God Told Me To...

Starring:Tony Lo Bianco, Deborah Raffin, Sandy Dennis, Sylvia Sidney, Sam Levene, Robert Drivas, Mike Kellin, Richard Lynch, Sammy Williams, Jo Flores Chase, William Roerick, Lester Rawlins, Harry Bellaver, George Patterson, Walter Steele, John Heffernan, Alan Cauldwell, Robert Nichols, Andy Kaufman, Al Fann
Director: Larry Cohen
Studio: Westlake Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

I don't get it.
Herrmann or von Däniken?
More Cohen weirdness
Why? 'Cause God Told Me To!
God Told Me To....Kill! that sounds fun!

God Told Me To
Starring: Tony Lo Bianco , Deborah Raffin , Sandy Dennis , Sylvia Sidney , and Sam Levene
Director: Larry Cohen
Manufacturer: Blue Underground
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

Q - The Winged Serpent
Bone
The Stuff
Let Sleeping Corpses Lie
It's Alive

ASIN: B000096I9Q
Release Date: 2003-08-26

Customer Reviews:

I don't get it........2005-09-19

Some guy in NYC gets up on a building and starts shooting people in the ketchup packets. A father kills his family (off camera). A policeman shoots a few people in a parade. Seemingly random acts of violence except that all the perpetrators said "God told me to." Shocking!

A detective who's chest hair shortens dramatically when he walks from the bedroom to the bathroom is assigned to the case and I have no idea what he figures out cause after 70 minutes of talk, talk, talk I started the 2x play until he came across some wacked out squealing dude in an abandoned building who has a p###y on his chest! The cop beats the guy down then says "God told me to."

I never want to see this movie again as long as I live.

Herrmann or von Däniken?.......2005-08-04

Promising start. A sniper kills people, seemingly randomly. When asked why, he says "God told me to". Other mass murders occur, and the murderers all claim that God told them to do it.

After 25 minutes the mystery slowly starts to unfold. There is a "sect" of middleaged and elderly men who have been gathered telepathically. They know what is going on. UFO:s in the past explain some mysterius births. And "God" turns out to be not too impressive. Why, oh why, did they try to explain it all so stupidly?

The movie is dedicated to the memory of Bernard Herrmann, the famous movie music composer (Vertigo, Psycho and much more), and the music often resembles the intense string music of Herrmann. There is some good choir music too. The acting is good all over. Good pictures. Slow tempo, but not too slow. And the script is good up until one third of the movie. So, what happened? I have three theories:

1. After writing script for the first part of the movie, the script writer died and the story was completed by someone else. (Since only Cohen is credited as writer I guess this theory won't hold up...)
2. They wanted to do a film with some cool music and dedicate it to Bernard Herrmann, so they wrote the music first and then wrote scenes that would fit the music, not minding if the story turned out to be rather strange (and stupid).
3. The script writer had read too much von Däniken ("God is a UFO, just look here in Ezechiel...").

Anyway, here is another example of a movie that has most thing going for it, but lacks a good story to back it up with. And a good story means something. At least, if you try to be clever, like this film does.

This movie is sometimes called "Demon".

More Cohen weirdness.......2004-10-23

"God Told Me To" is in many ways Larry Cohen's best picture, which probably isn't saying all that much to people unaccustomed to the confines of schlock cinema. Viewers who never watch anything that doesn't play at the local Cineplex will look upon this picture with a sense of mounting dread over the low production values and haphazard plot lines. I, however, am the King of Bad Cinema, and my realm contains a round table where Sir Cohen sits with Lord Herschell Gordon Lewis, Baron William Castle, and Sir Roger Corman of New Concorde. I can take the offering that is "God Told Me To" and pronounce it good and godly. And I will because Michael Moriarty appears nowhere in this film. Cohen seems to have a thing for the squirrelly actor of "Law & Order" fame, casting him in at least three of his major works--"The Stuff," "Q: The Winged Serpent," and "It's Alive." After anxiously looking around for Moriarty's name anywhere near this film and not seeing it, I settled in for what I hoped would become a wonderful experience. Although far from perfect, "God Told Me To" is immensely entertaining. Did I mention I don't care much for Michael Moriarty?

