2023 marks the 8th annual Portland Horror Film Festival. While I wasn’t able to attend all five days, the days I did attend were filled with fantastic feature and short films. The first film I caught at this year’s PHFF was the fascinating new documentary, Satan Wants You.

Written and directed by Steve J. Adams (Someone Like Me, TransCanada) and Sean Horlor (Someone Like Me, TransCanada), Satan Wants You takes a deep dive into the origins on the Satanic Panic of the 1980’s. More specifically, it examines “Michelle Remembers,” a supposed memoir co-written by a woman named Michelle Smith and her psychiatrist, Dr. Larry Pazder.

In this memoir, which hit bookshelves in November of 1980, it’s revealed that Michelle survived a Satanic cult as a child. While for most of her life she did not have any recollection of these events, a traumatic miscarriage as an adult acted as the catalyst for these “memories” resurfacing. Through months of intensive therapy with Dr. Pazder, Michelle eventually remembered her mother giving her to the cult for over a year when she was about 5 years old. During that time, she witnessed horrific ritualistic acts and suffered terrible physical and emotional abuse.

Satan Wants You goes over the details of the book, while also discussing the ripple effect that took place after it’s release. The Satanic Panic rose quickly and spread like wildfire. More of more people came forward with “repressed memories” of abuse they suffered at the hands of cults, every talk show featured a segment about Satanic cults, people became convinced babies were being stolen from hospitals to be used in Satanic rituals, and many innocent people were accused and even convicted of terrible crimes. The filmmakers use a combination of expert interviews, clips from talk shows and news segments, and even real audio recordings from Michelle’s sessions with Dr. Pazder. Among the people interviewed for the documentary are an FBI agent, a member of the Church of Satan, Michelle’s younger sister, a Wiccan police officer, Michelle’s best friend, and many more.

This is truly one of the most fascinating documentaries I have seen. What makes Satan Wants You so interesting is that, watching events unfold in hindsight, it seems ridiculous how quickly and how far the Satanic Panic spread all because of one book. There were times throughout the screening where the audience laughed, and there are definitely humorous moments, but it’s mostly laughter coming from how outrageous the entire situation was. And yet, there is also something inherently frightening about it. All it took was one book to become popular enough, with enough people believing the contents, for mass hysteria to take hold and ruin innocent lives.

Yet the contents of the book and the influence it had on the masses is only the beginning of the story Satan Wants You tells. The documentary presents the events as Michelle and her doctor conveyed them, cover the aftermath of the memoir, but then it also gives the audience a peek behind the curtain at the increasingly bizarre relationship between Michelle and Dr. Pazder. It speaks a lot to trauma, doctor-patient relationships, false memories, and the need for more people to put in some due diligence before blindly accepting something as truth.

Satan Wants You is a disturbing, gripping examination of the origins of the 80’s Satanic Panic, but it also acts as a cautionary tale as we see new conspiracy theories rise in popularity today. Adams and Horlor perfectly balance facts, humor, and suspense. It’s the kind of documentary that is sure to appeal to all types of viewers from horror fans to true crime enthusiasts to historians to those interested in sociology and psychology. Whoever you are, I highly recommend seeking out Satan Wants You for a truly wild ride.