God Told Me To (1976)
Conceived in a hell beyond our galaxy destined to rule our world!
Director
Larry Cohen

Writer
Larry Cohen

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

Review by The_Void

Should have been godly,
From Larry Cohen, director of several kitsch ‘classics’, comes this piece of kitsch: God Told Me To. The film starts with a sequence that sees a sniper pick off several people on a busy high street. When religious Detective Peter J. Nicholas tries to talk him down, the sniper plummets from the building to his death, but not before saying the words “god told me to” as an explanation for his crime. This is the first in a series of brutal murders, all of which were carried out by someone that claimed god told them to do it. Is god really to blame, or is it something more sinister? This is the question now facing Detective Nicholas he attempts to uncover the reason behind the killings…

One of the first things that you will notice about God Told Me To is the incredibly bad acting. In a low budget film, you can’t expect anything great from the acting department, but the acting here is a tad below the low quality that we’ve come to expect from films of this nature. Another negative aspect of the film is the plotting. The plot itself isn’t too bad, it could and should have better as it gets a bit too silly at times, but it’s imaginative and inventive enough to carry the film; but the way it’s presented is largely uneven and it loses itself at times, making it rather boring.

The film takes a Sci-Fi twist about half way through, and in my opinion this was a bad idea. The theological ideas in the film are far more interesting, and had it concentrated on those; it would have been a better film. The Sci-Fi twist is something of a cop-out, especially when you consider the title. The film does have some nice moments, however; my personal favourite is a scene that sees a man that has just murdered his family amorally state his feelings on what he just done.

It’s a shame that this film isn’t better. I love low budget kitsch films, and I almost feel like I should have a higher opinion of this one; but due to silly plotting mainly, I find it hard to really like.

I still recommend this movie to people that like low budget cult films, but if you want a really great horror film about god’s will; you can’t go wrong with Bill Paxton’s 2001 gem; Frailty.