If history is not heeded it is bound to be repeated. A refrain that you will hear over and over again. That message is very applicable as when referring to the Satanic Panic of the 1980s that is being played out again right now with the Conservative factions whipping up the base when discussing Liberals linking them to Satanic and Pedofile activits through their Media mouthpieces and Right Wing politicians that has already lead to Deadly consequences. Patient Zero for this phenomenon Is Michele Smith. Subject and Co-Writer of the Book Michelle Remembers with her Psychiatrist and Co-Author Dr. Larry Pazder.
The story starts focuses in on a 14 months when Michelle was five-year-old and turned over to a group of Satanists for grooming to be the bride of Satan. Repressed memories revealed that she was restrained. Sacrifices occurred. Candles and Chanting were omnipresent. Plus unimaginable realistic actives such as orgies, eating feces, and dismembering fetuses also occurred. Michelle's mother was on the outside of the circle not directly involved according to Michelle but not protecting her either.
Reenactments are a major part of the production. The sessions with Dr. Pazder are a central piece. The pair of them in a room shot through a blurry lens. Michelle talks Larry Pazder interprets. Many hours were spent together. An unorthodox relationship building. The book brings local, National, and International attention to the duo. They attend lectures and conferences all over North America. Speak to Police organizations that use the book and seminars as a checklist to investigate satanic activities and crimes. Daycare, Educational, and other childcare settings becoming the main battleground. Children and Adults alike providing details of abuse, sacrifices, and ritualistic events that lead to dubious arrests, trials, and convictions to satisfy parental outcries mostly without any backing evidence.
With all of Law enforcement, academia, the courts, and journalist swirling about it is odd that Larry Pazder's Ex-wife Marylyn is the first person to look into Michelle's story with a critical eye. She saw that she was losing her husband as he spent more and more time away from his family to be with Michelle. She became a stalker in her life. Calling at all hours of the night. Following them on vacation. Being ultra needed for Larry's attention. A pillar of Michelle's story is that 14-month period when she was five when she was held captive by the cult. She simply went to the school that she attended, looked at the yearbook from the period and Michelle was there standing there with her classmates. Larry had spent time in Nigeria in the mid 60's witnessing ritualistic practices firsthand. Was Michelle aware and saying things to lead Dr. Pazder in that direction? Or was the Psychiatrist leading the witness into territory where he was familiar. Marylyn also recounts Larry's obsession with the 1976 TV movie Sybil starring Sally Field noting the similarities between the Sybil character and Michelle seeing the scenario as a path to fame.
Directors Steve Adams and Sean Horlor take the story step by step from 1976 in Victoria B.C. when the sessions start after a miscarriage suffered by the then 27 -year- old Michelle. Originating with a series of disturbing post-miscarriage dreams of spiders crawling all over her skin. The involvement and sponsorship of the Catholic Church onto full-on panic when the story caught fire in the U.S. spawning damaging and life ruining events in that country. The overarching narrative later fully debunked leading to a measure of retribution for several of the accused. The most terrifying aspect is the link to what is occurring today. QAnon and right-wing extremists are front and centre. Society in 2023 is right back where it was at the peak of the Satanic Panic from the 80s through the early 90s.
***1/2 Out of 4.
Satan Wants You | Steven J Adams • Sean Horlor | Canada | 2023.
Tags: Michelle Remembers, Victoria B.C., Psychiatry, Satanic Cult, Catholic Church, Satanic Panic, FBI, McMartin Family, Court Trials, Stolen Babies. Ma Mere.
