GOD TOLD ME TO (1976)
2-Disc Special Edition 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
Label: Blue Underground
Duration: 90 Minutes
Region Code: Region-Free
Audio: English Dolby Atmos; DTS-HD MA 5.1; DTS-HD MA Mono 1.0; Dolby Digital 2.0 French with Optional English SDH, French, Spanish Subtitles
Video: Dolby Vision HDR 2160p UHD Widescreen (1.85:1), 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Larry Cohen
Cast: Tony Lo Bianco, Sandy Dennis, Deborah Raffin, Sylvia Sidney, Richard Lynch, Andy Kaufman
When a sniper perched atop a water tower guns down fourteen pedestrians on the streets of New York City. Det. Peter Nicholas (Tony Lo Bianco, The Honeymoon Killers) is on scene and risks his life to climb to the top of the water tower in an effort to talk the sniper down. When asked why he would do what he has done the sniper calmly replies "God told me to" before leaping to his death. Det. Nicholas then shows up at a crime scene where a father kills his wife and kids, and then another when one of NYPD's own goes on a killing spree during a parade. Of note, the murderous officer has no clear motive and the other perpetrators seem to be good, honest people with no reason to have committed such heinous acts of violence. When they're asked why they did what they did they each calmly respond that they were compelled to do so by God.
Det. Nichols is a devout Catholic and deeply unsettled by these acts of murder in the name of God, and sets off in search of answers which lead him to a mysterious figure named Bernard Philips (Richard Lynch, Bad Dreams), a long-haired messianic cult leader conceived from a virgin birth, who just might be the spawn of alien insemination. He shows up about an hour in and is bathed in a golden otherworldly light, he definitely has an alien quality about him.
It's certainly a strange movie but a damn entertaining watch straight from the start as the sniper starts knocking off pedestrians and chaos unfold, and it rarely lets up from there. Once it one sinks it's teeth into you it does not let go, no matter how dang weird it gets and it gets plenty WEIRD. The murder spree at the parade is another great scenario with plenty of onscreen violence and chaos unfolding to keep the blood flowing and an equal amount of intrigue to keep the mind occupied, Cohen was the king of stealing these scenes on the streets without permits or extras, just filming the madness on a street full of people! I found it quite chilling when the Detective questions the father who just moments earlier murdered his wife and young children with a shotgun, the guy seems so at peace with what he has done, saying it just occurred to him that he had to do it for God, and then goes into chilling detail about luring his scared daughter out of her room, telling her it was just a game before killing her.
Tony Lo Bianco anchors the film with his resolute pursuit of the truth, and as a guy with both a wife (Sandy Dennis, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) and a girlfriend (Deborah Raffin, The Sentinel), but watch out for appearances from Sylvia Sidney (Beetlejuice, Mars Attacks) as an alien rape victim and Mike Kellin, the shady camp director from Sleepaway Camp as the NYPD Deputy Commissioner. Plus we have the always awesome Richard Lynch as the androgynous alien messiah with a vagina on his torso.
God Told Me To is quite an ambitious slice of b-movie making and even more so when we realize just what the fuck this alien messiah up to? When all is reveled it's pretty laughable but also a tiny bit genius, as only Larry Cohen could pull-off with his weird sense of humor and social commentary very much intact, it makes for quite an entertaining watch right up till the quirky end. No one made 'em quite like the late-great Larry Cohen did, before or after, and I wish the guy was still alive and cranking out films!
There are some fun special effect shots in the film, not the least of which is Richard Lynch's hypnotic glowing vagina, but we also a cool science fiction flashback scene as Sylvia Sidney recounts her character's alien abduction and insemination to the Det. Nichols.
Audio/Video: This is a brand-new 4K scan from the original uncensored negative and it looks fantastic with with a uniform layer of velvety fine and unobtrusive film grain, and with nary a white speckle to be seen. The HDR color-grading reinvigorates the 70's colors throughout; the yellow of the taxis, the red and blue of the marching bad and other primaries are quite wonderful, and skin tones are imbued with warmer more natural hues. Also benefitting from the HDR pass are blacks which more nuanced, shadow detail and the contrast is more layered, giving the appearance of more depth. I will note that for the teal-push sensitive I do see some teal push here, not unlike the UHD of The New York Ripper, but to be honest it doesn't bother me, but it's there. Also, the one area I think that is not improved by the high dynamic range are the scenes of the alien messiah, the golden glow and later scene with flames seems slightly warmer and less yellow, which I liked, but there's an odd contrast issue that saps image detail compared to the 2015 Blu-ray, but otherwise I found the new HDR color-grading nice improvement. See a screen cap comparison of the 2015 Blu-ray versus the new 2022 remaster just below, and more than 50 screenshots from the 2022 Blu-ray at the bottom of the review.
