Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

God Told Me To Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 27, 2015

Larry Cohen's "God Me Told Me To" (1976) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of independent distributors Blue Underground. The supplemental features on the disc include exclusive new video interview with Tony Lo Bianco and special effects artist Steve Neill; two Q&A sessions with director Larry Cohen; promotional materials; and audio commentary. In English, with optional English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

"You brought me to you and now you are afraid to let me see you?"

When a sniper on a rooftop water tank in New York City kills fourteen pedestrians, veteran NYPD detective Paul Nicholas (Tony Lo Bianco, The French Connection) is called to help disarm him. Nicholas quickly climbs to the top of the tower, but when he faces the sniper, he calmly confesses to him that God told him to do it and jumps off to his death.

Soon after, a middle-aged man kills his entire family and a police officer (Andy Kaufman, TV's Taxi: The Complete Series) opens fire during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The two men also willingly confess that God told them to do it.

Nicholas begins investigating the cases and quickly discovers that at some point before the murders each of the three killers met a mysterious figure with a long blond hair (Richard Lynch, Invasion U.S.A.). While trying to track him down, Nicholas then learns about a woman -- supposedly his mother -- who had an equally strange experience years ago while she was still a virgin.

Larry Cohen’s film God Told Me To unquestionably deserves its cult status. It is one of those very odd projects that makes perfect sense if seen during the wee hours of the night but looks utterly confusing when one attempts to attach some logic to it when the mind is fresh and rested. Indeed, the film seems to be heading in all sorts of different directions at the same time and does not appear to be concerned with the fact that eventually it would become impossible to come up with a reasonable finale that could somehow properly arrange all of its scattered themes and pieces.

But the peculiar chaos and ambiguity are precisely what give God Told Me To its identity and make it worth seeing. They force one in a guessing mode and effectively mask its budget limitations, making the inconsistencies look intriguing and the wacky subplots a lot more exciting than they would have been in a bigger and better scripted film with similar ambitions.

The atmosphere and attitude of God Told Me To remind of Abel Ferrara’s work -- The Addiction, New Rose Hotel, and Mary embrace chaos and ambiguity with exactly the same enthusiasm -- but Cohen isn’t as good of a stylist as Ferrara is. This is particularly obvious when one compares how the two directors see and use New York City to infuse their work with a special atmosphere. What the two directors do equally well is give one the freedom to absorb and interpret the chaos and ambiguity without insulting one’s intelligence. As repeated viewings of God Told Me To, as well as Ferrara’s films, reveal, this makes a crucial difference.

Lo Bianco is very good as the religious detective who makes a shocking discovery while searching for the man with the long blond hair. The great Sylvia Sydney plays an elderly woman with a secret. Sandy Dennis is the detective’s bitter wife, while Deborah Raffin is his younger lover.

Cohen teamed up with cinematographer Paul Glickman and shot the overwhelming majority of the film in New York City. Despite the fact that the budget was small, the end result is quite wonderful.

The soundtrack was created by Franck Cordell (Mosquito Squadron, Cromwell) and recorded by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Initially, Cohen had arranged for Bernard Herrmann to score God Told Me To, but he passed away shortly after completing the soundtrack for Martin Scorsese’s classic film Taxi Driver.

God Told Me To Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Larry Cohen's God Told Me To arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Blue Underground.

Recently restored in 4K, the film looks enormously impressive in high-definition. The outdoor footage where natural light is in abundance looks especially good -- even very small objects and details are incredibly easy to see. What really impresses, however, is the outstanding image depth. Indeed, when blown through a projector, the film boasts a very healthy organic appearance that makes it exceptionally easy to appreciate the vision of its creator. Color reproduction is excellent. Excluding the areas of the film where some color tonalities have been manipulated, all colors appear wonderfully saturated yet very natural (examples of elevated tonalities can be seen in scvreencaptures #1 and 14). There are absolutely no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening adjustments. Also, overall image stability is excellent. My one and only criticism pertains to the shaky encoding of a rather short sequence around the 25.00.02 mark where light macroblocking sneaks in. This is a very dark sequence but the macroblocking appears in the bottom right end of the frame and it is quite easy to see (screencaptures #19 and 20 are from the problematic sequence). All in all, despite the minor encoding issue, this is indeed a very pleasing presentation of God Told Me To which will most likely remain the film's definitive presentation on the home video market. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to access its content regardless of your geographical location).

God Told Me To Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are three standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (Mono), and English Dolby Digital 5.1 EX. For the record, Blue Underground have provided optional yellow English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles for the main feature.

I viewed the film with the original Mono track and was enormously pleased with it. Depth and clarity are outstanding, while the range of nuanced dynamics is one of the best that I have heard on a Mono track in quit5e some time. The dialog is very crisp, always stable, and very easy to follow. There are no pops, cracks, audio dropouts, or digital distortions to report in this review.

God Told Me To Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Featurettes -
  
  1. Heaven & Hell On Earth: Interview with Star Tony Lo Bianco - in this new video interview, Tony Lo Bianco discusses his contribution to God Me Told Me To, Larry Cohen's directing methods, and the somewhat controversial sequence towards the end of the film (the close-up of the vagina on the man's rib cage). The actor also recalls a rather unusual experience the film crew had while shooting in Little Italy. The interview was produced by Blue Underground in association with Red Shirt Pictures. In English, not subtitled. (12 min).
  
  2. Bloody Good Times: Interview with Special Effects Artist Steve Neill - in this new video interview, special effects artist Steve Neill explains how he entered the movie business and how he was approached by Larry Cohen and invited to contribute to God Told Me To. The interview was produced by Blue Underground in association with Red Shirt Pictures. In English, not subtitled. (10 min).
  
  3. God Told Me To Bone: New Beverly Q&A with Larry Cohen - in this filmed Q&A session, director Larry Cohen recalls how God Told Me To came to exist, and discusses the casting process, shooting process, the scoring of the film, etc. In English, not subtitled. (22 min).
  
  4. Lincoln Center Q&A with Larry Cohen - presented here is archival footage from a Q&A session with director Larry Cohen which was held after a screening of God Told Me To at New York's Lincoln Center on Saturday, October 19, 2002. In English, not subtitled. (9 min).

• God Told Me To Advertising - in English, not subtitled.
  
  1. Theatrical Trailer (2 min).
  2. TV Spot 1 (1 min).
  3. TV Spot 2 (1 min).
  4. TV Spot 3 (1 min).
  5. TV Spot 4 (1 min).
  6. TV Spot 5 (1 min).

• Demon Advertising - in English, not subtitled.
  
  1. Theatrical Trailer (2 min).
  2. TV Spot 1 (1 min).
  3. TV Spot 2 (1 min).

• Poster and Still Gallery - an excellent collection of archival posters, production stills, photographs, lobby cards, VHS covers, DVD covers, and LD covers.The gallery was compiled by Gregory Chick.

• Audio Commentary - this audio commentary with writer/producer/director Larry Cohen initially appeared on Blue Underground's DVD release of God Told Me To.

God Told Me To Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The new 4K restoration of Larry Cohen's God Told Me To is outstanding and the film now looks mighty impressive on Blu-ray. Also included on this Blu-ray release are exclusive new interviews with Tony Lo Bianco and special effects artist Steve Neill, as well as an excellent gallery of archival promotional materials. (Kudos to Gregory Chick for his fantastic contributions to Blue Underground's releases). HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.