Rating: 
Summary: Why? 'Cause God Told Me To!
Review: New York police detective Lt. Peter Nicholas (Tony Lo Bianco)--a devout Catholic who is struggling with his faith in the midst of marital problems--is investigating a string of fatal shootings and is disturbed by the fact the killers, when questioned about their motivation, have each offered the exact same response: "God told me to." Is God really ordaining these angels of death? Ignoring the downward spiral his personal and professional life seems to be taking, Nicholas' deep faith compels him to seek the answer to that question. But when his investigations put him face-to-face with the bizarre androgynous extraterrestrial who instigated the killings, the detective finds more answers than he was seeking.
As with nearly all of his films, this 1976 outre opus from writer/director Larry Cohen is no ordinary low-budget genre film. Though the premise of GOD TOLD ME TO is undoubtedly outlandish, the characters that Cohen creates in the film are vivid and memorable, their dialog very realistic, and the situations in which Cohen places them are so authentically and convincingly drawn that an audience is quickly convinced to suspend their disbelief. In addition, Cohen is a master at creating subtle subtext, and GOD TOLD ME TO is riddled with it. As the primary narrative progresses, things go on ?below the surface" that force viewers to evaluate, even if only subconsciously, their concepts of things such as marriage, sex, gender, religion & faith, family & genetics, security, and authority. Most Cohen fans regard GOLD TOLD ME TO as the auteur's most cohesive, articulate, and thought-provoking work.
A number of genre fans and critics alike have cited GOD TOLD ME TO as the precursor to the television series THE X-FILES. Certainly all of the TV show's main elements are there--alien abductions, spiritual overtones, a troubled and obsessive detective with authority issues, a powerful cabal, and bizarre plot twists. So it's hard to deny that the film had at least some influence on the series? creators. But unlike a TV show, the creators of which must ultimately defer to studios and sponsors, GOD TOLD ME TO is an independent, non-studio produced film, and Cohen has therefore been able to pull all the stops necessary to get his points across. Of course, such an iconoclastic film has often been misinterpreted or misunderstood (or maybe understood too clearly by religious zealots?), and GOD TOLD ME TO has at times been banned, boycotted, or cut to ribbons by some distributor or other to make it "palatable" to a particular audience. So some X-FILES fans may be offended by this film and consequently may not want to claim it as the progenitor of their beloved series, while others may embrace it as an example of what the TV show might have been had the creators been able to do their work without any major creative or aesthetic fetters.
The DVD release of GOD TOLD ME TO from Blue Underground is a must-own for any fan of Cohen, any fan of B-movie sci-fi, or any lover of bizarre independent cinema. It offers a top-notch digital transfer of the film in anamorphic widescreen at the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Bonus material includes an informative and entertaining feature commentary by Cohen and his protoge Bill Lustig, the theatrical trailer, and several TV spots. A cool DVD that is well worth the price of admission.
Rating: 
Summary: this movie starts pretty poorly.
Review: some of the initial scenes are even humorous because of the low budget. for instance, after andy k. shoots everyone, and is finally subdued/killed, you can see the parade marching nonchalantly past in the background as if nothing had happened at all. but by the end of the movie, i was riveted. it moves very quickly and quirkily along and it questions not only the religious norms of the modern world, but i think movie formats and how movies are made, as well.best moments: - when the consortium gathers to welcome the messiah, they deduce that by commanding people to kill, he has gripped the entire city's attention whereas if he'd returned preaching peace, no one would notice. - seeing the jesus-alien in the cellar for the first time. excellent and really eerie, well filmed. he sort of scurries around and you don't get a clear look at his face. and when the camera (i.e. peter's eyes) do rest on his blinding presence for a moment, you can see his image start to change and sort of become a little hideous. very cool.
