God Told Me To — God Told Me To( UHD Blu Ray/ Blu Ray)

God Told Me To is a mid-70s supernatural cop thriller set in NYC, where a selection of seemingly normal folk are going on a series of killing sprees. It was directed by Larry Cohen (The Stuff, It Lives trilogy, Q: The Winged Serpent)- who always had his own distinctive twist on genre filmmaking- with the film blending in elements of the second coming & alien abduction to the cop thriller format. Here from the folks at Blue Underground is a new dual Blu-Ray and UHD Blu-ray release- featuring a new scan of the picture, a new commentary track, and a good selection of archive extras.

Release in the year 1975 God Told Me (aka Demon, Whisper) was the fifth feature-length film from Cohen. And it’s most certainly a pacy and eventful picture, which uses its small budget cleverly and creatively ways - making it one of the more distinctive cop thrillers ever put to celluloid.

The film kicks off with busy streets full of new Yorkers- all of a sudden folk are twisting and falling, with bloody bullet hits. A gunman is on a water tower above the centre of the city, so jaded, tired, if still caring cop Peter J. Nicholas (Tony Lo Bianco) is brought into talk the shooter down- who reveals before he jumps ‘god told me to do it’. As the film unfolds more random shootings and stabbings occur with each killer saying the same thing.

Nicholas is a practising and staunch catholic, though he’s having an affair with younger and large glasses-wearing teacher Casey (Deborah Raffin). He also often goes to see his estranged wife Martha (Sandy Denis) who belittles him for his life choices. As things unfold, he finds out that the seemingly sexless stranger Bernard Phillips (Richard Lynch) is involved with each killing, and that he may be the second coming.

The film has brief moments of bright red gore- though the killings/ violence largely occurs off-screen. With the tautly written and at times distributing script creating horror and dread. From the off the pace & mystery is what is going to pull you in, with the whole never really lagging or dragging at any point. I won’t detail the plot anymore, as it’ll rather ruin the film's impact- but we do have some bizarre twists/ elements thrown in along the way- meaning the film is probably best described as a blend of cop thriller, sci-fi, and supernatural horror. All making for a highly original film, that really could only have come from Cohen.

 

Moving onto this new dual disc release, and the new 4 K scan of the film really is excellent-both bringing out the gritty and sweaty tension of the cast, the manic bustle-to-more sleazed and grimy side of the city itself. The 4k UHD discs takes in just the film, two commentary tracks, and trailers/ TV spots. While the Blu Ray takes in the film, two commentary tracks, and a host of archive extras- 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.
The only new disc extra is a commentary track from Film Historians Steve Mitchell and Troy Howarth. And this is very informative & interesting, as Mitchell directed the 2017 documentary about Larry Cohen's career King Cohen, and Howarth always does loads of research for his tracks. They begin by saying that the film is bat shit crazy and talking about the first time they saw it. They talk about the location shots in central NYC, and how they were filmed without permission- which on a few occasions got Larry in trouble. We hear that the rife the shooter is using had to be borrowed from one of the building's residents after the prop guy couldn't source one. We find out that Robert Forster was meant to be the original lead man, and how they feel Lo Bianco is a better fit for the part. Later on, they discuss the close relationship between Cohen and Bernard Herman, and how he was going to score the film- but said died of a heart attack. We have talk about the film's great locations, and colourful New York city acting talent in supporting roles. There’s talk about the elements shot in Pinewood studio, how this came about, and much, much more. Easily a play a few times track. The second archive track on here is with Mr Cohen himself

 

It really is wonderful to have this new ultimate edition of this highly distinctive cop thriller from the one & only Larry Cohen, and if you like your 70’s genre pictures wacky and unpredictable it’s most certainly a must. And as we’ve come to expect from the folks at Blue Underground we get a wonderful new scan of the film, and a great selection of new and archive features to boot.