Benas Mcloughlin
Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.
Michelle Ridley
The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity
Nicole
I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.
Stay_away_from_the_Metropol
I am 33 years old and I think this is the first time in my life that I have ever watched a movie twice in a row on the same night. As I watched the film for the first time, each scene had me thrown off and confused, but fully intrigued. The movie continuously stepped into territory I could never have expected it to, once past the first 20 minutes. I had a hard time keeping up with how each of the characters were relevant to what was happening, and often to what was happening in general, but never to the film's error - the progression of the plot is just that far out there that it's a lot for anyone to take in the first time. I knew immediately as I reached the second half of the movie that I would need to give it another viewing. Everything about this movie is...mystical - what begins as a very simple reality-based concept blossoms into an eerie flower so bonkers it must be experienced to be explained.I expected this to play like most of Cohen's movies I've seen: a rather serious concept but full of laughs induced by witty satire, but this movie is different...there's not much to laugh about here! What it does offer is seriously ambitious, daring filmmaking. It's a slow-creeping disease that you'll want to get. The film eventually offers some visually stylistic choices that I feel are unlike anything else I have ever seen. I'm largely a fan of the cast as it is very versatile and unique. Most every actor in the film has the ability to take the absurd and keep it anchored in the realm of believability for the viewer. Psychologically, the movie has so many layers - there are so many different elements to think about!Looking at the movie as a whole, the ONLY movie that I could say it is even REMOTELY similar to in any way is Nicolas Roeg's DON'T LOOK NOW from 1973, another film I am a huge fan of. Mix in elements of early Cronenberg, at times Dario Argento's "Mother trilogy", and all the elements that make Larry Cohen films his own - and you start to get a loose idea of what kind of film you are dealing with here.It's completely one of a kind, completely insane, and after watching this and Bone (his debut film from 1972) for the first time I am officially ushering Larry Cohen into my personal category of the great film directors of our time. I grew up loving b-horror masterpiece THE STUFF (1985) but had no idea what else his catalogue would have to offer! I am so excited to explore the rest! Black Caeser, It's Alive, Q, etc...
Michael_Elliott
God Told Me To (1976) ** (out of 4) New York detective Peter Nicholas (Tony Lo Bianco) begins to investigate a strange string of mass homicides where the murderers claim that they are doing the crimes due to God telling them. Soon the detective learns of a woman who while still a virgin gave birth to a boy after an apparent alien abduction.GOD TOLD ME TO is a low-budget thriller from writer-director Larry Cohen who is best remembered for the string of pictures he made in the 70s including IT'S ALIVE. This film here has some interesting ideas behind it but for the most part it doesn't completely work, although there's still enough interesting stuff here to make it worth watching.I think one of the best things going for the film is the lead performance by Lo Bianco. The character actor certainly does a nice job in the role of the detective as he looks and sounds the part. He brings a certain authentic feel to the part. Deborah Raffin and Sandy Dennis are good as well and it was fun seeing Sylvia Sidney in her small role. Mike Kellin and that great voice are also on hand.The direction is good throughout and there's no doubt that Cohen handles his screenplay just fine. I think the lack of any real suspense is the biggest deal-breaker for the picture as well as the fact that it runs out of gas around the fifty minute mark and it takes a while to finish. There's no question that the first half of the film is much more entertaining than the second.
MartinHafer
Peter (Tony Lo Bianco) is a detective brought in on a strange case. As the film begins, some guy with a sniper rifle starts killing people on the streets of New York. The killer is cornered and Peter tries to talk him down from the tower where he's been shooting. However the guy jumps...just after saying that God told him to kill these people. Soon, other such crimes begin springing up all around---and each killer attributed this to God telling them to kill. In each case, oddly, they also seem very calm...and Peter is perplexed. Where this goes next is NOT where normal folks would expect and I am sure many would find it all sacrilegious as Peter begins to realize the killings are being orchestrated by a modern day Jesus...another Son of God born of a virgin. But it gets MUCH weirder!I liked the first half of the film much more than the second. The second portion is strange and a bit confusing. This isn't necessarily all bad, as the filmmaker, Larry Cohen, does take a lot of risks and makes a truly unique film that is much like "The Omen" meets a detective film! My only complaint is just how odd and unsatisfying the ending was for me.By the way, if you do watch, look for Andy Kaufman playing a murderous cop early into the movie.
lastliberal
If you like horror, you know Larry Cohen (It's Alive, It Lives Again, Maniac Cop (I, II, & III) It's Alive III). But he is a prolific writer, director and producer who also did Black Caesar, Return of the Seven, and one of my favs from early TV, "Branded." Now, here he is with Tony Lo Bianco & Sandy Dennis, and the film debut of Andy Kaufman.The film is shot in a documentary style to make us believe that it is real. Lo Bianco is a police Lieutenant trying to solve apparently random killings. They do all have one thing in common. The killers all say, "God told me to." It's not and easy film. It seems to jump around, and I could never figure what Sandy Dennis was doing.It's a cult film about a cult, and it gets pretty weird at times. Thankfully, there's a naked chick running around to keep your attention.
