strange and dangerous netherworld in this wildly offbeat horror film from France. It's Christmas Eve, and twentysomethings Bart (Olivier Barthelemy), Ladj (Ladj Ly), Thai (Nico Le Phat Tan), and Yasmine (Leila Bekhti) are bored and looking for fun. They end up at a rowdy dance club where, after Bart gets into a fight, they meet Eve (Roxane Mesquida), a sexy girl who seems to take a liking to the three guys. Eve invites the foursome to come back to her place in the country; the guys are more than game, and Yasmine tags along for the ride. Eve's house is a ramshackle mansion overflowing with broken plastic dolls and looked after by Joseph (Vincent Cassel), a cheerful but subnormal handyman whose pregnant wife spends most of her time upstairs. Before long, some of Eve's friends from town come by, and while the women are sexually accommodating, Yasmine soon gets the feeling something is wrong, and in time the guys reach the same conclusion. Joseph's topics of conversation become downright creepy as he talks in great detail about incest and Satanism with his guests, and Christmas Day devolves into an orgy of violence and perversity. Sheitan received its North American premiere at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 34 min.
Directed By: Kim Chapiron
Written By: Christian Chapiron, Kim Chapiron
Genres: Horror, Art House & International, Mystery & Suspense, Comedy

On DVD: Dec 26, 2006
Studio: Mars Distribution

Critic Reviews

Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
Manages a playful sensibility, reveling in its repugnance and enjoying the heck out of its twisted ending.
Philip French, Observer [UK]
At the end, you feel they should have thrown out Rosemary's baby with the bath water.
Nicholas Barber, Independent on Sunday
An eyecatching calling card for its first-time director.
Edward Porter, Sunday Times (UK)
If only Cassel had saved his performance for a collaboration with the League of Gentlemen.
Nick Curtis, This is London
Despite the air of brutish aggression and sexual predatoriness, little happens until gory retribution finally rears its head.
Stuart McGurk, thelondonpaper
Totally bonkers - but all the more gripping for it.
Anthony Quinn, Independent
The film, shot in a demented, headlong style, seems to have no idea of its direction other than the shelf marked "cult".
Tim Robey, Daily Telegraph
As a grotesque parody of the hillbilly-terror genre, it has a real wit and energy.
Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]
A contrived and very self-conscious genre piece of hardcore black-comedy horror in a 1970s vein.
Saxon Bullock, Film4
Has plenty of atmosphere but can't make up for unpleasant characters and a meandering story.
David Mattin, BBC
Vincent Cassel is the overpowering presence here; his perma-grinning, unkempt Joseph is brilliantly unsettling.
Tom Dawson, Total Film
Despite some pretentious touches - a night-spot named Club Styxx, a guard dog called Cerberus - Satan doesn't take itself too seriously.
Nigel Floyd, Time Out
t's pronounced 'Shite-an', as in 'Shite an' then some'.
Kim Newman, Empire Magazine
Entertaining and genuinely creepy at times this boasts strong performances from its French cast.
Joel Meares, Filmcritic.com
wrong on so many levels that the mind boggles
Johnny Butane, Dread Central
...too often these days films are made with such a sickening lack of imagination and balls that one begins to wonder what the point of it all is; then something like Sheitan comes along and you see that there are still some filmmakers our there with new a
Aaron Hillis, Premiere Magazine
Without being overtly graphic, this audaciously boorish and naughty film delivers the familial conspiracy of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre with unnerving Deliverance-like hicks as slapstick riffs...

Read all 17 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Morgan G

Poor, saved only by Cassel's general brilliance. The plot was unmoving, the quality was generally low.
Lady D

A better type of teen horror, but for me failed toward the end. It was very predictable, but the progression of the story was enjoyable. Vincent Cassel plays a character quite unlike any you've seen him play before, he plays it well, but isn't really a film that is up to… More
A better type of teen horror, but for me failed toward the end. It was very predictable, but the progression of the story was enjoyable. Vincent Cassel plays a character quite unlike any you've seen him play before, he plays it well, but isn't really a film that is up to his level of acting.
Greg S

