From the director of BLACK CAESAR (1973) and IT'S ALIVE (1974) comes another shocker that dares to blame "God" for the events that unfold. I say 'dares' because this is purely an exploitation picture, folks. And it's a good one, too. Another example of why Larry Cohen was one of the great B directors of the 1970s and 80s.
An outer worldly force from beyond tells people to commit atrocious acts of violence against their will. The first is a sniper who kills 14 people from the top of a water tower. Det. Nicholas (Tony LoBianco) attempts to talk the sniper down and when he asks him why he did it, the sniper responds the "God told him to..." and then proceeds to jump off the water tower, killing himself.
Then a cop (Andy Kaufman) goes berserk during a St. Paddy's day parade and starts shooting innocent bystanders. His fellow cops tackle and try to subdue him, having to shoot him in the process. As the cop lays dying, he too whispers; "And God told me too..."
The plot starts to get a little more complicated but suffice it to say the Det. Nicholas isn't what he seems to be and that his background is directly tied to the events that are taking place. After tracking down a number of leads, he eventually runs into his alter ego in an abandoned building. The alter ego and Nicholas himself are the offspring of aliens who impregnated their mothers many years ago. His blond haired alter ego (Richard Lynch) has a vagina growning on one side of his body and one gets the impression that he wants Nicholas to impregnate him. This sort of reminds me of the vagina growing out of the shoulder of Marilyn Chambers in RABID. Bizarre to say the least...
But Nicholas is having none of it and starts to choke his alter ego and the room starts to glow as the building around them starts to collapse. There's an added twist at the end as Det. Nicholas is led into court to answer for the murder of the alter ego so you'll have to see if for yourself.
The Blue Underground DVD uses a pristine widescreen print, TV spots, a movie trailer and alternative audio track by Bill Lustig interviewing director Cohen, where Cohen explains how he filmed on the NYC streets without getting permits, how he met Andy Kauffman and how the film was ultimately met by the public. So check it out for yourself.
With Deborah Raffin who plays Nicholas' girlfriend, Sylvia Sydney as Nicholas' long lost mother and Sandy Dennis as his estranged wife. Good acting on their parts.
7 out of 10
An outer worldly force from beyond tells people to commit atrocious acts of violence against their will. The first is a sniper who kills 14 people from the top of a water tower. Det. Nicholas (Tony LoBianco) attempts to talk the sniper down and when he asks him why he did it, the sniper responds the "God told him to..." and then proceeds to jump off the water tower, killing himself.
Then a cop (Andy Kaufman) goes berserk during a St. Paddy's day parade and starts shooting innocent bystanders. His fellow cops tackle and try to subdue him, having to shoot him in the process. As the cop lays dying, he too whispers; "And God told me too..."
The plot starts to get a little more complicated but suffice it to say the Det. Nicholas isn't what he seems to be and that his background is directly tied to the events that are taking place. After tracking down a number of leads, he eventually runs into his alter ego in an abandoned building. The alter ego and Nicholas himself are the offspring of aliens who impregnated their mothers many years ago. His blond haired alter ego (Richard Lynch) has a vagina growning on one side of his body and one gets the impression that he wants Nicholas to impregnate him. This sort of reminds me of the vagina growing out of the shoulder of Marilyn Chambers in RABID. Bizarre to say the least...
But Nicholas is having none of it and starts to choke his alter ego and the room starts to glow as the building around them starts to collapse. There's an added twist at the end as Det. Nicholas is led into court to answer for the murder of the alter ego so you'll have to see if for yourself.
The Blue Underground DVD uses a pristine widescreen print, TV spots, a movie trailer and alternative audio track by Bill Lustig interviewing director Cohen, where Cohen explains how he filmed on the NYC streets without getting permits, how he met Andy Kauffman and how the film was ultimately met by the public. So check it out for yourself.
With Deborah Raffin who plays Nicholas' girlfriend, Sylvia Sydney as Nicholas' long lost mother and Sandy Dennis as his estranged wife. Good acting on their parts.
7 out of 10