A Private War
The Favourite
Crazy Rich Asians
Homecoming
Log in with Facebook
OR
By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies, and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango.
Please enter your email address and we will email you a new password.
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Tomatometer Not Available...
——
Critic Consensus: No consensus yet.
All Critics (9) | Top Critics (1) | Fresh (7) | Rotten (2) | DVD (1)
There were times when I thought the projectionist was showing the reels in random order, as a quiet joke on the hapless audience.
Here the machinery of divine intervention is taken for a freaky secular spin via the familiar cinematic modes of urban realism and even science fiction, and a detective mystery becomes a mystery rite.
Possibly the Cohen joint that brims with the most all-pervasive invention and danger
Intriguing but exasperatingly uneven.
An upsetting film not meant for the timid.
Though not among Larry Cohen's most wholly satisfying productions, God Told Me To should prove a worthwhile curiosity to fans of 70's era horror movies told with a decidedly 'cop flick' feel.
Not Cohen's best, but perversely fascinating
only those who are intensely religious will be offended; the rest of us can just smile at the film's simple and entertaining absurdity
A very strange and always intriguing combination of detective crime drama and supernatural horror that must have inspired David Cronenberg with his films and would later be the stuff of films like Angel Heart, with an ending so bizarre that it should be remembered for its audacity.
Super Reviewer
Larry Cohen might not be the most sophisticated filmmaker but he is one of the most unbridled in terms of the inherent lunacy of New York. In the harrowingly scary 'God Told Me To', a sniper shoots bystanders from a water tower and Tony Lo Bianco is nonplused to unearth that the culprit committed the heinous in the name of God. Richard Lynch is photographed in a fluorescent halo that gives him both a messianic aura and an otherworldly glow. He is a genuinely galvanizing figure in a furnace room scene where Lo Bianco is unscathed during an uncontrollable fire. Somehow the vise grip wreathes the viewers with an enigmatic angle with Lo Bianco's inquiry over immaculate conception and the second coming of a Christ-like figure. The crisis-of-faith storyline overrides the brainwashing horror but 'God Told Me To' is a crazily ambitious gem in Cohen's forte.
I can't honestly say I enjoyed this, not entirely anyways. It had a few good moments in it, but not enough to warrant repeated viewings. It started out ok, with everybody getting shot at random...it was actually quite comical. :) I'm still confused on the whole God/Alien/Supreme Being device in the plot, but oh well. It was an interesting attempt anyway.
Freaky, almost an exploitation film about people committing random acts of violence because "God told me to kill." is what they would always say when caught. A detective investigates the strange rash of killings, and then things go off into an unbelievable direction where the detective finds this "god" is more than he ever imagined it would be. A freaky hellish ending. It worked. I felt creeped out. OMG!
There are no approved quotes yet for this movie.
200 Essential Movies
Chosen by RT staff!
200 Freshest Movies
The best-reviewed since 1998
30 Great Scenes
30 great scenes in Rotten movies
Best of Netflix
Movies and shows to binge now
More News & Features
View All