Rating:
Summary: Good God
Review: This little known feature is a must. By Larry Cohen (Black Ceasar/Q The Winged Serpant/Dial Rat For Terror) the New York based director.The film was initiially retitled called "Demon" after it was refused showings due to the title. A dedicated Christian (oh dear) COP (oh dear,oh dear) starts his investigations in a seemingly senseless spake of sniper killings. Thats about all I can tell you without spoiling it,but this film goes down paths that you never thought it would and suprises all the way to the end. There is also a small apearence by Andy Kaufman (Latka from "TAXI") as a cop who goes kill crazy at a parade. Watch and see why "God Told Me Too"
Rating:
Summary: Good God
Review: This little known feature is a must. By Larry Cohen (Black Ceasar/Q The Winged Serpant/Dial Rat For Terror) the New York based director.The film was initiially retitled called "Demon" after it was refused showings due to the title. A dedicated Christian (oh dear) COP (oh dear,oh dear) starts his investigations in a seemingly senseless spake of sniper killings. Thats about all I can tell you without spoiling it,but this film goes down paths that you never thought it would and suprises all the way to the end. There is also a small apearence by Andy Kaufman (Latka from "TAXI") as a cop who goes kill crazy at a parade. Watch and see why "God Told Me Too"
Rating:
Summary: Good God
Review: This little known feature is a must. By Larry Cohen (Black Ceasar/Q The Winged Serpant/Dial Rat For Terror) the New York based director.The film was initiially retitled called "Demon" after it was refused showings due to the title. A dedicated Christian (oh dear) COP (oh dear,oh dear) starts his investigations in a seemingly senseless spake of sniper killings. Thats about all I can tell you without spoiling it,but this film goes down paths that you never thought it would and suprises all the way to the end. There is also a small apearence by Andy Kaufman (Latka from "TAXI") as a cop who goes kill crazy at a parade. Watch and see why "God Told Me Too"
Rating:
Summary: MUST SEE FOR LARRY COHEN FANS
Review: TONY LO BIANCO PLAYS A NEW YORK COP INVESTIGATING A SERIES OF MURDERS INVOLVING ORDINARY PEOPLE AS THE MURDERERS. THE ONLY CONNECTION BETWEEN ANY OF THE MURDERS IS WHEN CAUGHT THEY HAVE THE SAME MOTIVE "GOD TOLD ME TO", WHICH BY THE END OF THE FILM TURNS OUT TO BE TRUE. EARLY VERY COOL APPERANCE BY ANDY KAUFMAN AS A UNIFORMED POLICE OFFICER WHO HEARS THE WORD AND STARTS SHOOTING.
Rating: 
Summary: Not worth the time or the money.
Review: What is this very-hyped movie about? New York City sees a rash of killings. Before dying, each murderer says, "God told me to." Upon investigation, detective Tony Lo Bianco (who should have known better than to get involved in this mess of a film) discovers that all were influenced by a young man who looks vaguely like Jesus Christ. In reality, both he and Lo Bianco were fathered by aliens who abducted their virgin mothers 30 years before. In Lo Bianco's case, the genes of the alien were recessive and his mother's humanity dominated. In the other man's case, the alien genes were dominant. (...) If you're saying "Huh?", you're on to the mystery of this film. Is it scary? Not at all. Is it funny? Not really. Is it poorly acted? Not really. Is the script ludicrous? You bet. Does it explain everything? Yes. Is it worth 92 minutes and 15-20 bucks to learn the mystery of the androgynous Messiah(...)? No. Cohen's Q-The Winged Serpent and It's Alive are far better than this disaster of a film...and that's saying a lot.
Rating:
Summary: God Told Me To Write This...
Review: Yes, this is one weird movie. Mass murder has broken out in New York City like a particularly bad flu epidemic. The film opens with a guy perched on a water tower, gunning down pedestrians for no apparent reason. Tony Lo Bianco is a cop named Nicholas who climbs the tower to talk to the man. When asked why he did it, the gunman says, "God told me to." He then takes a swan-dive onto the street below. Nicholas is a very religious man and is fascinated with the idea of God telling anyone to commit mass murder. The murders keep happening. A man goes to the market and stabs a bunch of customers. Andy Kaufman is a cop who goes berserk at the St. Patrick's Day parade and shoots cops and bystanders alike. Another guy kills his entire family and calmly waits for the police. Of course there's one common denominator in all of these incidents. God told them to do it. Nicholas digs deeper into the mystery to the point of losing his job. He seeks out a young man with long blonde hair who was seen with all the killers just before their crimes. He finds the blonde man's mother, who promptly tries to kill him. Later, Nicholas is told by an older, retired officer about a strange occurance back in 1951. A woman he picked up (running naked down the road) told him she'd been abducted by aliens and raped. Nicholas finds her, still living, in a nursing home. What dark secrets does she hold? What connection is there between Nicholas and the blonde haired man? GOD TOLD ME TO is a VERY different movie! Is God really orchestrating these killings? Or is some alien hybrid only impersonating the deity? Check this one out...
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