God Told Me To (1976)

A New York detective investigates a series of murders committed by random New Yorkers who claim that "God told them to."

Director:

Larry Cohen

Writer:

Larry Cohen (original screenplay)

Stars:

Tony Lo Bianco, Deborah Raffin, Sandy Dennis

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tony Lo Bianco	...	Peter J. Nicholas
Deborah Raffin	...	Casey Forster
Sandy Dennis	...	Martha Nicholas
Sylvia Sidney	...	Elizabeth Mullin
Sam Levene	...	Everett Lukas
Robert Drivas	...	David Morten
Mike Kellin	...	Deputy Commissioner
Richard Lynch	...	Bernard Phillips
Sammy Williams	...	Harold Gorman
Jo Flores Chase	...	Mrs. Gorman
William Roerick	...	Richards
Lester Rawlins	...	Board Chairman
Harry Bellaver	...	Cookie
George Patterson	...	Zero
Walter Steele	...	Junkie

Storyline

The storyline of this movie involves a series of motiveless murders committed by various New York residents: a sniper shoots people from a water tower; a father murders his entire family; and a cop opens fire during a St. Patrick's Day parade. The only consistent pattern to the crimes involves the perpetrators calm admissions of guilt, explaining, "God told me to." While investigating the murders, catholic police detective Peter Nicholas is increasingly troubled by evidence of a Christ-like figure named Bernard Phillips who appeared to each of the killers and can't seem to shake the feeling that his own fate is somewhat linked to this mysterious being. As he comes closer to the truth, his worst fears are confirmed.

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Plot Keywords:

grindhouse film | death | gore | violence | 1970s | 

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Taglines:

Don't let it control you!

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Genres:

Crime | Horror | Sci-Fi | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Tony Lo Bianco replaced Robert Forster.

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Goofs

The car in the flashback scenes was a 1951 Chevrolet, with post-1973 New York State license plates and registration. Briefly, it also turns into a 1939 Plymouth, when it hits a pothole.

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Quotes

Deputy Commissioner: People who are too goddamned religious make a lot of trouble for everybody.

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Crazy Credits

This motion picture is dedicated to the memory of Mr. Bernard Herrmann.

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Connections

Featured in King Cohen (2017)

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Soundtracks

Sweet Momma Sweetlove
Lyrics by Janelle Webb
Music by Robert O. Ragland
Performed by George Gentre Griffin

User Reviews

Its insane concept makes this movie work.

Let me tell you, that if this was a movie that got done with a bigger budget to spend and some more well known names in it, this movie would had been absolutely considered to be a classic one within its genre.

You really probably beforehand don't expect much good to come from this movie. It's a '70's movie with the title "God Told Me To" and the main premise makes it sound as if this is your average typical exploitation flick about a killer on the loose. But you'll be surprised at what sudden turns this movie makes throughout. It actually starts to combine lots of different genre elements, such as horror, thriller but above all things also science-fiction. Here is mostly were the movie start to get interesting and surprising to watch. It's a real refreshingly original movie, that truly deserves some more attention and recognition.

But also simple fact about this movie remains is that it's a quite cheaply done one and you can really tell that. It's the sort of cheap '70's movie that for instance used different camera's, none of which were the same, so the movie its look changes throughout the movie a few times. The interior and exterior shots especially differ. It's cheapness can been seen back in basically about everything, such as also in the directing and acting and this is what mostly harms the movie.

But yet, once you really start to get into this movie, you'll start to forgive the movie for its cheap look and lesser moments. It simply has a great concept and a refreshing approach. This all should be good enough to still make you thoroughly enjoy watching this movie.

The movie can get quite messy and confusing to watch at times but it's hard to say if you can really blame the writer or director for this, since lots of '70's movies were basically just being that way. It also sort of adds to the style and atmosphere of this movie its unlikely and refreshing story and approach.

It's also fun to note that this movie features late comedian Andy Kaufman's first movie appearance. It's really about a 2 second part but it's fun to notice nevertheless.

A surprisingly good and refreshingly original movie.

8/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 October 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

Demon

Filming Locations:

Broadway Station, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$300,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Larco Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1