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Messiah of Evil is an odd, obscure, overlooked, and highly rewarding horror film
that is currently streaming on both Tubi and YouTube for free. Like some
previous low-budget films, such as Sam Fuller's Shock Corridor (1963) and Edgar
Ulmer's Detour (1945), this film had a minimal commercial impact. But eventually
it evolved to be seen as a cult classic with a small but enthusiastic group of
admirers who watch the film over and over. The movie might have worked even
better if the ending had not been botched.
Even with its flaws, it turned out to be a fascinating minor cinematic triumph.
The dreamlike images in this arty, surreal film frequently evoke the classic
Carnival of Souls (1962). The movie was filmed in Techniscope, which is a
similar but cheaper process to Technicolor. We see many deep red, black, and
blue images, especially in one of the characters painting studio and in the blood
moon flashbacks. It all works very well, though similar techniques were used
even more effectively in Suspiria (1977). The red, blue, and black color
palette, were clearly influenced by
Italian Cinema's giallo aesthetic.
The film also has much in common with other movies made around the same time,
such as Count Yorga, Vampire (1971) and Let's Scare Jessica to Death
(1973). These films also comment on or criticize the dark elements that had taken
over the counter culture, all of which owes more to Aleister Crowley or Charles
Manson than John Lennon or Timothy Leary. In fact, a Dangerous Minds magazine review
of the time compared Messiah of Evil to Let's Scare Jessica to Death, which is unsurprising,
since both films are told from the point of view of a central female character
whose narration is questionable due to possible insanity.
The husband-and-wife team of Willard Miller Huyck Jr. and Gloria Katz
co-directed the film. Willard is usually credited with writing and directing,
while Gloria usually just writes; but the lines between them were frequently
blurred. They are known for their long-time association with George Lucas, they
co-wrote an early draft of American Graffiti (1973) and they helped write both
Star Wars (1977) and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984). But their
association with Lucas also led to co-producing the giant bomb: Howard the Duck
(1986). They took most of the blame for its financial failure and never got
another big film project again. I have a particular affection for the film and
might review it someday. They proved in Messiah of Evil that they could create
an eerie mood of vague dread and a foreboding atmosphere.
Messiah of Evil utilizes mostly little-known actors who never quite made it, the
star of the film is Marianna Hill who plays Arletty. She was in El Condor (1970)
and High Plains Drifter (1973), and she also memorably played Fredo's sleazy
wife who embarrasses the family in The Godfather: Part II (1974). The film also
features Michael (The Gay Deceivers) Greer as Thom, as well as B-film/cult
horror queen Anita Ford, who starred in the trashy but effective Invasion of the
Bee Girls (1973) and the failed 1974 Cathy Lee Crosby Wonder Woman pilot (the
bad one that pre-dated Linda Carter's series). Still, by far the weirdest and
most shocking performance in the movie is by Bernie Robertson. In his only film
role, he is an albino black character who shocks a passenger by casually
devouring a rat while driving, as if he's eating fast food. Despite his brief
appearance, he is unforgettable and one of the weirdest characters I have ever
seen.
Somebody working on the film clearly loved Star Trek or were hooked up to
Paramount in the early 70s'. The film features: Marianna Hill, Michael Greer,
Anitra Ford, Royal Dano, and Elisha Cook Jr, all of whom guest-starred or had
cameos in various Star Trek episodes. Cook, the most famous person in the film,
worked in Hollywood for many years as a character actor. He had an astonishing
array of classic film credits over several decades, including: The Maltese
Falcon (1941), The Big Sleep (1946), Shane (1953), The House on Haunted Hill
(1959), Rosemary's Baby (1968), and The Night Stalker (1973).
The film is set in California, which is significant because it is where the
hippy culture and drug experimentation started in the 60s. It was all coming to
an end at the time the film was made which gives the production the feeling a
hangover after the nonstop party of the sixties. This feeling extends to the
film's monsters, all of whom seem hung over or like brain-damaged
addicts-although we find out drugs are not what they are addicted to. The film
begins with a spoken warning: the townspeople will be taken one by one, and no
one will hear them scream.
The opening shot presents us with a very shocking scene. A man, who is being
chased, stops after he sees he has lost his pursuer, and he sees a
gentle-looking teenage girl. She looks very pleasant, and we think she will help
him because she is looking at him with compassion. But she suddenly takes out a
knife and savagely slits his throat. The whole sequence is shot on red-tinted
film, which gives the scene a Dario Argento feel. Then we are introduced to a
young woman named Arletty who has not seen her artist father for some time. Her
dad wrote to her, but gradually the letters grew increasingly bizarre, hinting
at a mysterious epidemic. She goes to the small town where her dad was staying
to solve the mystery of what happened to him. When she stops at a gas station, a
guy, and the attendant, who seems surprised anyone would visit, calls his area:
"a piss poor little town, dead as hell." We can tell right away that something
is wrong with the town when a group of out-of-town men get gas, then pull away
with a bunch of bloody corpses in the back seat, and the attendant acts like
this is a normal thing.
