GOD TOLD ME TO (1976)

Studio:       New World Pictures
Director:    Larry Cohen
Writer:       Larry Cohen
Producer:  Larry Cohen
Stars:     Tony Lo Bianco, Deborah Raffin, Sandy Dennis, Sylvia Sidney, Richard Lynch

Review Score:

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Summary:

A New York City police lieutenant questions his faith, and confronts a mysterious force, when a series of random killings are all committed by people who claim, “God told me to.”

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

Lt. Peter Nicholas confronts a sniper atop a New York City water tower after he has just murdered multiple pedestrians at random. The sniper tells Peter that “God told me to” before jumping to his death. Peter is at a loss to explain the sniper’s uncanny aim despite using a non-calibrated mail-order rifle.

Because of his Catholic beliefs, Peter is still married, even though he stays with his girlfriend. Devout in his faith, he attends mass every day.

Peter next visits a man in the hospital who stabbed random people at a supermarket. This man makes the same claim about God as the sniper before dying in front of Peter.

A man in a business suit phones in an anonymous tip that there will be another rampage at the St. Patrick’s Day parade, and the perpetrator will be a cop. Peter tries to stop the parade, but an officer manages to fire several shots before being wrestled down. Peter interviews another cop who rode the subway with the possessed officer and learns that the officer spoke to a young man with long blonde hair while en route to the parade. Interviews with the sniper’s mother, a grocer, and a doorman corroborate the description of this mysterious blonde-haired man seen with each perpetrator. They add that he was also barefoot and had a blurry face that no one can describe clearly.

Peter finally identifies the mystery man as Bernard Phillips. He tries to interview Bernard’s mother, but she dies while attacking Peter. The coroner reveals that Mrs. Phillips was a virgin. Her obstetrician adds that Bernard was androgynous.

Peter angrily attacks a man who murdered his own family, supposedly on God’s orders. After speaking to a veteran cop about the God murders, Peter is led to a man who picked up Mrs. Phillips 24 years earlier in 1951 when she was found naked walking along a road. She told this man a story about being abducted by a UFO and impregnated.

While the police interview his girlfriend, Peter leaks the story about God-inspired murders to a newspaper reporter, inciting hysteria in the city. Meanwhile, a drug-dealing pimp murders a dirty cop, and Peter suspects it is not God-related.

In a high-rise building, a group of Wall Street executives stage a secret meeting about the man they serve and believe to be the Lord, Bernard Phillips. The anonymous tipster from earlier suggests that Peter should join their cabal. It is revealed that Bernard has the ability to use his will so that people carry out his commands. Peter meets with the group’s leader, Mr. Richards, but he dies suddenly when their discussion turns to Bernard’s origins.

Peter leaves hurriedly but is able to capture the tipster when he tries pushing the lieutenant in front of a subway train. He forces this man to take him to meet Bernard. Peter is taken down an elevator to the furnace room because Bernard likes it warm and never leaves the building. His purpose fulfilled, the tipster drops dead in the elevator as soon as he leaves Peter.

Peter realizes that Bernard is afraid of him and also cannot harm him. Peter realizes that he is different somehow and then the building catches fire. Peter escapes and visits the orphanage from where he was adopted, discovering that his mother is Elizabeth Mullin. He traces her to a nursing home and she tells a story similar to Mrs. Phillips about being abducted by a UFO and having a virgin birth. Frightened when she realizes who he is, she forces Peter to flee from her room.

Peter’s girlfriend visits his wife and learns that she had three miscarriages over the course of their marriage. Peter’s wife also had the feeling that he did not want the children. Peter visits to find them both there and says goodbye to the two women he loves.

At a pool hall, Peter confronts Zero, the cop-killing pimp from earlier, and psychically wills him to kill his henchmen and then himself. Now ready for the final confrontation, Peter returns to Bernard. Bernard reveals that the reason why Peter is his antithesis is because Peter did not turn out like his alien creators intended. So they tried again and created Bernard. Bernard exemplifies their genes while Peter is more dominated by his human side. Peter subconsciously knew that his own children would turn out like Bernard and therefore willed them to die in the womb. Bernard says that he wants to create a new species with Peter and reveals what looks to be a vagina on the side of his torso. Peter begins to strangle Bernard and then pulls out his gun, but the building falls down around them. Peter escapes, but is captured and sentenced to an asylum for the criminally insane. When a reporter asks why he killed Bernard, Peter replies, “God told me to.”

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Review:

“God Told Me To” is best viewed with as little foreknowledge as possible.  All I knew about this film when I started watching was that Larry Cohen (“It’s Alive,” “The Stuff,” “Q – The Winged Serpent”) made it and the story involved spree murders committed by people who believed they were fulfilling the word of God.

The film stock, photography, wardrobe, and production design are all very firmly rooted in 1976.  That is a good thing in this instance.  The opening scene of a sniper inciting panic by targeting random pedestrians immediately reminded me of Dirty Harry’s Scorpio.  And when a police lieutenant arrived on scene to establish himself as the protagonist, my initial thought was that I was in for a similar type of urban crime drama in that Clint Eastwood or Charles Bronson vein.

That was definitely not the case.  So much is packed into 90 minutes that there is not even time to realize just how dense and tight the story is until the end credits have already rolled.  I wish I could rattle off a few nouns to highlight the most surprising inclusions and describe the story, but even single words could be potential spoilers.  And certain plot elements are not the only bizarre things to be found.  Look for the first film appearance of comedian Andy Kaufman as a possessed cop in the St. Patrick’s Day parade scene.

The storyline is unpredictable, engaging, and entertaining.  There may be unintended laughs at some of the more extraordinary scenes, but they come with a realization that this movie could have easily turned into camp had it been produced by far less capable hands.  Effects are dated, and there is some content that has not aged well.  Still, everything is played straight and the acting is sincere.  This sincerity is what prevents the most unexpected story turns from being outright ludicrous.

It is not uncommon for a second viewing to be required just to be sure the movie was fully understood (if such a thing is possible).  The sequence order can be confusing with the way it includes scenes with ultimately little significance (the police interviewing Peter’s girlfriend), or jumps over offscreen events entirely (Peter’s suspension from the force).  The subplot with the pimp even borders on unnecessary.  There is also no shortage of characters introduced and then promptly discarded along the way, simply to advance the plot.  This sometimes disjointed narrative is more responsible for any confusion caused rather than complexities with the overall plot.

I cannot think of another film quite like it.  Another script edit prior to filming or one more pass in the cutting room might have solved some of the structural issues.  Yet those who can forgive the erratic scene arrangement will find a unique thriller with tinges of those distinct 1970’s film feelings one normally only finds in exploitation or grindhouse cinema.

NOTE: "God Told Me To" has also been released under the titles “Demon” and “God Told Me to Kill.”

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