Blu-ray Review: GOD TOLD ME TO (1976)

GOD TOLD ME TO
Written & Directed by  Larry Cohen
Distributed by Blue Underground

 I remember seeing this movie years ago, but I really didn't remember too much about it.  I do remember the picture was so grainy, it was hard to watch.   I am happy to report that the great folks over at Blue Underground have released a beautiful version of this film.   GOD TOLD ME TO is now on Blu ray and it looks amazing.   Here is the basic plot from the Blu Underground website:

A rooftop sniper guns down 14 pedestrians on the streets of New York City. A mild-mannered dad takes a shotgun and blows away his wife and children. A cop goes on a sudden shooting spree at the St. Patrick's Day Parade. And each of these unlikely killers makes the same dying confession: "God told me to." Now a repressed Catholic NYPD detective (Tony Lo Bianco of THE HONEYMOON KILLERS and THE FRENCH CONNECTION) must uncover a netherworld of deranged faith, alien insemination and his own unholy connection to a homicidal messiah with a perverse plan for the soul of mankind.

  This is by far one of the strangest films I have ever seen.  I guess being written and directed by Larry Cohen, this shouldn't have come as a surprise to me.   The film feels like two different movies stuck together.  The first half you have what I was expecting, a film about people going crazy and killing other people for what seems to be no real reason whatsoever.  This is one of the scariest films I have seen in a while, not in a ghost, zombie, vampire, or monster sort of way, but scary in the sense that this could happen at any time, and as we've seen as recently as a few weeks ago in Charleston, SC, things like this do happen all the time.   This film was somber reminder that we are never really safe and are never guaranteed another day here on earth.  Our life can be taken at any time at any place by any psycho with a gun.   Ok, this review is getting too deep and depressing, lets now look at the second half of the film.
 
  The second part of this film is like a different film entirely.  The second half now centers on an alien abduction and insemination, virgin births, and our main character seeing a God like vision.  I'll be honest, the second half of the movie downright strange.  It's a good strange, though, one that will definitely keep you entertained.   

   GOD TOLD ME TO is a must see in my opinion.   The film is available now on a beautiful Blu-ray release from Blue Underground and contains the following special features:

*  Audio Commentary with Writer/Producer/Director Larry Cohen
*  Heaven & Hell On Earth - Interview with Star Tony Lo Bianco
*  Bloody Good Times - Interview with Special Effects Artist Steve Neill
*  God Told Me To Bone - New Beverly Q&A with Larry Cohen
*  Lincoln Center Q&A with Larry Cohen
*  Theatrical Trailers
*  TV Spots
*  Poster & Still Gallery


CLICK HERE to watch the trailer
CLICK HERE to purchase the Blu-ray