Messiah of Evil Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		3.5

Messiah of Evil Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 18, 2023

The late, great secret agent spoof Get Smart rather amazingly provided an outsized number of catch phrases that took hold and became a major part of the cultural zeitgeist of the mid- to late sixties (and well beyond), including such evergreens as "sorry about that" and "would you believe. . .?". A third recurring running gag was "missed it by that much", and in that regard, my dear, departed mother was a fan of typographical errors which she delighted in sending to me, and one especially memorable mistake she clipped and mailed was from a Salt Lake City Tribune television listing advertising an upcoming Utah Public Broadcasting documentary about a legendary pioneer tragedy which the paper had entitled "The Dinner Party". Oops. (Some of you may have seen the considerably more recent meme of an exit sign on a freeway pointing to the location of the Donner Party tragedy, where the littler signs indicating food and drink are underneath.) This is all to say that the wild and wacky film under discussion here actually kinda sorta references the Dinner, um, Donner Party late in its "Moishe the Explainer" sequence, and there is in fact one fairly unforgettable, um, buffet scene in the film, but any attempt to make "sense" out of much of the proceedings in Messiah of Evil is probably doomed to failure, since, as some of the supplements on this disc get into, the film is long on mood and "feeling", but rather short on narrative logic.

There's a moment in the almost criminally underrated retelling of the Faust legend, John Frankenheimer's 1966 classic Seconds, where a bunch of "artists" gather for a Bacchanal on a California beach, a scene some wag somewhere once compared to some of the goings on at such coastal "self help" seminars as those (reportedly) taking place at the Esalen Institute. While not exactly the same, there's at least a similar isolated beachside community feel to Messiah of Evil, with a little village called Point Dume* assuming center stage where residents do in fact congregate oceanside. A young woman named Arletty (Marianna Hill) travels there to try to make contact with her father, who is in fact an artist. (Arletty is just one of several "meta" influenced character names, for those who want to do a little internet sleuthing.) Arletty has to break in to her father's home, where she discovers the place in disarray and where there is no sign of her Dad. Her search for him and what's going on provides the bulk of the plot mechanics in the film, but, again as the supplements mention, Messiah of Evil generates a lot, maybe even most, of its angst from its visual presentation and and underlying feeling of unease rather than from any real story momentum.

Suffice it to say while there is definitely a kind of post hippie California coastal vibe to the film, and therefore the locale might not be appropriately termed "rural", there are still some "folk horror" aspects to this offering that would have made it perfectly at home in Severin's immense All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror collection from a couple of years ago. Arletty, much like any number of protagonists in films included in that Severin set, is an interloper in a cloistered community, and one with a not very well hidden secret. That said, there are any number of unanswered questions in the story that may keep it from resonating as strongly as others in this same general idiom.

While the film itself has been both lambasted and championed by various people (what else is new?), what has typically provided a certain amount of "meta" interest in the production is the fact that this was an early effort from Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, who went on to a certain amount of infamy courtesy of Howard the Duck, but who were also responsible for the screenplays for American Graffiti and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The cast also has at least two rather interesting cameos by Elisha Cook Jr. and Royal Dano, and none other than Walter Hill contradicts the central thesis of The Blackening by being a Caucasian first victim.

Some online sites and even some of the supplements on this disc ping pong between "Point Dune" and "Point Dume", but the subtitles on this disc have it as the second formulation, hence my spelling here.

Messiah of Evil Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Messiah of Evil is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Radiance Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Radiance's insert booklet contains the following information on the transfer:

The only surviving element of Messiah of Evil is a 35mm print in the collection of the Academy Film Archive. The Archive created the 4K scan at Roundabout Entertainment. The film was restored using Digital Vision's Phoenix Finish and color correction was carried out using DaVinci Resolve. Audio restoration was performed with Ozotope RX8.

The Blu-ray era has probably spoiled fans with its emphasis on transfers culled from either negatives or "close relatives" like interpositives, so a certain baseline of expectation probably needs to be appropriately adjusted for this presentation, which, considering the source, is really rather nice looking, at least contextually. There are some color timing issues that I found a little distracting at times, including what I'd call a slight emphasis on magenta on occasion, and more of an orangish tone at other moments. There are also noticeable variations in clarity and grain structure, sometimes from edit to edit within the same general scene. All of this said, the bulk of this transfer is rather appealing, with some especially impressive blacks (a lot of the film takes place at night), and some very evocative blue grading which can be seen in some of the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review. Detail levels can ebb and flow along with clarity and thickness of grain, but several close-ups in particular offer some squirm inducing fine detail in some of the more gruesome moments.

Messiah of Evil Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Messiah of Evil features an LPCM 2.0 Mono track which capably delivers dialogue (including Arletty's voiceover) and some nice ambient environmental effects, courtesy of both scenes set at the ocean, but also some interstitials snippets featuring crashing waves (moments that kind of subliminally recall some of the Corman Poe efforts). Phillan Bishop's score also sounds fine. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Messiah of Evil Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Kim Newman & Stephen Thrower


• Willard Huyck (37:34) is featured in this audio interview moderated by Mike White. This plays to a black screen.


• What the Blood Moon Brings: Messiah of Evil, An American Nightmare (HD; 56:55) is a really interesting documentary featuring Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Maitland McDonagh, Guy Adams, Mikel Koven and David Huckvale.


• Kat Ellinger (HD; 21:31) features the subtitle On American Gothic and Female Hysteria, and offers Ellinger providing another insightful look into subtext and representations. This was another moment of "review synchronicity" for me personally, since I just mentioned "hysteria" in my Fear of Fear Blu-ray review from Arrow UK's The Rainer Werner Fassbinder Collection: Volume 3 release.

Additionally, this Limited Edition comes housed in a handsomely designed slipcase which also encloses a really nicely done perfect bound booklet featuring a wealth of interesting writing about the film, along with stills and technical information. Packaging also features Radiance's quasi-obi strip.

Messiah of Evil Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While there are any number of questions left lingering in the film (like, what's up with the bleeding eye stuff?), kind of hilariously the most salient question that occurred to me was how the production staff got permission to film at recognizable brand names like Mobil gas stations and (this is the funniest part for those of us on the west coast) a Ralph's supermarket? Of course I joke, but as mentioned above even for those who find Messiah of Evil more baffling than terrifying should still be interested by some of its "meta" aspects. With an understanding of the element utilized for this transfer, technical merits are generally solid, and the supplements are extremely well done. Recommended.