Collab Film Club #1

Larry Cohen’s God Told Me To is a messy little religious horror flick from the ‘70s, following a series of seemingly random killings across New York City. These killings appear to have one prime connection: the people performing the murders utter the phrase, “God Told Me to” before themselves dying. What serves as a prominent hook to the film, this premise proves to be a half-baked gimmick born from Cohen’s less-than-revolutionary take that God is one of the most violent characters in literary history (like yeah, we know). Unfortunately, some fun kills and a strong sense of intrigue are not enough to save this movie from clunky pacing and poor character work. It is a fun watch for fans of low-budget ‘70s horror, but I can’t recommend it to anyone outside that demographic.

Collab Film Club #1

Larry Cohen’s God Told Me To is a messy little religious horror flick from the ‘70s, following a series of seemingly random killings across New York City. These killings appear to have one prime connection: the people performing the murders utter the phrase, “God Told Me to” before themselves dying. What serves as a prominent hook to the film, this premise proves to be a half-baked gimmick born from Cohen’s less-than-revolutionary take that God is one of the most violent characters in literary history (like yeah, we know). Unfortunately, some fun kills and a strong sense of intrigue are not enough to save this movie from clunky pacing and poor character work. It is a fun watch for fans of low-budget ‘70s horror, but I can’t recommend it to anyone outside that demographic.

genuinely deeply ridiculous film but somehow means so much. yeah ok 90% of the camerawork is shaky evil dead cam and one scene is so underexposed that it's genuinely impossible to tell what's happening and the editing is atrocious but like. it's about the weird trauma inherited as recessive genes from your parent(s) it's about grimy 70s new york city it's about pulsing yonic sidewounds, catholic boy. no way this was made by the same guy who made a movie where a man eats a strange pulsating marshmallow substance in antarctic pack ice in the first minute and then decides to sell it as a dessert. or maybe that does make sense...

genuinely deeply ridiculous film but somehow means so much. yeah ok 90% of the camerawork is shaky evil dead cam and one scene is so underexposed that it's genuinely impossible to tell what's happening and the editing is atrocious but like. it's about the weird trauma inherited as recessive genes from your parent(s) it's about grimy 70s new york city it's about pulsing yonic sidewounds, catholic boy. no way this was made by the same guy who made a movie where a man eats a strange pulsating marshmallow substance in antarctic pack ice in the first minute and then decides to sell it as a dessert. or maybe that does make sense...

Larry Cohen mastered pulpy social commentary here, but his direction and the amazing cut on this film really blew me away. An excellent opening scene, with such deliberate camera movements and edits. Larry Cohen films are this perfect mix of excellent craftsmanship with a tongue and cheek silliness as well as always being such perfect time capsules, capturing the aesthetics and stylings of their time as well as the cultural fears.

Larry Cohen mastered pulpy social commentary here, but his direction and the amazing cut on this film really blew me away. An excellent opening scene, with such deliberate camera movements and edits. Larry Cohen films are this perfect mix of excellent craftsmanship with a tongue and cheek silliness as well as always being such perfect time capsules, capturing the aesthetics and stylings of their time as well as the cultural fears.

Cohen has a great script, but I kind of love how much it gets subsumed by its guerrilla New York filmmaking. Very much a lot of the excitement comes from the clashes of styles and eras with an old Hollywood score accompanying the 70s New Hollywood grit. On a rewatch, maybe some of the police procedural parts can feel a bit like necessary exposition, but that feels like a minor complaint for how overwhelming the back half of this is. Still one of the most exciting horror movies I’ve ever seen - I had to get up and walk around after finishing it.

Cohen has a great script, but I kind of love how much it gets subsumed by its guerrilla New York filmmaking. Very much a lot of the excitement comes from the clashes of styles and eras with an old Hollywood score accompanying the 70s New Hollywood grit. On a rewatch, maybe some of the police procedural parts can feel a bit like necessary exposition, but that feels like a minor complaint for how overwhelming the back half of this is. Still one of the most exciting horror movies I’ve ever seen - I had to get up and walk around after finishing it.

Well, Hayden’s Horror Wheel Of Doom™️ keeps on roll—wait was that Andy Kaufman???

Insane movie! Messy and kind of baffling at points but consistently fascinating. Just so bizarre and odd but I dug it the entire time in a different way than I anticipated. I really liked the way it was shot which helps a lot too. It was kind of like the first time I had a Crab Rangoon, I was like “is this good?” And I couldn’t tell but I knew I enjoyed it on some level and then went on to eat a couple more Crab Rangoons and was obviously liking it considering I ate multiple but I as still in my head going “am I a fan of crab rangoons?”. Like on an objective level the facts are the facts in terms of my feelings about Crab Rangoons, but they still make me feel weird and unsure. That is this movie. (This is the kind of piping hot intelligent film criticism you can expect from me by the way). Wait until you hear about my Goodfellas to Pork Fried Rice comparison.

Well, Hayden’s Horror Wheel Of Doom™️ keeps on roll—wait was that Andy Kaufman???

Insane movie! Messy and kind of baffling at points but consistently fascinating. Just so bizarre and odd but I dug it the entire time in a different way than I anticipated. I really liked the way it was shot which helps a lot too. It was kind of like the first time I had a Crab Rangoon, I was like “is this good?” And I couldn’t tell but I knew I enjoyed it on some level and then went on to eat a couple more Crab Rangoons and was obviously liking it considering I ate multiple but I as still in my head going “am I a fan of crab rangoons?”. Like on an objective level the facts are the facts in terms of my feelings about Crab Rangoons, but they still make me feel weird and unsure. That is this movie. (This is the kind of piping hot intelligent film criticism you can expect from me by the way). Wait until you hear about my Goodfellas to Pork Fried Rice comparison.