Obnoxious amoral twentysomethings party at a creepy French provincial estate where the caretaker has a permanent unsettling grin, and nothing is as it seems. Ambitious attempt at a ROSEMARY?S BABY type atmosphere, but the young protagonists are intolerable and live to annoy the… More
Obnoxious amoral twentysomethings party at a creepy French provincial estate where the caretaker has a permanent unsettling grin, and nothing is as it seems. Ambitious attempt at a ROSEMARY?S BABY type atmosphere, but the young protagonists are intolerable and live to annoy the audience for far too long, and the multiple false endings were a bad idea.
El Hombre I

It's a shame a well played character by Vincent Cassel wasn't enough to save this tripe
Emily A

I don't even know what to say. This is not so much a movie as it is Insanity: Caught On Film. To this day I still have no bloody idea what it was about. Apart from wacky, incestuous French satanists and a few kids caught in thier midst. Chapiron has mentioned that this film was… More
I don't even know what to say. This is not so much a movie as it is Insanity: Caught On Film. To this day I still have no bloody idea what it was about. Apart from wacky, incestuous French satanists and a few kids caught in thier midst. Chapiron has mentioned that this film was inspired by acid and you know what? It really shows.
Pierluigi P

Trashy and blatant french horror film. Vincent Cassel's role as the ugly caretaker is the only good thing about this erratic and predictable freak show.
vieras e

Horror COMEDY? I certainly wasn't amused. No, rather utterly disturbed and disgusted. Not only by Joseph and his gang, but by the three moronic guys (esp. Bart) as well. I don't know how I should grade this film. On one hand, it did exactly what it was meant to do -… More
Horror COMEDY? I certainly wasn't amused. No, rather utterly disturbed and disgusted. Not only by Joseph and his gang, but by the three moronic guys (esp. Bart) as well. I don't know how I should grade this film. On one hand, it did exactly what it was meant to do - creeped the hell out of me - but on the other, I cannot say I exactly enjoyed watching it (nor do I ever want to see it again). In a sense this film is kind of like a horrible car crash. You're obviously bothered by what you see, yet you can't seem to look away.
Antony S

Now, this is off-kilter. Satan is a pseudo-horror flick about a group of teens/twenty-somethings who decide upon a trip to the French countryside following a bar brawl. Why this is, is largely unexplained. In amongst the attempts to get laid, the find themselves harried by a crazed… More
Now, this is off-kilter. Satan is a pseudo-horror flick about a group of teens/twenty-somethings who decide upon a trip to the French countryside following a bar brawl. Why this is, is largely unexplained. In amongst the attempts to get laid, the find themselves harried by a crazed farmer. Enter Vincent Cassel, whose off-the-leash performance fuels most of the film'[s comedy, sporting wellies, bushy facial hair and a ridiculously insane shit-eating grin. Oh, and some classic casual racism. Though on the surface the picture does seem to bear a lot of resemblances to typical Yank backwoods horrors, it does benefit from a mixture of restraint from gore (nearly all of 'the horror' is actually circumstancial countryside misgivings, such as a bed full of locusts), and bad taste (dog wanking, graphic water breaking). Essentially the picture does not hold up to scrutiny, it's rather a nutso horror piece to enjoy with mates, hence the fairly random Jacob's Ladder-style ending. Kudos to Olivier Bartélémy as a stupid, horny chav feeling like a third (or fifth) wheel for most of the picture, and to Roxane Mesquida (A Ma Souer!) and Leïla Bekhti for generally being gorgeous. On the topic, look out for a small role from Monica Bellucci, 'star' of a kinky gothic horror playing on a service station's TV.
Dean M

Very freak, silly horror and weird French movie.
Adam M

Insane french film about about a group of friends whose night turns to shit when a beautiful young woman invites them to her family home for Christmas. The blokes think they're going to have a "good time" with the girls and all will be fun. But when grinning caretaker… More
Insane french film about about a group of friends whose night turns to shit when a beautiful young woman invites them to her family home for Christmas. The blokes think they're going to have a "good time" with the girls and all will be fun. But when grinning caretaker Joseph turns up thing get unpredictable and a bit mental. This crazy but compelling combination of drama/thriller, black comedy and horror should be seen to be believed. Even just for Vincent Cassell's unhinged but brilliant performance!
Christopher B

As I've heard, Cassel is excellent, both funny and creepy in his demented role. I was a little confused by the ending and somewhat put off by all the unlikable characters, but all and all it's a good film.