From what I can tell, the story of this lost film's eventual release over 30 years after its production is almost more interesting than the film itself. A cautionary tale about the pitfalls of independent filmmaking, that story has all been covered in the trivial section. I'm here to chew bubblegum and review this flick, and I'm all out of bubblegum.
"Heartland of Darkness" (or "Fallen Angels" or "Blood Church"--another danger of independent filmmaking seems to be that anybody can re-titled your movie at will) has a promising premise. A former report from a major newspaper moves himself and his daughter to Copperton, OH--the living embodiment of apple pie, MId-America. However, below the wholesome facade of this little burgh lies an awful secret--the town has been infiltrated by Satanists who are perpetrating some grisly murders, led by the charismatic Reverend Donovan, played with gleeful aplomb by Nick Baldasare. Baldasare looks like any number of interchangeable actors who played boyfriend or college kid cannon fodder in slasher movies of the era, and I for one think this is an advantage. It makes perfect sense, as there's nothing particularly striking about him to draw attention to his evil acts--that, and the fact that he's a pastor in a small town at a time when people still respected clergy enough to not question them--makes his takeover all the more chilling. But this is exploitation, folks, so Baldasare doesn't miss a chance to ham it up, quoting Bible verses and gesticulating in a most grandiose manner during his monologues. Others have noted the era in which the movie was made as being rife with "satanic panic" (in part due to some hysteria drummed up by media coverage of deaths or suicides reportedly caused by the influence of role-playing games) which definitely is an influence, but the movie could also be viewed as a treatise on conspiracy thinking/paranoia (the Satanists have infiltrated their way almost to the top of state government and stage an assassination to keep their secret), as well as shifting gears into a decent action movie in the third act, which makes up for some of the weak writing/terrible acting in the first.
Prior films have explored Satanism as a conspiracy to corrupt normal life --look at "Rosemary's Baby" or "The Brotherhood of Satan", both of which were lensed roughly 20 years before this effort. Of the two "The Brotherhood of Satan" is much more similar in concept--a family, travelling through an unfamiliar town, gets tangled up with the Satanists who run the place, particularly the town's doctor, who is engaged in some scheme to transfer the souls of aging Satanists into the bodies of the town's children. While the slow burn of suspense and the eventual reveal is more skillfully handled, there is still this concept of a bucolic, supposedly safe small town masking this horrific evil and snuffing out any outside influences. The Satanists kidnapping the daughter kicks off the switch into Action mode (Praise be), but it also causes the lead character's motivation for fighting the evil Rev to change; he's no longer a crusading reporter or soldier for goodness, but a Dad fighting for the life of his child. That is what motivates him to fight to the end, including the false ending and the true one, the one that includes a showdown in the church where the Rev dies in a most symbolic way. In short, the movie starts out weak and moves to a somewhat dull middle but pays off in the end. Just hold out till the third act; therein lies the goods.
"Heartland of Darkness" (or "Fallen Angels" or "Blood Church"--another danger of independent filmmaking seems to be that anybody can re-titled your movie at will) has a promising premise. A former report from a major newspaper moves himself and his daughter to Copperton, OH--the living embodiment of apple pie, MId-America. However, below the wholesome facade of this little burgh lies an awful secret--the town has been infiltrated by Satanists who are perpetrating some grisly murders, led by the charismatic Reverend Donovan, played with gleeful aplomb by Nick Baldasare. Baldasare looks like any number of interchangeable actors who played boyfriend or college kid cannon fodder in slasher movies of the era, and I for one think this is an advantage. It makes perfect sense, as there's nothing particularly striking about him to draw attention to his evil acts--that, and the fact that he's a pastor in a small town at a time when people still respected clergy enough to not question them--makes his takeover all the more chilling. But this is exploitation, folks, so Baldasare doesn't miss a chance to ham it up, quoting Bible verses and gesticulating in a most grandiose manner during his monologues. Others have noted the era in which the movie was made as being rife with "satanic panic" (in part due to some hysteria drummed up by media coverage of deaths or suicides reportedly caused by the influence of role-playing games) which definitely is an influence, but the movie could also be viewed as a treatise on conspiracy thinking/paranoia (the Satanists have infiltrated their way almost to the top of state government and stage an assassination to keep their secret), as well as shifting gears into a decent action movie in the third act, which makes up for some of the weak writing/terrible acting in the first.
Prior films have explored Satanism as a conspiracy to corrupt normal life --look at "Rosemary's Baby" or "The Brotherhood of Satan", both of which were lensed roughly 20 years before this effort. Of the two "The Brotherhood of Satan" is much more similar in concept--a family, travelling through an unfamiliar town, gets tangled up with the Satanists who run the place, particularly the town's doctor, who is engaged in some scheme to transfer the souls of aging Satanists into the bodies of the town's children. While the slow burn of suspense and the eventual reveal is more skillfully handled, there is still this concept of a bucolic, supposedly safe small town masking this horrific evil and snuffing out any outside influences. The Satanists kidnapping the daughter kicks off the switch into Action mode (Praise be), but it also causes the lead character's motivation for fighting the evil Rev to change; he's no longer a crusading reporter or soldier for goodness, but a Dad fighting for the life of his child. That is what motivates him to fight to the end, including the false ending and the true one, the one that includes a showdown in the church where the Rev dies in a most symbolic way. In short, the movie starts out weak and moves to a somewhat dull middle but pays off in the end. Just hold out till the third act; therein lies the goods.