The film is filled with sinister residents who all look half-asleep. They move
sluggishly, and they seem as emotionless as the pod people in the original
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). Gradually it's revealed they all drink
blood and eat human flesh, sometimes in events that have a ritualistic quality.
Still, they can walk around during the day and although unnamed by the movie,
they can properly be called "zompires" because they possess both zombie and
vampire traits. Other films featuring "zompires" include: The Last Man on Earth
(1964), Return of Count Yorga (1971), Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1972), and
Deathdream (1974). It seemed to take a little time after the release of Night of
the Living Dead (1968) for the modern notion of the cinematic zombie to solidify
in popular consciousness.
Arletty finds her dad's diary and begins reading about what happened to him. He
admits that, because of a mysterious ailment, he made scary, inhuman sounds. He
started losing memories, and his body temperature also dropped. The scene in
which she finds and reads from the diary is similar to the start of the original
classic Evil Dead (1981), as well as some H. P. Lovecraft stories. She soon
encounters the insane Charlie, who gives Arriety some bits of info about the
legends concerning the town. He says that centuries ago, a blood moon appeared
and a mysterious messiah arrived. This event made men lose religion, and then
children started eating raw meat. These portents predicting bad things are
reminiscent of Shakespeare's Hamlet and Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. Something is
definitely out of joint in the town. The townspeople are awaiting the return of
the "Messiah of Evil". He and his cult members seem to be a quasi-parody of
early Christians who also were involved in ceremonial eating of the flesh at
least symbolically. Many villagers go out to gaze at the moon, as if
hypnotized, while they wait for the Messiah to return.
Arletty starts exploring the local art scene which her dad was a part of in an
effort to find out what happened to him. This leads her to a visually challenged
art dealer who seemingly, harmlessly touches her. However later she says: "the
art dealer's fingers moved like a pale spider on my face." Later she meets some
negative hedonistic counter-culture types-one of whom is Thom. He is an elegant,
affluent, handsome man who admired Arletty's father's work. He also apparently
likes to collect weird stories and practices polygyny. Thom is often accompanied
by two hippy chicks: the young, naïve Toni (Joy Bang) and the slightly older,
wiser Laura (Anitra Ford), and all three of them are obviously sleeping
together. When the trio has to leave their hotel, they all show up at Arletty's
place to move in with her, and for some bizarre reason, she agrees. To sweeten
the deal Thom suggests he might start sleeping with Arletty. With their casual
attitude towards sex, the three illustrate the pitfalls and dead-end nature of
the free love movement that pre-dated the Aids era. When you make love to
everyone, you might end up really loving no one.
Several other scenes in the film are absolutely classic and lead to it being
memorable, not just visually but also thematically. In one scene, Laura goes to
a grocery store for what she thinks is a regular shopping trip, then she sees a
bunch of people eating raw meat out of the meat aisle-you can guess what happens
next when they see her. This scene satirizes mindless shoppers who become either
Stepford Wives-like drones or instinct-driven, animalistic shoppers. This film,
like Dawn of the Dead (1979), obviously mocks consumerism and influences it.
Later, Toni is seeing a movie in a cinema, and odd, pale people keep coming in
and silently observing her. Then they keep moving closer as the tension builds.
Later, there is a massive shootout in which cops shoot at a murderous criminal
army that is immune to their bullets.
Some people like the fact that Messiah of Evil leaves everything mysterious. But
the fact is the film was never properly finished, and the conclusion is a
letdown after the sometimes stronger setup. Allegedly someone at the film
company stole the funds needed to finish the film. Because of this the crew
managed to shoot only 70% of the script. So, we never truly discover the story
of the Messiah or who or what he is. Shortly before the film came out, the actor
who played both Thom and the Messiah in shadows (we can never see him clearly)
told another actor that he just played the son of the devil, so it might have
been planned that Thom was secretly the evil Messiah, but we may never know.
But in spite of its unfinished nature, this unjustly underappreciated film is
worth checking out. It is a reminder of the time when little, quirky horror
films still experimented a lot. It reminds us of a time before horror largely
became dominated by bigger-budget sequels and series films like the less
ambitious Nightmare on Elm Street and the Friday the 13th movies.
Next week I wrap up this years Halloween Horror reviews with my take on what may
be the most controversial, but greatest horror film ever made. The little seen
but still unsettling Todd Browning's "Freaks".
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