(imdb)
GOD TOLD ME TO-1976-This
opens with a sniper on a water tower killing people in NYC. Police
officer Peter Nichols (Tony Lo Bianco) tries to take him down but the
sniper jumps to his death after saying “God told me to”. Later
Nichols visits a guy in the hospital who randomly stabbed a bunch of
people. When asked why, he replies “God told me to”. At the St.
Patrick's Day parade, a cop (Andy Kaufman) goes crazy and shoots
several people. Before getting fatally shot he yells “God told me
to”. The religious cop has a hard time coping while investigating
and is eventually suspended. People riot when it seems 'God's own
hand” is driving the murders. A drug dealer kills a cop and this
too is blame on God. Meanwhile a cartel of businessmen worships a
“living” God. Actually, a glowing, sexless offspring of an alien
(Richard Lynch) and an Earth woman (Sylvia Miles in the present).
Later the alien seems to take over Nichols and he makes a pimp kill
some other thugs then himself. The alien/God wants a kid of his own
but Nichols causes its destruction in the freaked-out finale, ending
with Nichols arrested for murder and committed to a mental hospital.
Some of the plot also involves Nichols' ex-wife (Sandy Dennis) and
his new girlfriend (Deborah Raffin).
This quirky, even strange, story
was the concoction of writer/director Larry Cohen (two years after
IT'S ALIVE) and as usual features weird dialogue and characters but
some of the scenes seem out of place, not part of the story.
Thanks for reading!
(themoviedb.org)
