Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "My Sweet Satan" is an American 20-minute live action short film made in 1993, released the year after, and it is one of the more known filmmaking efforts by writer and director Jim Van Bebber and he also acts in here playing a central character. This is the story of a man who hangs himself in prison as we find out early on and we find out during the rest of the film how he got there and what he did together with another buddy that got him arrested and thrown in jail. Like other stuff by JvB who is close to one that you could call a cult film director, this is a pretty violent and bloody watch, especially towards the end as it dives into satanic cult territory exacting one of the bloodiest revenges you could imagine. Sadly, the production values here look really weak (also not unusual for JvB) and the story can definitely not make up for it. There are even stills include and this is an absolute no-go for a film I must say. Having watched (and reviewed) the man's Roadkill about an hour earlier I must say that that one is clearly superior to this one we have here and this is my suggestion to go for in terms ov Van Bebber's short films. This one here struggles with how cheap it looks, unfulfilling production values and unconvincing elaboration on the characters that are far too many and we know almost nothing about most of them. Same applies to the actors who play them and frequently never showed up in another film at all. Or only in another JvB film. I give this one a thumbs-down. Not recommended.

movieman_kev Jim Van Bebber's short about the true life story Gary Lauwers murder by Ricky Kasso. In the film Ricky (Van Bebber once again) is a devil worshiping drug dealing loser. But because he supplies acid to his "friends", he's the head of his particular group of equally feeble minded people. When Ricky feels Gary stole drugs from him, he along with another member of his crew kill him in a horrific, unsettling manner. I found this film to be a tad unsettling and pretty well put together for an amateur effort. I wish I''d have seen "Ricky 6:, so I could compare the two, but alas that film still alludes me.This 19 minute short film can be found on Side B of the Synapse Special edition DVD of "Deadbeat at Dawn". One interesting side note, I've found is the real life Ricky supposedly spent some time with his friends at the real life Amityville House. Now that's bizarre.My Grade: C

HumanoidOfFlesh "My Sweet Satan" is based on a real-life murder/suicide case where a dangerous drug dealer took a teenager out into the woods,got him high on LSD,accused him of stealing money,tortured him and stabbed him to death whilst screaming "Say you love Satan!".After this sickening event his friend stomped the boy's head to the pulp."My Sweet Satan" is a pretty gross little horror short.There is a hanging,a closeup nipple piercing and extremely brutal head stomping.Jim Van Bebber is fairly convincing as a creepy drug dealer and Mike Moore is okay as his whiny victim.This disturbing short is clearly not as good as Van Bebber's masterpiece "The Manson Family",but if you enjoy low-budget independent horror you can't miss it.7 out of 10.

Bogey Man Jim Van Bebber's short film My Sweet Satan (1994) is supposedly based on real life character, who committed a horrible murder, was then sentenced to prison, where he finally killed himself by hanging. Director Van Bebber plays Ricky Kasslin, the main character, who is young fellow who listens to heavy metal, has one of the ugliest hair cuts ever, and acts like some animal, and believes that Satan is his Master and he loves Satan the most.This film really makes me wonder why this kind of things happen. Those Satan worshippers are depicted miserable, but dedicated lost persons and souls, who find a meaning to their lives by worshipping and praising the Satan, the most evil thing imaginable. I think this film definitely doesn't promote Satanism, since the final phrase Ricky's friend says in prison is so underlining, and tells the opinion of writer/director. This shortie has some very interesting cinematic elements, most notably the soundtrack which consists of different metal bands, but also very menacing sounds and moans which are played also backwards and create very ominous atmosphere and a feeling of evil and pure wickedness. Also, different kinds of camera techniques add to the atmosphere and the film is very great in its elements and visual power. The infamous ending is very disturbing and graphic, and the whole short film is full of violent and off putting imagery like actual body piercing, blood and terror, but the last murder is the worst, and that murder finally led the main character to prison and suicide. The suicide is also very relentlessly and realistically depicted, so this film is definitely not nice to watch. The film is important since this madness really exists in the world and this film just shows some facts and asks couple of questions without moralizing. I liked this very much and appreciate the cinematic talent of Van Bebber and give this 9/10. This little film is not likely to be easily forgotten once experienced.