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Black Circle BoysRating:
Release Date: 21 March, 2000 Retail Price: $24.99 Sorry, this product is not currently available. Cast: Complete Cast (9 total) |
Black Circle Boys Reviews
Black Circle Boys: realistic and didactic
I decided to write this review because I would like to share some of my thoughts and opinions with everyone who has watched or intends to buy or rent this movie. I watched it just a couple of days ago and I was really impressed. The script is undoubtedly gothic and realistic, the direction is more than good and the acting is excellent. It is obvious that Scott Bairstow has done a really good job. But I will not insist so much on this kind of characteristics. I am sure that everyone who has seen many horror films would agree with me.
What I would like to point out is the didactic element of the plot. Satanism, drug addiction, social isolation, teenagers' gangs and cults are some everyday phenomena of modern society, not only in the States but all over the developed world. I strongly believe that "Black Circle Boys" must not be treated as a common thriller. If you just see it as a movie of the late-night showtime, you will miss the important part. It is here to warn. It means to awake to the dangers of Satanism, drug use and teenage isolation. It is a really dark movie but not darker than the lives of teenagers who have got involved in those activities. You may think that there is much cruelty in it and you are certainly right. But just consider the way of life of the adolescents who try to overcome their problems by joining these cults, seduced by the "power" they promise to give them.
I recommend "Black Circle Boys" to every teenager above 15.
Ricky Kasso Story
I saw this movie on late-night Showtime probably 5 or 6 years ago, and I remembered really digging it. It is "based on a true story", that being the one of Ricky Kasso in a 1984 New York suburb. But it's a very sensationalized version of the story.
The real Ricky was a drugged-out dumbass, who killed another dumbass for ripping him off, pretty simple. He listened to Ozzy and Maiden and had a few LaVey books and thought he was a Satanist. He tried to get all the people he knew into it, but they were only there for the drugs. Before he killed the dude he kept telling him to "Say you love Satan!" as he was stabbing him, like 21 times, then gouging his eyes out and smashing his head in. There were two other guys in the woods with him; one was his right-hand man, the other was some dude they didn't really know, who was just hanging out with them for the Acid he was on while he witnessed the murder (which led police to not believe his story).
The "Satanic Panic" of the media in 1984 grabbed the "DAMN DEVIL WORSHIPPERS" aspect of the story and made him into some Cult Leader, but in reality, he was just a dumbass headbanger. He hanged himself in jail, awaiting trial.
Discovery Channel did a documentary on it called 'Satan in the Suburbs' that's also available on amazon (I think). It's pretty much everything from the story. It's 45 minutes, which is too long, and very hokey (sinister narrator dude saying things like "It was an ordinary day, in an ordinary town, but this was no ordinary crime"...etc.) It does give every detail of it all...just.....very.....very.....slowly. Jim Van Bebber did pretty much a whole Re-Enactment film with a voice-over that told the story in 15 minutes called 'My Sweet Satan'....which is a brilliant little short film starring Van Bebber as Ricky. He updated it to 1995 and used Black Metal, but it's pretty much the story. It's in the extras on the DVD for 'Deadbeat at Dawn'.
Black Circle Boys elaborates on the story, making the "just some guy hanging out with them for the Acid" the heart-throb male lead and also the "new kid in town who falls in with the wrong crowd". Ricky (Shane in this movie) is a lot more intelligent and sinister than the real Ricky. They added a love interest and all the other crap "needed" for a script, and more murder and mayhem than the real story.
The acting is really, really good. The dude that plays the retard, Rory (Chad Lindberg...the real kid's name was Gary") did a fantastic job, and the other 3 main actors were great. DONNIE WAHLBERG plays the older, creepy, gay, Satanist who teaches Shane everything. There was a real guy named Pat I think, that educated Ricky. I assume that's who Donnie's character was based on.
The story was good, except the love interest crap and the "teen angst" vibe of it. It also played sometimes like a Lifetime movie with the sap, but the dirty Indie side makes up for those moments.
Bloodletting, cat sacrifice, lots of imagery and pentagrams, etc. They did the film the right way on this type of stuff; don't go overboard with it, but make sure that people who know what it's all about aren't turned off cause you screwed it up.
The ending was weak and the Final Showdown wasn't really believable, but I'm not complaining. Overall it's a good little movie guaranteed to please the Metalhead within you.
There was another movie made within the last few years on this story called 'Ricky 6', but I haven't made a huge effort to find a copy yet. Ebay is my friend.
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