Synopsis
It will give you nightmares forever!
A repressed Catholic NYPD detective uncovers a netherworld of deranged faith, alien insemination and his own unholy connection to a homicidal messiah with a perverse plan for the soul of mankind.
1976 Directed by Larry Cohen
A repressed Catholic NYPD detective uncovers a netherworld of deranged faith, alien insemination and his own unholy connection to a homicidal messiah with a perverse plan for the soul of mankind.
Tony Lo Bianco Deborah Raffin Sandy Dennis Sylvia Sidney Sam Levene Robert Drivas Mike Kellin Richard Lynch Sammy Williams Jo Flores Chase William Roerick Lester Rawlins Harry Bellaver George Patterson Walter Steele John Heffernan Alan Cauldwell Robert Nichols Andy Kaufman Al Fann James Dixon Bobby Ramsen Peter Hock Alex Stevens Harry Madsen Randy Jurgensen Sherry Steiner James Dukas Mason Adams Show All…
Demon, Foi Deus Quem Ordenou, Demonen, Meurtre sous controle, Meurtres sous contrôle, Démon, Foi Deus Quem Mandou, Μπάτσος και Σατανάς, 신이 내게 말하길, 上帝旨意, Бог велел мне, ディーモン 悪魔の受精卵
Horror, the undead and monster classics Thrillers and murder mysteries Faith and religion Intense violence and sexual transgression Terrifying, haunted, and supernatural horror Gothic and eerie haunting horror Suspenseful crime thrillers Gory, gruesome, and slasher horror Faith and spiritual journeys Show All…
Its funny when theres an anonymous tip that one of the police officers in the parade is going to do a shooting, and the camera pans over the marching policemen like Who’s it going to be? Who’s going to do the shooting? and then you see one of the cops is played by andy kaufman and its like Hmm. I Think It Might Be Andy Kaufman Who Is Going To Do It.
Larry Cohen truly does the lord’s work when it comes to low budget bananas horror spectacles yeah boyyyyy. This isn’t quite up to the Q level of perfection (and really you can’t beat a movie about a winged serpent terrorizing NY that stars Michael Moriarty), but it comes very close and is right up there with The Stuff as one of his greatest.
Part horror, part crime, part sci-fi and 100% bananas, this is a classic. I mean, it’s got alien vagina prophets so what more could you possibly need?
Long live King Cohen 👑👑👑
I'm not out here saying Larry Cohen was the greatest director to ever live; I'm not crazy. All I'm saying is I can't think of a better one.
64
Religious hysteria, or for America, just another Tuesday. Larry Cohen always made killer pulp exercises that offered high-concepts fast and cheap, and this is no different. Bizarre.
Hooptober 4.0 - 2017 - Film #10
Larry Cohen's adherence to low budget Guerilla filmmaking limited the critical reception of his films. That is a real shame because such staunch independence gave him the freedom to have complete control over every element of his films. As a result, Larry Cohrn's mad genius is given full reign, and we are fortunate to have such a crazy film like God Told Me To, which otherwise would most likely have been butchered by a major studio.
It is also gives his film a kind of lo-fi charm. I love it when people on the streets of New York obviously have no idea what is happening and are craning their necks to see what…
Somehow had never seen this until now, despite a longstanding fascination with Cohen and the film's cult reputation. Even knowing Cohen's way with wild genre hooks, I wasn't prepared for how gloriously bugnuts this sci-fi/horror hybrid turned out to be, as a detective investigating a series of strange murders winds up investigating his own supernatural past. Cohen's staging is typically reckless at times, and I don't love Tony Lo Bianco's performance (Robert Forster was originally cast but left a few days into the production; he'd have been perfect), but this is really one-of-a-kind. Cohen's use of real NYC locations is a huge plus, too, when juxtaposed with a story that wouldn't seem to ask for street realism.
Larry Cohen is all about unique juxtapositions (of genres!!), and the dichotomy here between grimy NYC and the truly psychedelic juju of the plot just does something for me that I can't really articulate. It's like watching an unfilmable novel.