Messiah of Evil

'Messiah of Evil' is a relatively unknown B-Movie horror curio from the Seventies. A woman goes to a small seaside town to look for her artist father after he mysteriously stops correspondence with her and finds that something is well and truly afoot in the town. From the off the film establishes a disjointed atmosphere which is accentuated when she teams up with a man and two (stunning) women involved in a bizarre three-way relationship and together they try to fathom just what the dickens is going on in this creepy town. From here they learn that the town has become (for reasons unknown) a flesh-eating zombie cult.

On the surface the movie appears to have little in the way of characterisation or plot, but any gaps in these qualities only serve to highlight the lingering oddness that pervades the film which reminded me strongly of the distanced dream-like quality of Herk Harvey's B-movie classic 'Carnival of Souls' (1962) and, to a lesser extent, Argento's 'Suspiria' (1977)…if the hysteric flailing of Argento's classic had been given a sedative, that is. This effect is achieved through the locale of the town itself, the fine cinematography, the use of voice-overs, and the music all working effectively to build suspense as the eeriness unfolds climaxing in some genuinely surreal and haunting scenes.

However, it must be said that while I found the surreal world created for me easy to step into and inhabit I can easily see how fans of conventional horror would be put off by the creeping pace and absence of anything tangibly horrific. Still, it's the kind of movie that lives happily with its "cult" tag and sits comfortably among the late-night schedules which it knows all-too-well how to haunt.

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Public domain movie. Watch it free here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIuUyNwq9T8

This enigmatic, artsy horror film from the early 1970's is a lost low budget B classic waiting to be rediscovered. Also known as "Dead People," "Revenge of the Screaming Dead," and "Second Coming," this is actually a pretty creepy and surrealistic little flick.

Nicely stylized performances, both slowly sliding from self-possessed cool into numb fear in a believable style. There are also effective character turns by Elisha Cook, Jr. Old veteran actor instantly recognizable for his many roles film noir. Elisha Cook, Jr. Has a flair for portraying intense neurotics or spineless double-dealers. His best-known role was that of Wilmer in The Maltese Falcon (1941).

Rock solid performances, strongly developed characters, a genuinely creepy atmosphere. Much better than one would imagine for its low budget. "Messiah of Evil" ultimately has some great visual ideas and a genuine undercurrent of dread . Messiah Of Evil is a macabre little gem and a must for any fan of 1970's horror.

Virtually unknown horror pic from the 70s about a woman looking for her missing artist father and finding some kind of zombie cult wiping out a Californian seaside town. The story's flaws are legion as huge holes fill much of it, yet the story about a man coming from/to the canyon a 100 years ago that had been a member of that infamous party forced to consume...well, it was interesting in nothing else. In the beginning of the film some care and effort had been given to help distinguish who was a member of this flesh-eating cult that work together, play together, and rip flesh together. You won't see any gore at all gore-hounds - so this one may not be for you. In point of fact, there is little actually seen in the film other than people at a table gnawing meat(from what looks like it came right out of a supermarket)and like scenes. What this film DOES have going for it are some very clever scenes amidst an obviously constrained budget. There are no names here except Elisha Cook Jr. in a pretty good cameo as a crazed drunk and Royal Dano as the film's narrator and a central character. Other than that we have the daughter played by beautiful Marianna Hill and a man with two girls as his companions holing up in Hill's house when asked to leave town. The man likes mysteries and the girls want to leave. Both are pretty; Anitra Ford, star of such films like Invasion of the Bee Girls, is sultry and decent and her leggy, young co-star is, well let's say its one of the more interesting stage names, Joy Bang. In fact Joy is in the best scene in the film that takes place in a movie theater. The theater is empty at first and each successive scene has more and more of these "beings" moving into the background of the theater and then on all sides of her while a God awful scene from a trailer for a western starring Sammy Davis Jr. plays on the big screen. This scene was darkly humorous and chilling. There were other scenes too, but before I get too carried away with what I did like - this film has some flaws. The aforementioned script has lots of unexplained or poorly explained things throughout: how does the man come from the sea? what is the significance of the guy that eats rats? why was the art dealer blind?(an unusual touch) Where had...? OK, I have lots more but the point has been made. The film's budget is very low. Nothing is shown on screen that might have exhausted the smallest of budgets except for a lot of paint being thrown around a room and one stunt man wearing an outfit that was set to flames. The town used for location shots suits the creepiness of the plot and adds to the film's atmosphere. The acting is not real bad nor is it real good. The four central characters were all chosen not for their abilities but rather for their physical features. They could have been a lot worse in front of the camera in their defense. The ending is way over-blown too. Flaws notwithstanding, I liked this film overall and was impressed with much in it(just loved that movie theater scene) and heartily recommend it to the viewer of low-budget quality horror films.

The lovely Marianna Hill ("The Godfather: Part II") stars as Arletty, a young woman who's been corresponding with her artist father Joseph (Royal Dano, "Killer Klowns from Outer Space") long distance. When his letters become increasingly bizarre and ominous, she goes in search of him. She arrives in the remote coastal California town of Point Dune, and hooks up with three strangers who've come to town to document local folklore, including that of a "blood moon".

It does not take long for strange and violent things to begin happening, in this little film that is a marvel of weirdness and atmosphere. "Messiah of Evil" strives for both of those elements, and does a fantastic job. At first, it seems as if the filmmakers won't bother to explain too much, but then some back story is provided around the 71 minute mark. After that, things do become a lot clearer.

The husband and wife filmmaking team of Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz may have unfortunately torpedoed their career in the 1980s with the debacle that was "Howard the Duck", but they really have never gotten quite enough credit for this enjoyable, twisted independent horror film. It manages to get pretty violent without going over the top in terms of gore. It is really the offbeat ambiance of this film that makes it work as well as it does. It can boast two standout, memorable horror sequences: one in a supermarket, and one in a movie theatre.

Hills' performance may be a matter of taste, as she's clearly on the verge of hysteria throughout (and that extends to her frequent narration). Her co-stars do decent work: Michael Greer ("Fortune and Men's Eyes") as the low-key Thom, Joy Bang ("Night of the Cobra Woman") as the childish Toni, Anitra Ford ("Invasion of the Bee Girls") as the fed-up Laura, and Charles Dierkop ('Police Woman') as a service station attendant. The beloved Old Hollywood character actor Elisha Cook, Jr. ("The Maltese Falcon", etc.) has a great cameo as a drunken local with stories to tell. Non-actor Bennie Robinson has a memorable, creepy presence as a rat-munching albino. At first, Dano's contribution consists mostly of voice-over, until his equally memorable on-screen appearance late in the game. That's filmmaker Walter Hill as the desperate man in the opening minute and a half of the film.

Excellent visuals (those murals in the fathers' abode are wonderful) and superb widescreen photography are two more assets in an interesting, off-the-beaten-path horror film that die hard fans of the genre are advised to check out.

Eight out of 10.

If you're not in the market for a moody, atmospheric horror film, Messiah of Evil might not be for you. The script is nothing to write home about and a lot of it can be rather confounding, but it more than makes up for it with some of the spookiest set pieces I've ever seen on screen.

Two sequences stand out in particular. 1.) a woman enters a grocery store late at night to find a horde of zombie-like creatures eating all the raw meat in the freezer section and 2.) another woman goes to see a late night movie and finds herself swarmed by the living dead in a sleek homage to a moment from Hitchcock's The Birds.

Messiah of Evil is a well crafted, creepy, and very memorable experience akin to a nightmare from your childhood. You won't be able to remember all the little details, but you'll remember how it made you feel.