Here's a movie any B-movie fan can really sink his or her teeth into. Imagine New York City in the 1970s (I know, it's unpleasant, but do it anyway). The streets bustle with activity as people drive, walk, and ride their bikes to various destinations. Why, look there! Here comes a chap peddling along without a care in the world! Then we hear a shot ring out and the poor guy does a header into the pavement. Do angels ride bicycles? Anyway, more shots ring out and more people tumble to the pavement, presumably incapable of ever rising again. It looks like some guy channeling Charles Whitman is up on a wooden water tower playing target practice. Fortunately, tough cop Peter Nicholas (Tony Lo Bianco) assumes the highly dangerous task of talking the hunter down. He fails spectacularly, but before he does the gunman tells Nicholas that "God told me to" murder all of these people. This cop will continue to hear this phrase in the coming days after a devoted father slaughters his family, after a police officer (Andy Kaufman!) goes off the deep end during a parade, and after a few other highly unpleasant incidents unfold in the Big Apple. In other words, what we see happening here is just a typical day in New York City. What's the big deal?

Well, Larry Cohen isn't content to merely let his movie founder in the degradation of the typical police thriller genre. No sir! What starts out as a series of seemingly unconnected crimes turns out to be something so sinister that the human mind boggles while attempting to conceive of it. Turns out Nicholas is a highly devote Catholic with a wife (Sandy Dennis) and a young girlfriend (Deborah Raffin) who feels as though he's different from everyone else. The whole "god told me to" thing finds the detective discovering exactly why he never seemed to fit in. His investigation into the crimes turns up reports of an immaculate conception years before, a shadowy cult that worships some nut named Bernard Phillips (Richard Lynch), and Mason Adams playing an obstetrician. Then things get really weird. Nicholas tracks down a woman who tells him a story he would rather not hear, complete with onscreen flashbacks, about an alien abduction that took place years ago. Again, this type of stuff is par for the course in New York City, but you wouldn't know it by watching Detective Peter Nicholas's reaction. He races out of the building on a quest to track down the enigmatic Bernard Phillips, with good reason. The very future of the human race could well depend on our hero putting a stop to the supernatural shenanigans going on in his beloved city. Wow!

I'm not quite sure what to make of "God Told Me To." The film doesn't fit in any single cinematic genre, so I'm not sure it would appeal to fans of pure cop dramas, or pure science fiction, or pure apocalyptic films. You sort of need to transcend boundaries with this movie or you'll only end up liking chunks of it. I do think that Tony Lo Bianco did a wonderful job as the conflicted and tormented Detective Peter Nicholas. As proof of this assertion, I ask that you view closely the scene where he listens to the father talk about butchering his family. The rage slowly building in every fiber of Lo Bianco's being as he digests this string of spoken atrocities appears so genuine that I thought he was really going to deck that guy when he finally blows. So I guess you can say the acting isn't too bad. The special effects, on the other hand, ain't that great. You get a cheesy showdown between Phillips and Nicholas at the end involving a lot of camera shaking, collapsing walls, and flashing lights--hardly the stuff of big budget effects teams working with state of the art equipment. But ultimately, "God Told Me To" is entertaining because it's creepy and offbeat.

Cohen's films are seeing a big resurgence on DVD thanks in large part to Blue Underground. Included as extras on the disc are a commentary with Cohen, a poster and stills gallery, a trailer, a Cohen biography, and seven television spots. I learned by watching these extras that "God Told Me To" also went by the name of "Demon," which often means that the movie tanked under its original title so the distribution company slapped a new moniker on it in order to release it somewhere else. If you want to explore the Larry Cohen canon, this picture is a great place to start.