Top: Blue Underground Blu-ray (2015)
Bottom: Blue Underground Blu-ray (2022)
Audio comes by way of a new Dolby Atmos mix, DTS-HD 5.1 and 1.0 Mono with optional English subtitles. This is a dialogue and front-speaker loaded film but there are moments where they make the most of the surround, notably the sniper and parade sequences. That said, I still prefer the trust and true authenticity of the uncompressed mono mix, and I am glad to see it included.
Onto the extras, the only UHD disc extras are a pair of audio commentaries, the first being a brand new Audio Commentary with Film Historians Steve Mitchell and Troy Howarth. The guys tackle the film with gusto, especially Mitchell who having made the fantastic King Cohen doc is full of anecdotes and stories straight from Cohen himself, and together he and Howarth heap on the praise for this offbeat film and other films in the Cohen's filmography. They also offer some candid thoughts on his movies, noting that they're not for everyone, but that he had a style of his own, and he was a bit of a gonzo filmmaker who shot quite a bit in NYC without proper permits and regulation. The second commentary is an archival Audio Commentary with director Larry Cohen and William Lustig which first appeared on the 2003 DVD and then again on the BU 2015 Blu-ray. It's a terrific track with Cohen being a great commentator, he was never one to run short of words which make for an informative and entertaining listen.
Onto disc two, the Blu-ray, we get a remastered Blu-ray version of the 4K restoration that includes the new Dolby Atmos mix, which is very cool. The extras include the same pair of commentaries as the UHD plus a hand full of wonderful archival featurettes produced by Red Shirt Pictures. First up is the 11-minute Heaven and Hell On Earth - Interview with Star Tony Lo Bianco, the star reminisces about getting the role and Cohen's penchant for stealing shots around New York City and a disagreement he had with the director over the film's rather shocking rubber vagina. The 9-min The Bloody Good Times - Interview with Special Effects Artist Steve Neill is pretty cool chat with Neill as he sits in front of a large scale model of the S.S. Enterprise with working lights, how cool is that? He talks about meeting Larry Cohen through Rick Baker (An American Werewolf In London) who had worked on the director's killer-baby classic It's Alive. Neill would go onto work with Cohen on this film and subsequently on The Stuff, Q the Winged Serpent and A Return to Salem's Lot before they drifted apart as Neill's plate became more full with other work. He notes that while Cohen could sometimes be difficult to work for but that he always paid on time!
The late director appears via a pair of Q&A sessions that were recorded before screenings of the film; the first is the 21-min God Told Me To Bone - New Beverly Q&A with Larry Cohen and the older 9-min Lincoln Center Q&A with Larry Cohen from 2002. Cohen was his usual talkative self with loads of great anecdotes about making the film, including the fact that Robert Forster (Alligator) was fired from the lead role when he would not stop chewing gum in character! Additionally there are a ton of Theatrical Trailers, TV Spots and a Poster & Still Gallery - including marketing materials under the alternate title of 'Demon!'.
The 2-disc release arrives in an oversized dual-hubbed black keepcase with a reversible sleeve of artwork featuring the original artwork that accompanied the Blu-ray and what looks to be a newly commissioned artwork. The latter artwork is also featured on the limited edition embossed slipcover, which only comes with the first pressing of this release.
Special Features:
Disc 1: (4K UHD)
- NEW! Audio Commentary with Film Historians Steve Mitchell and Troy Howarth
- Audio Commentary with Writer/Producer/Director Larry Cohen
Disc 2: (Remastered Blu-ray)
- NEW! Audio Commentary with Film Historians Steve Mitchell and Troy Howarth
- Audio Commentary with Writer/Producer/Director Larry Cohen and William Lustig
- Heaven and Hell On Earth - Interview with Star Tony Lo Bianco (11 Min)
- Bloody Good Times - Interview with Special Effects Artist Steve Neill (9 Min)
- God Told Me To Bone - New Beverly Q&A with Larry Cohen (21 Min)
- Lincoln Center Q&A with Larry Cohen (8 Min)
- Theatrical Trailers (4 Min)
- TV Spots (8 Min)
- Poster and Still Gallery (44 Images)
God Told Me To (1976) is sort of the ultimate drive-in film, a mondo combo plate of gritty police procedural and screwy science fiction horror feature with a decent amount of blasphemy blended together into a heady b-movie concoction as only Larry Cohen could have dared and gotten away with. The new 4K UHD from Blue Underground brings a new vigor to the strange flick and the new and archival extras are well-worth chewing on - this Larry Cohen gem comes highly recommended.
Screenshots from the Blue Underground Blu-ray:
