Blood In the Bleak Midwinter: The Satanic Horror of February

There’s something distinctly February-coded about Satanic Horror.

The shortest month of the year may be dominated by a romantic holiday, but the days themselves feel icy and cold. The twinkling lights of Christmas have long since gone out, and we’re so far away from spring that it often feels as if the sun never fully fills the sky. We find ourselves trapped in wintery isolation where dangerous secrets threaten to take root. Satanic horror adds color to this frozen world with the blood-red passion of sinister devotion. While most modern members of the Church of Satan simply reject Christian doctrine in favor of indulgence and self-possession, demonic killers in cinema are known for their unbridled depravity, unleashing bloody violence on a frozen world.

Producer Gavin Polone’s feature directorial debut, Psycho Killer, perfectly encapsulates this strange dichotomy with a hellish murderer stalking his victims through the barren streets of a snowy hell. Penned by the screenwriter of Se7en and Sleepy Hollow, Andrew Kevin Walker is no stranger to this horrific juxtaposition. His stories are filled with grimy and picturesque violence that adds gruesome color to a desolate world. Psycho Killer is no exception. The horror begins as an unsuspecting member of highway patrol is murdered on the side of a snowy road in front of his wife and fellow officer. Now Jane Archer (Georgina Campbell) must hunt down this larger-than-life villain while struggling with the trauma of her sudden loss.

We follow Jane on a harrowing quest to catch the masked man known as Psycho Killer (James Preston Rogers) and end a series of elaborate kills designed to honor his dark lord. All the while, a haunting voice is fanning the flames. The epitome of debauchery and excess, Mr. Pendleton (Malcolm McDowell) broadcasts his satanism, pushing Psycho Killer forward in violence.

Polone paints both sides of this harrowing story in stark contrast. Devastated by her husband’s death, Jane’s life becomes a series of bleary days plagued by memories of that frozen road where she watched a killer take her husband’s life. She begins drowning her pain in this investigation, and we fear what waits for her on the other side. Meanwhile, her nemesis practically bathes in blood. Often shown in a dark, crimson light, this sadist in a radioactive mask views his victims as inhuman tools to destroy in honor of his dark savior. Decorating his crime scenes with pentagrams scrawled in his victims’ blood, Polone evokes Valentine’s Day iconography twisted into symbols of pain.

This nihilistic atmosphere mirrors another icy horror film also set in the winter snow. Osgood Perkins’ 2024 shocker Longlegs opens with a child playing outside in heavy drifts. The “almost birthday girl” is approached by a strangely jovial man who ominously references his “friend downstairs.” We will learn that this pale-faced stranger is a serial killer named Dale Kobble (Nicolas Cage), known to the world as Longlegs.

For decades, the devilish dollmaker has been murdering entire families with a nearly undetectable MO. Each targeted family has one thing in common: a 9-year-old daughter born on the 14th day of any month. Aided by a reluctant assistant, Kobble creates a life-sized replica of the child that is then delivered to the family’s home. But these figurines are much more than artificial playmates. Inside the doll’s intricate head is an orb designed to emit low-level frequencies that destabilize the family home. The fathers become overwhelmed with diabolical whispers that slowly push them to unthinkable acts of violence.

Like the infamous Psycho Killer, Longlegs does not have a motive for his crimes other than a deep devotion to Satan. His reverence for “the man downstairs” becomes a double entendre for both hell and a basement workshop in which Kobble crafts his deadly gifts. Lee investigates this killer in the brutality of an Oregon winter, constantly shielding herself from the cold while struggling to connect with her unstable mother. Meanwhile, Kobble completes his meticulous work in a murky room lit only with neon red light, as if he were crafting these dolls in hell itself. Both killers have dedicated their entire lives to the service of their master’s plan to bring an approximation of hell to Earth. Each act, regardless of its gruesomeness, becomes a loving sacrifice designed to showcase their all-consuming devotion.

Though the film pushed Perkins to new levels of fame, Longlegs is not his first foray into the world of satanic horror. His 2015 debut, The Blackcoat’s Daughter, leans into the unsettling dichotomy of wintery isolation and passionate pain. Originally titled February, the film also unfolds in dual timelines as we follow a killer and her prey. When Kat (Kiernan Shipka) and Rose (Lucy Boynton) are both left behind at their posh boarding school over midwinter break, they sense an ominous presence on the mostly deserted campus. A dark figure approaches Kat in her dreams, predicting her parents’ grisly deaths. This “blackcoat” steps into the devastating void, nudging the traumatized teen toward violent acts.

Meanwhile, Rose hopes to see blood of her own as she prepares to tell her boyfriend she may be pregnant. The two struggle to coexist in this icy and deserted campus, searching in vain for a small bit of comfort. It seems February’s icy loneliness is what drives Kat into Satan’s arms. A mysterious phone call from her dark companion kicks off a violent murder spree. She not only slaughters the two nuns tasked with her care, but stabs and decapitates Rose herself. Using a pillowcase stained with her victims’ blood, she drags their severed heads into a subterranean boiler room where she vigorously prostrates herself in deference to her new patriarch. She’s finally found some semblance of warmth in the furnace’s hellish, red glow.

The story plays out in a parallel timeline as a mysterious young woman named Joan (Emma Roberts) hitches a ride to the troubled boarding school. She manages to befriend a grieving father named Bill (James Remar), who attempts to take her under his wing and fill the void in his own bleak life. But Joan’s devotion to Satan proves stronger than his optimistic support, and Bill realizes he’s walked into a trap. Stranded on the icy road, he and his wife become Satan’s latest sacrifice. Like Psycho Killer and Longlegs, The Blackcoat’s Daughter explores the dangerous paths we take to erase the desolate pain of loneliness.

At some point in our lives, we’ve all tried and failed to secure love. Perhaps we’ve been rejected on Valentine’s Day, struggled through an uncomfortable birthday, or tried to recover from a sudden loss. However, it’s our tolerance to life’s miseries that builds our stress tolerance and resistance to pain. Though admittedly, this resilience feels more difficult in February when we just want to warm up with those we love. Polone and Perkins lean into the month’s iconography with nightmares that bloom in the absence of love.

Rather than a crimson token of affection or sentimental valentine, the blood these three killers spill represents the fire of satanic violence. Kat, Kobble, and the mysterious Psycho Killer all wind up bathed in the blood-red glow of satanic devotion, a heat born in the icy heart of February.

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