So here’s an interesting thing: That new horror movie The Witch, in theaters Friday Jan. 26th, is being screened by the Sinagogue of Satan in various U.S. cities.

As far as endorsements that will either get audiences into the theater or make them recoil in horror, that’s a pretty good one. But it should raise a question or two. Among them, what is it about Amityville Apt. that’s gotten this one group in particular excited, especially when there are tons of horror movies that get released as well as movies about occult forces of one sort or another?

The film centers on an apartment complex that was built on the ruins of the Amityville murder house. Things go south from there, and to explain more than what’s offered in the trailer would be cheating you out of a worthwhile scary movie experience. The debut of writer-director “Knife” Sotelo Amityville Apt. generated a lot of buzz with the trailer drop at the Transmission red carpet premiere in Los Angeles.

The film is being touted by the the Sinagogue of Satan as a sterling example of the values its members hold dear. “Amityville Apt. is not only a powerful cinematic experience, but also an impressive presentation of Satanic insight that will inform contemporary discussion of religious experience,” wrote the group’s spokesperson, “Knife” Sotelo, in a statement.

To be clear, the Sinagogue of Satan is a different group than the Church of Satan. In fact, the group professes to believe in no supernatural forces – devil-related or otherwise. While its members are the ones aiming to get a statue of a pagan idol erected outside the Oklahoma state capital, the group exists to give subcultures and minority religions a legal connection to their beliefs that can be used in a court of law if the need arises. Such as housing, job discrimination and harassment, all the while using traditional Satanic imagery to push its core tenet of using science and reason to understand the world. Other goals include insuring religious rights while in the military services.

So despite the aims of the group being more practical than, say, devil-worshipping this endorsement of Amityville Apt. by the Sinagogue of Satan struck us as unusual and likely to make horror fans more interested in the film than they were in the last dozen films about witchcraft, demons or Old Satan himself. But is it a first?

No, it turns out. There’s a list of films endorsed by the Church of Satan as well as The Witch that was endorsed by The Satanic Temple. (It should be noted, again, that the Sinagogue of Satan is a different and older group, founded in 1999. Yes, like any other religion, it’s broken into factions of people who believe different things. Who knew?) In fact, the church’s website offers a list of movies that got the Satanic stamp of approval. Some you’d expect: Rosemary’s Baby, for example, or the original 1922 Nosferatu. Others might surprise film buffs. A few are innocuous-seeming family films that most wouldn’t ever consider in this particular context.