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God Told Me To
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| Year: |
1976
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Director: |
Larry Cohen
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| Stars: |
Tony Lo Bianco, Deborah Raffin, Sandy Dennis, Sylvia Sidney, Sam Levene, Robert Drivas, Mike Kellin, Richard Lynch, Andy Kaufman
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| Genre: |
Science Fiction |
| Rating: |
  5 (from 1 vote) |
| Review: |
A busy street in New York City is thrown into panic as a sniper begins shooting indiscriminately at the crowds below. Police detective Peter Nicholas (Tony Lo Bianco) bravely confronts the killer, but when asked why he is doing it, the sniper replies, "God told me to," and throws himself off the roof to his death. It's not long before murder sprees are erupting across the city, and all the killers have only one thing to say by way of explanation: "God told me to".
Larry Cohen wrote and produced, as well as directed, this confusing item of anti-religious science fiction. Apparently influenced by the then-fashionable notion that God, and all manifestations of God such as Jesus Christ, are actually the work of space aliens, the film carries its hero down a path of self-discovery as he works out why the the mass murders are occuring, and traces them to a supernatural figure (Richard Lynch) who was the product of a virgin birth, just as the Christ was supposed to have been.
Shot on an obviously low budget, the film has a gritty look, with plenty of location filming on the streets and handheld camerawork for that urban authenticity. The best scene has a policeman (comedian Andy Kaufman) being spoken to by the "God" and compelled to open fire on the crowd as he takes part in the St. Patrick's Day parade - a great example of Cohen's ingenuity. He also creates a sense of panic spreading throughout the city as the citizens cause riots, believing that Judgement Day is at hand.
However, the script really needed a lot more work. The action becomes repetitive once the initial attacks are over with: time after time Peter turns up to interview minor characters, all in the way of keeping the plot bubbling away. These characters are given their own quirks, but the only really effective one is the polite man who has just shot his own family, smugly admitting that he never felt better - a quietly chilling moment. As for Peter, he wrestles with his Catholic conscience, which appears to stem from his own inability to accept his religious origins; however his final realisation makes this irrelevant.
It's difficult to work out exactly Cohen's intentions, other than saying, "Hey, these religious people are maniacs, aren't they?" Why does the alien offspring (with the unlikely name of Bernard) order his victims to kill? Why has he assembled a secret society to do his bidding when we never hear of them after they've been introduced? We never get a clear idea of his plans other than a reference to a Messiah, and the only clue we get is when one of the cabal observes that God has more influence as a vengeful figure than as a loving one. Despite the feeling of disappointment and missed opportunities God Told Me To leaves you with, there are many provocative ideas in there, and the implications of the climax are certainly unique. Music by Frank Cordell.
Aka: Demon
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| Reviewer: |
Graeme Clark
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| Larry Cohen (1938 - )
Talented American writer/director who often combines exploitation subject matter with philosophical/social concepts. Began working in TV in the 1960s, where he created popular sci-fi series The Invaders, before directing his first film, Bone (aka Dial Rat), in 1972. A pair of blaxploitation thrillers - Black Caesar and Hell Up In Harlem - followed, while 1974's horror favourite It's Alive! was a commercial hit that led to two sequels.
God Told Me To and Special Effects were dark, satirical thrillers, while Q: The Winged Serpent and The Stuff were witty modern monster movies. Cohen directed Bette Davis in her last film, Wicked Stepmother, and reunited Blaxploitation stars Pam Grier, Fred Williamson and Richard Roundtree for Original Gangstas in 1996. Cohen has also had considerable success as a scriptwriter, turning in deft screenplays for the Maniac Cop films and mainstream pictures like Best Seller, Sidney Lumet's Guilty As Sin and most recently Joel Schumacher's Phone Booth. |
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