Don Hertzfeldt has put his Academy Award-nominated classic on YouTube for free viewing. A clone from the distant future visits a young version of her first self, and monologue about her bizarre life.
Tag Archives: Sci-fi
SATURDAY SHORT: OPERATOR (2013)
Hard at work at his robotic job, Bob comes into contact with a bio-mechanical parasite. He can’t let it slow him down, either, or he’ll be officially cited.
CONTENT WARNING: This short contains violence and disturbing imagery.
This is the first episode of an ongoing series. The second episode was successfully funded on Kickstarter in February of last year, and was just recently uploaded to Vimeo. It includes a stronger combination of strong violence, sexual content, and language. You may view the short here. Funding for the third episode will likely begin in the near future.
LIST CANDIDATE: GOD TOLD ME TO (1976)
AKA Demon; God Told Me to Kill
DIRECTED BY: Larry Cohen
FEATURING: Tony Lo Bianco, Richard Lynch, Andy Kaufman, Deborah Raffin, Sandy Dennis, Sylvia Sidney, Sam Levene, Mike Kellin
PLOT: A rash of murders are committed by people who all give “God told me to do it” as their only motive. A New York City police detective must find out why.
WHY IT SHOULD MAKE THE LIST: A conventionally produced movie, God Told Me To has a bizarre story featuring some very strange characters, including an extraterrestrial man with a face that nobody can see clearly and a vagina in his ribcage.
COMMENTS: In this complex occult/sci-fi thriller, Tony Lo Bianco (The French Connection, The 7-Ups) plays police Lieutenant Nicholas, who unravels a mysterious spree of killings committed by fellow New Yorkers from all walks of life. Each claim that God compelled them to commit the crimes Many kill themselves or die after immediately after making the the revelation, complicating Nicholas’ job.
The film opens with a sniper perched on a rooftop water tower. After he shoots random people in the street, Nicholas climbs up to talk to him and the man jumps to his death. Nicholas is contacted by a representative of a sinister cult who seems to understand what is behind the crimes. While the cop tries to track down the cult members, the investigation takes him on a twisted journey into the past, including, to his surprise, his own past as he strives to solve this dark and obfuscated mystery. Nothing is as it appears to be. As he soon discovers, Lt. Nicholas is also not who or what he seems to be either.
While he attempts to unravel the puzzle behind the killings, Nicholas investigates his own birth as well as other strange phenomenon from bygone years. The answer to the riddle is morbidly fascinating. God Told Me To is one of those unique, non-formulaic 1970’s films that just aren’t made anymore.
The enigmatic Richard Lynch (Bad Dreams) has one of his most interesting and bizarre roles ever in this exciting and odd film. The piece features an early, rare cinematic appearance by Andy Kaufman in a non comedic role.
WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:
“This cult-fave Larry Cohen epic, features his trademark NYC locations, vividly drawn characters, realistically handled situations and dialogue, and one hell of a weird premise.”—VideoHound’s Complete Guide to Cult Flicks and Trash Pics