evil bill
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Joined: 19/7/2006
From: mordor/ uk
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quote:
ORIGINAL: rawlinson
239. Messiah of Evil
1973
Director: Willard Hyuck, Gloria Katz
Film
Arletty (Marianna Hill) returns to her hometown to find out what happened to her artist father. Her father has disappeared from his California beach house but all his belongings remain. While investigating his disappearance, she meets some hippies, led by the enigmatic Thom, and they come to stay at her father's house. They all find themselves involved with a bizarre religious cult revolving around a cannibal Satanist minister who raises the dead in his quest to claim the town.
Messiah Of Evil comes from an odd source, the same year that they scripted George Lucas's finest film, no-one expected them to turn out this atmospheric and eerie tale. The critics at the time weren't kind, I have to feel that this was partly down to the film not having the same warm-hearted vibe as American Graffiti. That's not to say the film isn't flawed, it was obviously made on a low budget, the narrative is a little jumbled, and there are technical errors that do restrain the film at time. But I always found the odd clumsy touches just adds to its charm. If charm is the right term to apply to such an unpleasant film.
The film obviously owes a debt to other classic horrors. Carnival Of Souls and Night Of The Living Dead are obvious influences, it would also work well as a companion piece to Let's Scare Jessica To Death. Both films feature leads who are artistic but damaged. Messiah would also make a fine double-bill with the later Italian horror, The House With The Laughing Windows. One of the biggest influences on the film is more literary, Messiah is one of the few Lovecraft influenced films to actually capture the feel of classic Lovecraft. The small, seemingly idyllic seaside town, decaying from the inside and the people turning to older, darker Gods is a recurring theme in Lovecraft, especially in his 'Shadow Over Innsmouth'.
The film can be slightly infuriating in how much it leaves ambiguous. Arletty is a good example of an unreliable narrator, how much of her voiceover narration actually happened? The characters are all torn apart by the madness infecting the town, is her narration merely lunacy? If not, how much can be trusted? There are also strong hints that Greer's Thom is actually the cannibalistic messiah.
The film looks beautiful, a tribute both to cinematographer Stephen Katz (whose c.v. doesn't seem to include anything else as impressive) and to talented art director Jack Fisk, who would work with Malick on Badlands the same year before becoming a regular name on both Malick and David Lynch movies. There are several impressive set pieces in the film, a zombie attack in a supermarket being a possible influence on Dawn Of The Dead. The highlight of the film though is a zombie attack in a cinema. A scene that makes impressive use of both silence and pacing as the cinema slowly fills up with the undead, with the victim only becoming gradually aware that she's no longer alone.
A strangely haunting movie, one that deserves rediscovery.
Loving this a complete guide to HORROR ,how you get the time to list somany films,books etc i don't know,and also the film polls .Hope to see a few of the books i love on here,as i know i'll see plenty of ye old classic and cult horror like this little gem.  And a must see for any Lovecraft fan as it is as you said heavly influenced by his writtings,and i'd forgot about the Supermarket scene,which was before Dawn Of the Dead,so maybe Romero got his idea from this and Argento Demons from the cinema scene.But for me this has to be one of the big influences on A Nightmare On Elm Street,with it's use of dream/nightmare scenes that meld with the realworld???
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"You listen to me now,i will find you and i will kill you!"
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