Why? 'Cause God Told Me To!.......2004-07-23

New York police detective Lt. Peter Nicholas (Tony Lo Bianco)--a devout Catholic who is struggling with his faith in the midst of marital problems--is investigating a string of fatal shootings and is disturbed by the fact the killers, when questioned about their motivation, have each offered the exact same response: "God told me to." Is God really ordaining these angels of death? Ignoring the downward spiral his personal and professional life seems to be taking, Nicholas' deep faith compels him to seek the answer to that question. But when his investigations put him face-to-face with the bizarre androgynous extraterrestrial who instigated the killings, the detective finds more answers than he was seeking.

As with nearly all of his films, this 1976 outre opus from writer/director Larry Cohen is no ordinary low-budget genre film. Though the premise of GOD TOLD ME TO is undoubtedly outlandish, the characters that Cohen creates in the film are vivid and memorable, their dialog very realistic, and the situations in which Cohen places them are so authentically and convincingly drawn that an audience is quickly convinced to suspend their disbelief. In addition, Cohen is a master at creating subtle subtext, and GOD TOLD ME TO is riddled with it. As the primary narrative progresses, things go on ?below the surface" that force viewers to evaluate, even if only subconsciously, their concepts of things such as marriage, sex, gender, religion & faith, family & genetics, security, and authority. Most Cohen fans regard GOLD TOLD ME TO as the auteur's most cohesive, articulate, and thought-provoking work.

A number of genre fans and critics alike have cited GOD TOLD ME TO as the precursor to the television series THE X-FILES. Certainly all of the TV show's main elements are there--alien abductions, spiritual overtones, a troubled and obsessive detective with authority issues, a powerful cabal, and bizarre plot twists. So it's hard to deny that the film had at least some influence on the series? creators. But unlike a TV show, the creators of which must ultimately defer to studios and sponsors, GOD TOLD ME TO is an independent, non-studio produced film, and Cohen has therefore been able to pull all the stops necessary to get his points across. Of course, such an iconoclastic film has often been misinterpreted or misunderstood (or maybe understood too clearly by religious zealots?), and GOD TOLD ME TO has at times been banned, boycotted, or cut to ribbons by some distributor or other to make it "palatable" to a particular audience. So some X-FILES fans may be offended by this film and consequently may not want to claim it as the progenitor of their beloved series, while others may embrace it as an example of what the TV show might have been had the creators been able to do their work without any major creative or aesthetic fetters.

The DVD release of GOD TOLD ME TO from Blue Underground is a must-own for any fan of Cohen, any fan of B-movie sci-fi, or any lover of bizarre independent cinema. It offers a top-notch digital transfer of the film in anamorphic widescreen at the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Bonus material includes an informative and entertaining feature commentary by Cohen and his protoge Bill Lustig, the theatrical trailer, and several TV spots. A cool DVD that is well worth the price of admission.

God Told Me To....Kill! that sounds fun!.......2004-06-10

A New York City policemen investigating a series of particularly brutal homicides discovers an eerie link between the cases - when the murderers are asked why they committed the crime they all claim, "God Told Me To."

Customer Reviews:

poor transfers do this set in.......2007-03-29

Iknow that sets like this aren't going to look great, but this set is so bad that in some scenes you see nothing and sound drop out will drive you crazy.

I Have Seen Worse (but not too often).......2006-02-04

The Demon feature on this disc is just okay,,An occasional scare but not much plot, Lots of running around in the dark and lots of nudity,,darn little plot,,and no reason to know anything about the killer,,he is just a BIG sicko much like Halloweens mad killer..no motive just lots of killing,,DUH! I think it is supposed to be set in the USA but everyone was in cars with driver on the right hand side of car..God told me to is also okay,,a shade better perhaps than the demon,,Good Against Evil (whatever ) is a direct Rosemary's Baby rip off,,enough said,,

WORTH THE MONEY.......2004-08-09

There are three titles on this disc. Good vs Evil, God Told Me to, and The Demon.

