SATAN'S PLAYGROUND is a supernatural shocker chronicling a family's spine-tingling odyssey in New Jersey's legendary Pine Barrens region. En route to a wilderness camping retreat, their car inexplicably breaks down. As darkness falls, panic sets in. Then the marooned family stumbles upon an ancient and seemingly abandoned house. And it is here that they meet the bizarre Mrs. Leeds who lives there with her equally unhinged children. Offering no assistance, she warns of a violent, unseen force lurking in the forbidding countryside. Soon, the family will encounter a supernatural evil older than the woods themselves. SATAN'S PLAYGROUND...a place where deadly myth becomes gruesome reality.

The movie begins as night is approaching. Focus on high heels, stepping onto a desolate dirt road. In the background, the wooded countryside stretches back into an infinite horizon. A young woman is stranded. By her appearance, it can be assumed that she is probably a prostitute. Clownish, heavily made-up, she has bleached blonde hair and tight red pants. Clutching her tiny pocketbook, she pulls out a cigarette and lights up. Her eyes appear more sensitive now, more human. Suddenly, she hears strange voices. And then a roar...like the explosion of a bomb. The girl ducks. The sounds of wings flapping overhead are heard. They whizz right past her. Yet nothing can be seen. The young woman curiously looks all around her. As she walks further, the sounds of the night become magnified. She begins to hear a faint chanting...something droning and repetitive, almost tribal. And then she very clearly hears a cymbal and a drum...mixed with human voices, singing...chanting. The crackling of fire can be heard, and then a large bonfire comes into view. Focus on a red-hooded figure, monk-like, enigmatic. He seems to be staring directly at her. The young woman sees this and gasps. The flapping sounds return, confusing, taunting; they seem all around her. Suddenly, something from the sky flies down...aiming right for her...closer and closer...She looks up stunned. There is a powerful menacing wind. And then - a burst of fire. She is torched in flames! So begins SATAN'S PLAYGROUND, a roller-coaster chiller reminiscent of 70's and early 80's non-stop horrors like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th.

Over the opening titles, a series of aerial (helicopter) shots shows a station wagon driving over a winding countryside road. The camera goes off a paved highway and onto a dirt road towards a mountainous, densely wooded area. We see a highway sign that reads: "New Jersey Pine Barrens - Next Left." Once inside the car are the Bruno family. Frank (Salvatore Paul Piro), a burly, Mediterranean-looking man in his mid 50's, is driving. He keeps nodding off. Next to him is his wife, Donna (Felissa Rose). She looks about half his age, very pretty with olive skin, long wavy black hair, brown eyes, and full lips. In the back seat is another unusually attractive woman, Donna's older sister, Paula (Ellen Sandweiss). Newly divorced, Paula is cradling her baby, Anthony. All the way to the back of the station wagon, in an area strewn with luggage and toys, sits 18-year-old Sean (Danny Lopes), Frank and Donna's autistic son.

Sean becomes agitated and pounds the window. He hears the sounds of flapping wings. The weird noises get louder and louder...something is obviously coming closer. Finally, it appears. Sean sees a glimpse...and recoils. Frank and Donna are oblivious - engaged in a nasty verbal brawl. "You didn't see that?" Paula gasps. Donna shakes her head no. Frank ignores her. Paula is raging. "Well, I saw something...out the window...It was...I don't know, like a bat..."

Joltingly, the unmistakable sound of shattering glass is heard. A thick, jagged branch has broken through the window, just missing Sean's eyeball by a hair! Everyone turns around. Frank immediately gets out of the car and opens the hatchback. Sean is unharmed. And then, again...the sound of wings flapping is heard. "That sound! That's it!" Paula cries. From deep in the woods, they hear a rustling...leaves crinkling. Donna is now scared. Frank is confused. It couldn't be a bird-birds fly, and this thing is moving along the ground. Frank examines the branch through the window, trying to determine why this happened? It's not like there's a storm going on. What did this? The rustling is even louder now...closer. Frank snatches a flashlight from the back seat. "I'll be right back," he says firmly. As he moves into the dark forest, the crinkling noise never goes away--and it gets more urgent every second. It's hard to tell where it's coming from and occasionally it's mixed with a faint, pig-like grunting. We see Frank whirling around and around with his flashlight.

Inside the car, the two terrified sisters are holding onto each other for dear life. Sean is still staring into the sky. Cut back to Frank. He sees a driveway and a house. It's in the distance, beyond dense trees...an old pale, Victorian-looking house. It looks abandoned. From inside we hear a TV droning. He steps onto the porch and tentatively rings the doorbell. A light suddenly comes on as we hear shuffling, somebody or something stirring. Frank tries to look through the living room window, but the curtains are drawn.

Donna is now searching for Frank, wading through the skeletal forest trees. Back to Frank - still by the door, ringing the bell. Unexpectedly, he hears a squeaking sound, like something turning...from within the house...coming closer. The door opens. It's an Old Lady in a wheelchair (Irma St. Paule) and a younger woman (Christie Sanford), her daughter, standing beside her. The younger woman has a surly, demented expression. She looks mentally ill.

"Are you here for a reading?" the old woman asks. Frank suddenly notices a framed sign. He doesn't know how he ever missed it. It has a large red hand and the words Palm Reader. "No, my car broke down. I was wondering if I could use your phone." The door fully opens. There is a hallway beyond, but it's dark...We see a curtain or what looks like a purple bandana pinned to the walls. The odd young woman rolls the wheelchair through the cloth barrier as the mother flicks on the lights. Frank hears the terrible squeaking sound.

He flinches as a cat jumps from out of the darkness. The house is dirty. Peeling walls, old cheap furniture. Frank sees clothes on the floor and garbage. Scattered among the debris is a variety of drug paraphernalia--syringes, pipes. Weirdly, abruptly, the old woman gets out of her wheelchair and walks freely. Frank is totally perplexed. At that moment, the old lady and her daughter move away from him and disappear around a corner. The old woman can be heard faintly laughing in the background. Frank starts after her but is distracted by what he sees out the window. In the backyard, a fire is blazing in an open field with an orgy of writhing, naked bodies nearby. Other figures are dressed in robes. A ceremonial chanting can be heard. Frank hears a recognizable voice calling out for him. It's Donna. Donna must be nearing the front of the house. Confused, Frank turns around and sees the old woman's daughter, grinning, holding a hammer.

Donna is on the front porch ringing the doorbell. She hears the ominous chanting. Meanwhile, Paula is peering out the window, eyes wide in worry. She scoops up her baby, holding him tightly in her arms. Soon, the family will encounter a supernatural evil older than the woods themselves. SATAN'S PLAYGROUND...a place where deadly myth becomes gruesome reality.