Satan's Cheerleaders

This one is a scream. It's in my schlock hall of fame collection. LOL If you haven't seen Yvonne DeCarlo in full post-Lily-Munster devil-priestess regalia, about to be torn to shreds by Dobermans named Lucifer and Diablo (the writers weren't trusting us to be capable of interpreting subtleties here) and crying out "Satan, why hast thou forsaken me?" you just haven't lived. But wait. There's more. How much would you pay for a defrocked Catholic priest-turned-Satan-worshiper who can't seem to shake the habit of crossing himself and who frets prissily over the prospect of the intended Cheap Ho cheer leaders -- who are currently escaping from the clutches of the coven -- being attacked by the killer Dobies ("Oh, we mustn't soil the maidens," he flutters)? Or a cheer leading sponsor who seems to have stepped out of some bizarre Oral Roberts University parallel universe where she just can't IMAGINE the idea that wearing short skirts and tight sweaters and jumping high enough to show your underpants might be construed as provocative to the males of the species? Or a speech-impaired school janitor (who spends his off hours slathered in the worst seventies polyester leisure outfits ever manufactured) who makes a stammering vow to avenge the students who make fun of him by turning them over to the high priest of the devil coven for justice? How about a sheriff named "B.L. Bubb" (again with the aversion to subtlety) who has to be the most wooden performer since Adam West in "Batman" or Charlton Heston in "The Ten Commandments" -- maybe since he and Charlton shared the divine Miss DeCarlo as a wife, something in her aura caused them to be stricken with Over The Top Acting Syndrome? Now how much would you pay? But then, I can't fault anyone, since I did shell out five bucks for this one on a remaindered supermarket video rack. And I probably would have gone as high as fifteen to claim this gem of Drive In Infamy for my personal collection. LOL

With all the movies that came out in the 70's about satanic cults and sexy cheerleaders it was almost inevitable that someone would make a satanic cheerleader movie. It's only surprising that it took so long. This movie starts out as typical cheerleader sexploitation. It's tamer than most (I think it was originally rated "PG"!) with only brief snatches of nudity in an unusually circumspect shower scene and a lot of up-the-skirt camera shots. It certainly doesn't hold a candle to some of the earlier cheerleader films (which border on softcore *), but it does have the usual atrocious acting, groan-inducing jokes and sexual double-entendres, and godawful 70's music. It would be a waste-of-time T and A film (with precious little T or A)if not for an interesting turn halfway through where the cheerleaders'bus breaks down on the way to a game and they have a run-in with a small-town satanic cult(lead by b-movie luminaries like John Ireland,Yvonne DeCarlo, and John Carradine). Hilariously, the cult is looking for an "unsullied maiden" to sacrifice to Satan (if they'd seen one of these cheerleader movies they'd definitely look somewhere else). This satanic subplot is not the least bit scary, but it is enjoyably cheesy and the jokes start to hit more than miss. "They're all of them witches!" one especially dumb cheerleader says, making an unintentional allusion to the granddaddy of all devil movies, "Rosemary's Baby". Another girl is quite indignant that the cult wants to use her as a virgin sacrifice: "I'm no maiden--I've been a cheerleader for three years!". If you're a pervert with a cheerleader * you're probably better off sticking to stronger stuff like the original "The Cheerleaders" (or a hardcore * movie like "Debbie Does Dallas"), but if you enjoy ridiculous devil movies and/or cheesy 70's flicks like I do, you'll no doubt find this to be a pleasant little diversion.

source: Satan's Cheerleaders

Trailer—Satan's Cheerleaders

Satan's Cheerleaders

My friends and I consider ourselves experts in the genre of low budget horror. We've seen a lot of these films, some are as terrible as we expected and some are mindnumbingly awesome. Satan's Cheerleaders is definitely one of the latter. The action never stops from start to finish, the story seems to be made up on the spot, the acting is endearingly awful, and the characters are as stereotypical as they come. Special effects? Magnificent. If you like movies that are so bad they're incredible do yourself a favor and find a copy of Satan's Cheerleaders.

Tame 70's camp movie about a group of cheerleaders who fall victim to a town full of Satan worshippers header by John Ireland and Yvonne De Carlo who plan on making one of the cheerleaders a sacrifice. Entertaining as long as you don't take it seriously with a great camp cast, especially De Carlo and some funny scenes. Rated R; Violence and Nudity.

Sure, it has a nonexistent plot. Sure, the soundtrack sounds like cheap *. And sure, the characters should have been named 'Slutty' 'Loose Ho' and 'Dumbass', but it was important for them to have cheerleader names like 'Patti' stretched across their bosoms. Satan's Cheerleaders is, however, a timeless classic for all those horror movie fanactics such as myself. If you're looking for substance check out Simon Birch. A good scare? Go see Jennifer Love Hewitt bounce around in I Still Know....part 9. But if you're looking for two hours of non stop laughs and idiotic phrases you can sprinkle into party chit-chat, head out to the video store and rent 'Satan's Cheerleaders'. Oh, and pop some popcorn in case you get the urge to throw something at the screen.

Greydon Clark's "Satan's Cheerleaders" is one of those movies that goes all out to be completely silly. It's also one of those movies that has a really eye-popping cast: John Ireland, Yvonne DeCarlo, Jack Kruschen (the neighbor in "The Apartment"), John Carradine and Sydney Chaplin in his final role. There's also a scene that appears to have inspired the famous scene in "Porky's". But more than anything, it's always fun to see horny teenagers making their own rules. This is one flick that makes no pretense about being totally outlandish. A devilishly good time, if I may say so. Back when Charlie Chaplin first created The Tramp, probably no one suspected that his son would one day co-star in a movie about cheerleaders pursued by devil worshipers.

SATAN'S CHEERLEADERS is one of those cheesy, dated 1970s-era Satanist movies that once did the rage back in the day. Some of them are fun, with the likes of THE DEVIL'S RAIN and RACE WITH THE DEVIL remaining entertaining after all these years, but SATAN'S CHEERLEADERS is pure cheese. That comes as little surprise given that the director is none other than exploitation king Greydon Clark, whose main job seems to be to rip off the creepy SATAN'S SCHOOL FOR GIRLS. The cheesiness begins right from the outset with a lot of dated music and the titles written in a typically '70s font. The main characters are a group of cheerleaders who suffer at the hands of a creepy old janitor, and after a great deal of set up they meet a lame coven populated by ageing Hollywood actors (John Ireland, John Carradine, and Yvonne De Carlo all make cameo appearances). It's tame stuff indeed, with scant horror content and glimpses of nudity, and as a whole it's pretty daft.