The Redeemer: Son of Satan (1978)

   
Directed by: Constantine S. Gochis

Written by: William Vernick

Starring:

Damien Knight .... John Sinclair
Jeanetta Arnette .... Cindy
Gyr Patterson .... Kirsten
Nikki Barthen .... Jane
Nick Carter .... Terry
Michael Hollingsworth .... Roger
T.G. Finkbinder .... The Redeemer

Release Date: Theatrical: April 7, 1978

Rating:

 

Six friends go to their highschool reunion as they seems to be happy to see one another again and are enjoying the banquet that is served there.
But they discover that they are trapped inside their old school with a killer preacher on the loose wearing different masks and uniforms and killing them all in various ways.
It seems that they have sinned in many ways during their teenage years as it centered around a kid that people picked on and now they are paying the price for it.

 

The film almost looked like a fun one to watch but it has so many leaky holes that it sinks like a battleship
It does make you wonder why these people are getting killed yet it becomes tiresome and pointless as the story carries on.
For some silly reason when VHS tapes saw the light of day this movie was renamed Class Reunion Massacre plus this was probably what inspired the 1987 flick Slaughter High.

The acting is dated and full of virtual unknowns but they seem to pull their weight in the film especially seeing their reactions when they experience the killings.
An actor that stands out is the killer played by T.G. Finkbinder as he disguises himself into numerous different characters and really pulls it off terrifically which is better than the story itself.

Two people are bloodily shot during two different scenes
A rotting male corpse is sitting in a chair with maggots crawling out of his neck
A man is burnt to a crisp
A man is stabbed in the head
Another man is shot in the head

Constantine S. Gochis knows how to keep the film a mystery which he's good at doing and coaches his actors niot too bad
There's a great scene when he coaches Nick Carter as he turns the chair around to see who is sitting there which is Gochis' character and then he is attacked by a flame torch
Also there's a cool scene with Finkbinder as he hosts a kind of theatrical act before doing in another person.
Theres a real disturbing scene when Jeanetta Arnette's character is being drowned in a sink in the girls room as Gochis made is very convincing that she is being tortured by this before she drowns
.

We have a cheesy composition by Phil Gallo and Clem Vacara Jr. showing that they can do wonders with their piano and some windy synthesizer sounds along with some disco music too.