{"id":70536,"date":"2021-03-14T15:10:04","date_gmt":"2021-03-14T22:10:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=70536"},"modified":"2021-03-14T15:31:45","modified_gmt":"2021-03-14T22:31:45","slug":"god-told-me-to-demon-1976","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=70536","title":{"rendered":"God Told Me To \/ Demon (1976)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;He wouldn&#8217;t ask me to do anything that wasn&#8217;t right.&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Gold-Told-Me-To-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Gold-Told-Me-To-Poster-211x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"211\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-70539\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Gold-Told-Me-To-Poster-211x300.png 211w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Gold-Told-Me-To-Poster-721x1024.png 721w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Gold-Told-Me-To-Poster-90x128.png 90w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Gold-Told-Me-To-Poster-768x1091.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Gold-Told-Me-To-Poster-190x270.png 190w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Gold-Told-Me-To-Poster.png 782w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 211px) 100vw, 211px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhile investigating a rash of murders in New York City committed by people who insist &#8220;God told them to do it&#8221;, a deeply Catholic police detective (Tony Lo Bianco) who is estranged from his wife (Sandy Dennis) and living with his girlfriend (Deborah Raffin) meets an ethereal hippie (Richard Lynch) and an older woman (Sylvia Sidney) still traumatized by a mysterious pregnancy that occurred years ago.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Aliens<\/li>\n<li>Detectives and Private Eyes<\/li>\n<li>Larry Cohen Films<\/li>\n<li>Mind Control and Hypnosis<\/li>\n<li>New York City<\/li>\n<li>Police<\/li>\n<li>Sandy Dennis Films<\/li>\n<li>Sylvia Sidney Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary argues that &#8220;no one has ever questioned Jewish [writer-director-producer] Larry Cohen&#8221; about &#8220;making a film which is essentially about <em>Christian<\/em> faith and morality&#8221; &#8212; most likely because &#8220;no one can figure out what ideas he&#8217;s trying to get across.&#8221; He notes that while this &#8220;low-budget horror film does have an interesting premise&#8221;, it&#8217;s essentially &#8220;a mess&#8221;; and while Peary thinks the &#8220;interesting premise&#8221; centers on &#8220;the theory that our gods were ancient astronauts&#8221;, I&#8217;m much more intrigued by the idea of scads of devoted, mind-controlled cult members calmly committing murder in the name of their God. Regardless, &#8220;whole scenes seem to be missing&#8230; , the editing that connects the scenes is sloppy, subplots (like the hysteria in New York over the religious murders) go nowhere or are irrelevant, and co-stars [Raffin and Dennis] seem to have been hired for a morning&#8217;s work, so minor are their parts.&#8221; (Sydney is also wasted in her role, though it&#8217;s nice to see her.) <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/God-Told-Me-To-Sydney.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/God-Told-Me-To-Sydney-1024x547.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"342\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-70544\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/God-Told-Me-To-Sydney-1024x547.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/God-Told-Me-To-Sydney-300x160.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/God-Told-Me-To-Sydney-128x68.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/God-Told-Me-To-Sydney-768x410.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/God-Told-Me-To-Sydney-506x270.png 506w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/God-Told-Me-To-Sydney.png 1240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Peary notes that while the &#8220;picture has a strong underground reputation&#8221;, he &#8220;can&#8217;t figure out why&#8221; &#8212; and I must say I agree. I wanted this mish-mosh of a film to be much more (and much less) than it is. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tony Lo Bianco as Peter<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/God-Told-Me-To-Lo-Bianco2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/God-Told-Me-To-Lo-Bianco2-1024x568.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"355\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-70538\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/God-Told-Me-To-Lo-Bianco2-1024x568.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/God-Told-Me-To-Lo-Bianco2-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/God-Told-Me-To-Lo-Bianco2-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/God-Told-Me-To-Lo-Bianco2-768x426.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/God-Told-Me-To-Lo-Bianco2-486x270.png 486w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/God-Told-Me-To-Lo-Bianco2-1038x576.png 1038w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/God-Told-Me-To-Lo-Bianco2.png 1245w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Good use of NYC locales<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/God-Told-Me-To-NYC2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/God-Told-Me-To-NYC2-1024x546.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"341\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-70537\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/God-Told-Me-To-NYC2-1024x546.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/God-Told-Me-To-NYC2-300x160.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/God-Told-Me-To-NYC2-128x68.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/God-Told-Me-To-NYC2-768x410.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/God-Told-Me-To-NYC2-506x270.png 506w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/God-Told-Me-To-NYC2.png 1243w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo; you can skip this one unless you&#8217;re curious. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0075930\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s4714told.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=567\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.qnetwork.com\/review\/3249\">Q Network Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.moriareviews.com\/sciencefiction\/god-told-me-to-1976-demon.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;He wouldn&#8217;t ask me to do anything that wasn&#8217;t right.&#8221; Synopsis: While investigating a rash of murders in New York City committed by people who insist &#8220;God told them to do it&#8221;, a deeply Catholic police detective (Tony Lo Bianco) who is estranged from his wife (Sandy Dennis) and living with his girlfriend (Deborah Raffin) meets an ethereal hippie (Richard Lynch) and an older woman (Sylvia Sidney) still traumatized by a mysterious pregnancy that occurred years ago. Genres, Themes, Actors,&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=70536\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=70536"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70536\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70554,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70536\/revisions\/70554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=70536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=70536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=70536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}