ARCHIVE REVIEW OF LARRY COHEN'S 'GOD TOLD ME TO'

title: GOD TOLD ME TO
year: 1976
cast: Tony Lo Bianco, Sandy Dennis, Andy Kaufman, Dan Resin, Richard Lynch, Sylvia Sidney
writer/director: Larry Cohen
rating: **

The first half... as a dedicated Catholic cop played by Tony Lo Bianco (the smooth "kissy devil" patsy in THE FRENCH CONNECTION) investigates random public killings... including Andy Kaufman as a police officer going berserk at the St. Patrick's Day Parade... and each assassin mutters, "God told me to" as their last words... is mysterious and interesting. The last half, as the murders cease and the "God" in question is revealed, is absolutely banal. Larry Cohen's camerawork has its usual artistic grace, with a collection of creative zooms and all that other seventies' stuff, but after the good parts even the cool shots are all dressed up with nothing to show.