Blu-Ray Review: GOD TOLD ME TO

It’s hard to hide my hand on this one but Blue Underground is releasing an underrated gem with Larry Cohen’s God Told Me To. If you aren’t familiar with Cohen, I guarantee that you have seen his work. Cohen has directed The Stuff, Bone, It’s Alive, Phone Booth. He may not have the style of directors like Cronenberg or Carpenter but Cohen’s strength is his writing.

The Movie

Peter Nicholas (Tony Lo Bianco) is a repressed Catholic cop who is living with his mistress while unable to completely sever ties with his wife due to what he believes in. Peter takes the call about a madman perched on a water tower in the middle of New York City picking people off with a hunting rifle equipped with a scope that we later find out really wasn’t adequate for the long-range murders that this man was committing. When Peter asks the gunman why he did it, the man simply answers that “God Told Me To” before jumping off to his own demise.

As the plot moves forward, we find out a bit more about Peter Nicholas as a man stuck in between a wife that he doesn’t want to let go based on his faith. However, his faith is waning at this appropriate time when some more murders start happening where their only reasoning is that God told them to commit these crimes. All of the people who are committing the murders don’t seem to have anything in common other than the fact that a higher power told them to commit these crimes – making all of them question that if God is telling them to do this, it must be ok. One scene in particular is a scene where a husband calmly tells Nicholas about blowing his whole family away one by one. It is downright chilling and still holds plenty of potency 40 years later. While Larry Cohen is a decent director, there is no doubt that he is a better writer. The film’s technical aspects are crude but they get the job done. Tony Lo Bianco is one of the strongest things about the film. The Cronenbergian finale of the film definitely is hindered in comparison to what Cohen builds up to prior due to its abruptness and a bit of unintentional laughter (specifically the hallway scene where Lo Bianco is trashing down the hallway). However, this should not sway you from catching this underground gem that feels a bit more resonant now than it did back in the 70’s.

Presentation

Blue Underground’s 4K presentation (obviously, downgraded to 1080p) of the film is pretty amazing to watch. Some may have complaints that some shots look overtly grainy but I assure you that this is mainly due to low light scenes and is totally natural. It may distract some people with the St. Patrick’s Day Parade sequence as the shots at the police station are filled with film grain yet when the film cuts to the outside festivities, the grain is apparent but not as heavy. This is pretty normal for a film of this time period. Around the 22 minute mark their seems to be some color shifting that seems to be the result of restoration of film damage. It’s noticeable but not extremely distracting. Overall, the presentation of God Told Me To is pretty damn excellent and will, more than likely, be the best way to see this film on DVD or Blu-Ray.

Special Features

Audio Commentary with Larry Cohen & Bill Lustig – This seems to be the same commentary from the DVD. Cohen unloads tons of information about filming God Told Me To. Cohen utilizes a lot of New York City “illegally” where he would tell actors to show up in certain spots but blends them in with normal people. There are a lot of people, as you may notice, looking straight at the camera trying to figure out what they are filming. Cohen is a great listen and I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys the film or Cohen’s work.

Heaven & Hell on Earth – Interview with Star Tony Lo Bianco (11:27, HD) Red Shirt Pictures delivers a nice featurette with Tony Lo Bianco as he reminisces about working on the film with director Larry Cohen and his other fellow actors. He also talks about his balance of working on a play at the same time Cohen was filming God Told Me To.

Bloody Good Times – Interview with Special Effects Artist Steve Neill (9:09, HD) Another Red Shirt Pictures production with a on camera interview with Steve Neill talking about how he made friends with Rick Baker & Joe Blasco. Rick was going to originally do the prosthetic work for God Told Me To but was on another job which is how Steve got the job.

Q&A with Larry Cohen at New Beverly (21:24, HD) – There are some great antidotes of Larry Cohen’s work ethic and filming God Told Me To. Larry Cohen is direct, passionate and doesn’t waste any time talking about his films and it shows in this feature. While most of the things he talks about were discussed in the included commentary, it is still great to hear the audience react.

Q&A with Larry Cohen at Lincoln Center (08:06, SD) This footage is filmed from Cohen’s 2002 appearance at Lincoln Center via a consumer camcorder. I don’t believe this was on the previous Blue Underground release so this would be new to this release. It’s a nice extra because there is not a lot of repeating of answers from the newer Q&A feature.

Rounding out the Special Features are advertisements for both titles the film went under, God Told Me To and Demon as well as a Poster & Still Gallery.