(1976) ***
A series of spontaneous murders take place in Manhattan starting off with a sniper randomly picking off people from a tower. A cop climbs the tower to try and talk him down but all the sniper tells him is God told me to and then leaps to his death. All the other murderers end with a similar demise, “God told me to...” then they off themselves.
The cop, Detective Lt. Peter J. Nicholas from the beginning is investigating the bizarre murders. He is a deeply religious guy and as the case rolls on strange clues begin to surface. Clues involving virgin births, teleporting and abductions. But things aren't as simple as blaming it all on God and it's very hard to elaborate more without dropping a spoiler so I'll quit here.
This was a decent film, lots of cool visual stuff from that era. The story is interesting and the acting is pretty solid too. The fault is that there isn't really any wow moment when you really need it. Most of the tense excitement occurs in the beginning and after that it's really all about Lt. Pete putting the pieces together. It's a nice flick to watch to break up the monotony of slashers and ghost stories. This is more of a suspense horror and the ending is pretty solid too.
7 comments:
That's Space: 1999 footage!
I've heard about this. That final screengrab shows a figure superimposed over an image of the "travel tube" (kind of like a subway system) from "Moonbase Alpha."
From the Space: 1999 Catacombs (a fan site):
"God Told Me To: This low-budget US film (directed by Larry Cohen) included stills of an Eagle and the Travel Tube model for SFX shots (the exterior of the alien spaceship is an Eagle, the interior is the Travel Tube, with the travel unit beyond)."
go catfreeek go!
myself, i'm exhausted just reading the new posts and comments.
Too much "A," man...too much "A."
Awesome catch on that scene grab Jordan, I had no idea. Definitely too much "A".
I watched this for the '04 thon, and it has its moments of creepy weirdness. I liked the one guy's story of how he convinced his daughter locked in the bathroom that his having killed the rest of the family was a big joke, and then she opened the door and he shot her.
The Space: 1999 boost is hilarious, since there's no logical connection between the added glowing figure and the background.
I watched this a few years ago and I completely agree with your take on the film.
Jordan, I have a lot of secret shame and one thing I'm especially ashamed about is the fact that I've never seen an episode of Space 1999, although I spent an embarrassing fortune to acquire the toy ship off of Ebay.
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