Good Vs. Evil must have been a pilot for a tv series because it really dosen't have any closure. The quality is o.k., but nothing stellar. The story is engaging with a Exorcist scene ripp-off. I can see why this did not make a long lived series, but at the end I was left wanting to know if he succeeded.

I was suprised by God Told Me to. It's actually in widescreen and is the image is pretty sharp. The acting and story are great. It was suspenseful. I paused the DVD two times. Once when I saw Andy Kaufman as the psycho and the other when Tony Lo Bianco's hair(comb-over) is pushed about a foot off his head.

The Demon is not of stellar quality. The colors are dull and night scenes are hard to follow. The story isn't too bad and the acting decent.

This DVD is a good buy.

Average customer rating:

I don't get it.
Herrmann or von Däniken?
More Cohen weirdness
Why? 'Cause God Told Me To!
God Told Me To....Kill! that sounds fun!

God Told Me To
Starring: Tony Lo Bianco , Deborah Raffin , Sandy Dennis , Sylvia Sidney , and Sam Levene
Director: Larry Cohen
Manufacturer: St Clair Vision
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

Q - The Winged Serpent
Bone
The Stuff
Let Sleeping Corpses Lie
It's Alive

ASIN: B0001GH7KO
Release Date: 2004-03-02

Customer Reviews:

I don't get it........2005-09-19

Herrmann or von Däniken?.......2005-08-04

More Cohen weirdness.......2004-10-23

Why? 'Cause God Told Me To!.......2004-07-23

God Told Me To....Kill! that sounds fun!.......2004-06-10

Customer Reviews:

Ignore the gentleman below..........2005-07-14

The one calling this the Cohen Trash collection, especially since he's obviously not seen "Bone", which I would note that, while it is strange, it is also not in black and white.

Honestly, "Q: The Winged Serpent" and "Bone" are more cult items than good films. "Bone" I don't buy the sudden change, but it's got its moments and Cohen deserves credit for getting into the heads of his characters. "Q" is more an exploitation flick, but one has to love Michael Moriarty's performance and how this is a mix of "Five Million Miles to Earth" and "A Face In The Crowd."

But the gem of this collection is undeniably "God Told Me To." Sure, it's rough in places (that sudden blaxploitation subplot came out of where, exactly?) but it is a B-movie with good special effects and an interesting concept...and that's not even the best part.

The best part is that this is a film where the best scenes are actually the emotional ones between actors, and it's a disturbing portrait of a man having his faith pulled from him by slow degrees. The scene with the father is disturbing just for how straight the actor plays his monologue. The scene between Tony Lo Bianco and Sylvia Sidney is jolting, and the emotional confrontation between the two women in our hero's life at the end is amazingly well-handled.

"God Told Me To" is a B-movie about a man having his faith pulled from him by slow degrees. And when was the last time they dealt with something as serious as THAT?

Average customer rating:

I don't get it.
Herrmann or von Däniken?
More Cohen weirdness
Why? 'Cause God Told Me To!
God Told Me To....Kill! that sounds fun!

God Told Me To...
Starring: Tony Lo Bianco , Deborah Raffin , Sandy Dennis , Sylvia Sidney , and Sam Levene
Director: Larry Cohen
Manufacturer: Westlake Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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( G ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Q - The Winged Serpent
Bone
The Stuff
Let Sleeping Corpses Lie
It's Alive

ASIN: B0000DC14P
Release Date: 2003-09-01

Customer Reviews:

I don't get it........2005-09-19

Herrmann or von Däniken?.......2005-08-04

More Cohen weirdness.......2004-10-23

Why? 'Cause God Told Me To!.......2004-07-23

God Told Me To....Kill! that sounds fun!.......2004-06-10

Product Description

A series of motiveless murders committed by various residents haunts the streets of New York: a sniper shoots people from a water tower; a father murders his entire family; and a cop (Andy Kaufman) 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 (Tony Lo Bianco) is troubled by the evidence and can't seem to shake the feeling that his own fate is somewhat linked to this series of motiveless murders. As he comes closer to the truth, his worst fears are confirmed. AKA as Demon

Average customer rating:

I don't get it.
Herrmann or von Däniken?
More Cohen weirdness
Why? 'Cause God Told Me To!
God Told Me To....Kill! that sounds fun!

