Entry 55: God Told Me To (1976)

God Told Me To (1976)

Dir: Larry Cohen

"Was he a god-the devil or something even more terrifying..."

 

NYC Detective Peter Nicholas (Tony Lo Bianco, The French Connection, City Heat) has a couple of problems: he's a devout-Catholic living with his longtime lover (Deborah Raffin, Scanners II: the New Order, Death Wish 3) but too guilty to seek a divorce from his estranged wife (Sandy Dennis, 976-EVIL, Parents) AND he's the lead investigator on a series of brutal murders, seemingly committed at random by ordinary folks whose only explanation is "God told me to."  The only lead Nicholas can come up with is that each of the murderers had previous contact with a mysterious, long-haired young man shortly before perpetrating the killings.  Nicholas eventually identifies the man as Bernard Phillips and, upon interviewing the doctor who delivered Phillips, learns that he was born with no discernible sex organs to a virgin mother.  Nicholas tracks down an old acquaintance of the late Mrs. Phillips and discovers that she claimed to have been experimented upon by space aliens.  Nicholas' inquiries eventually lead to him being abducted by a group of wealthy, Illuminati-like Phillips-worshipers, engaging in a surreal confrontation with the man/woman him/herself (Richard Lynch, The Sword and the Sorcerer, Invasion USA) and bring him to an interview with his own biological mother (Sylvia Sidney, Snowbeast, Mars Attacks!), who had a similar UFO encounter to Mrs. Phillips.  After speaking with his mother, Nicholas discerns that he has similar mind-control powers to Phillips and, after testing them by forcing a murderous pimp to kill himself, decides to forsake his new-found abilities.  He confronts Phillips again and, when his "brother" offers to bear him godly children through his hip-vagina, Nicholas kills him.  Questioned about the homicide the next day, Nicholas informs the press "God told me to."       

Cohen (It's Alive, Q) is a true auteur, and this only-in-the-70s blast of weirdness bears all the hallmarks of his work: swooping aerial shots juxtaposed with tight-to-the-ground street angles, authentic and scuzzy NYC locations, an air of paranoia and a story that's a character study wrapped in more fantastical elements.  LoBianco (who looks about 15 years older than his character's 34) is good as the troubled cop who struggles to reconcile his faith with his relationships and his newfound powers.  Future action movie villain Lynch is both alluring and unsettling as Phillips.  This was certainly inspired by the wave of religious horror films that sprung up in the 70s after the success of The Exorcist, but it also stands apart from them, as Cohen isn't interested in making a statement about the power of faith or providing any easy theological explanations.  While it's heavily implied that both Phillips and Nicholas are the spawn of extraterrestrials, that implication is based on second-hand accounts and the recollections of elderly individuals, leaving the lingering possibility that both men ARE, in fact, divine beings.  Anyway, do give this one a look; it's unique and just as good as Cohen's better-known work.