God Told Me To
Director: Larry Cohen
Cast: Tony Lo Bianco, Deborah Raffin, Sandy Dennis
Reviewed by Brian M. Sammons
Of all the movies out there that still have yet to make the jump to Blu-ray, if you asked me what would be the next one to come out, God Told Me To would never have come to mind. Now it’s not a bad movie, but it sure is a very weird flick. Moreover, it is a film that seems to have been forgotten by most of the people walking the planet. Either that, or they’ve just never seen or heard about it. And right there is one of the reasons I love Blue Underground. No one embraces cult flicks like they do, and that is clear with their new release of 1976s God Told Me To, one of the culttiest of cult movies out there. So it’s got cult street cred, and I already told you that it’s not bad, but does that mean it’s good or worth your money? Well let’s find out.
The movie starts with a sniper taking aim at pedestrians in New York City. Just before the shooter swan dives off a building, he tells a cop that the reason he went on a murder spree is that “God told me to.” A few days later someone goes berserk with a knife in a grocery story. The reason given? “God told me to.” Then a cop starts shooting his fellow police officers during the St. Patrick’s Day parade. Guess what he said was his reason for it all? On and on it goes, with normal people going on sudden and unexpected murder sprees, and then feeling perfectly peaceful and happy with what they did afterwards. And why shouldn’t they? God told them to do it, after all.
The cop on this case is a devote Catholic who just can’t believe that the god he knows would order such senseless slaughter, so questions of faith are abound in this film, but that’s only the start. Soon a link is discovered between the killers, other than their cryptic last words, but what that link is, I won’t say here. I will say that while the genesis of the idea isn’t new, where it goes and ultimately ends up sure is.
Playing more like a mystery/cop flick with supernatural overtones than a straight up horror movie, this is the film that Larry Cohen followed It’s Alive with. It has that wonderful low budget, guerilla filmmaking feel to it. It also has plenty of “hey, it’s that guy” actors in it such as Richard Lynch, Mike Kellin (from Sleepaway Camp fame), the smoking ghost from Beetlejuice, and even Andy Kaufman. Lastly, on a technical side of things in regards to this new Blu-ray, it looks incredible compared to the bargain basement DVD I used to have of it.
For such a divine movie as this, it is only right that Blue Underground has loaded it with special features. There is a director’s commentary with Larry Cohen that I found pretty entertaining, but then I’ve always been a bit of a Cohen fan. There are two interviews here, one with star Tony Lo Bianco that runs 12 minutes, and one with special effects artist Steve Neill that’s 9 minutes. There are also two Q&A sessions with writer/director Cohen. One was filmed at the New Beverly and is 21 minutes long, and the other is a short 8 minute piece from the Lincoln Center. There is a theatrical trailer and five TV spots for the movie, as well as a trailer and some TV spots for the movie under its alternate title of Demon! A poster and still gallery bring things to a close on this impressive list of extras for a movie most people have never heard of.
So well done, Blue Underground, well done. You released a cult classic, buffed and polished it so that this transfer looks downright amazing, and then stuff it with extras befitting a major Hollywood release. Sure, this movie isn’t for everyone, but then that’s what makes a cult classic cult. If you are looking for something a little different, then God Told Me To will fit that bill nicely. It gets a recommendation from me.