God Told Me To
Starring: Tony Lo Bianco , Deborah Raffin , Sandy Dennis , and Sylvia Sidney
Director: Larry Cohen
Manufacturer: Miracle Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Q - The Winged Serpent
Bone
The Stuff
Let Sleeping Corpses Lie
It's Alive

ASIN: B0006B2PUG

Product Description

Conceived in a Hell Beyond our Galaxy, destined to rule our world.

Customer Reviews:

I don't get it........2005-09-19

Herrmann or von Däniken?.......2005-08-04

More Cohen weirdness.......2004-10-23

Why? 'Cause God Told Me To!.......2004-07-23

God Told Me To....Kill! that sounds fun!.......2004-06-10

Customer Reviews:

I Agree a Great Collection of Films.......2006-01-09

Cathy's Curse~A funny story about a little girl who is possessed by a spirit in her ancestral home. Seeing that filthy doll alone is worth the price of this DVD. Very funny film.
Good Aainst Evil~Dack Rambo stars in this simple thriller about a man in love with the daughter of satan. Richard Lynch plays the devils right arm on this world and believe it or not Sex in the City's Kim Cattral (spelling) has a small part in this film as Dack's ex.
God Told me to is a rare Larry Cohen film easily worth twice the price of this DVD 4 pak
The Ghost not a great movie but Barbara Steele is in it so that makes it ok.

Great Collection.......2003-06-04

This is one of the best Brentwood 4 movie horror collections I've seen so far, but don't expect perfection for the low price.

My personal favourite is CATHY'S CURSE. A little girl is possessed by her aunt, Cathy, who died in a car crash with her father after they were abandoned by her brother and mother. Cathy now seeks revenge on all women (and some men). The first 20 minutes are boring, but once the girl gets possessed it becomes nonstop, fun-filled, unintentional comedy as she does such evil things as get an old man stinking drunk, plays with an evil doll and talks in weird voices. Meanwhile her mother gets hysterical (THE funniest bad acting I've seen in ages) while the clueless father just gets confused. Bad special effects also abound (just try to guess how the girl teleports around!). Unfortunately the print is not very good, but it is watchable and I don't know of anywhere else to find this wonderful gem, which deserves a cult following. This one alone is worth the price.

"GOD TOLD ME TO" are the last words spoken by a sniper who has just randomly killed a dozen people as he lies dying. Other seemingly normal citizens (including a cop played by Andy Kaufmann!) also begin committing murders, uttering the same words when asked why they did it. This film by Larry (It's Alive, Return to Salem's Lot) Cohen is uneven, but is spooky and will freak you out, especially the scenes where the investigating cop confronts "God". Great print, letterboxed. Also worth the price by itself.

THE GHOST is a gothic tale in the vein of Corman's Poe adaptations, but without Vincent Price or psychedelic dream sequences. A bit slow, but very atmospheric and ultimately worthwhile, and with a great performance by Barbara Steele. Picture quality isn't great, but has a nice midnight movie quality to it. The first short scene is slightly out of order (apparently to open the film with credits that should have begun a minute in), so you see the end of a seance before it begins.

GOOD VERSUS EVIL, the weakest entry, is a pilot for a series that never happened. Basically, Satanists raise a nice,normal girl without telling her she is expected to bear Satan's child (the same mistake as in End of Days: Why not just raise her to look forward to this role instead of keeping her in the dark?). Their plans are messed up when she and an author fall in love. The series was to be about him teaming up with an exorcist to rescue her and battle the Satanists. The villain seems promising, but all you get is a setup for the nonexistent series and a lame exorcism scene (a family friendly copy of scenes from "The Exorcist"). Good picture quality, but a completely unsatisfying film.

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