Messiah of Evil

Arletty (Marianna Hill) arrives in a small, odd, creepy coastal town in California looking for her father and she quickly learns little is as it seems.

Before Romero's Dawn of the Dead and The Crazies, there was Dead People a.k.a Messiah of evil. Shot in 1971 the film was not released until 1973. Like H.P. Lovecraft's Dagon and The Wicker Man (1973), weird locals are hiding a horrific secret... In Messiah, the people of Point Dune worship the rise of a red moon as they become zombies. The storyline is disjointed, but this adds to the mystic, surreal and dreamlike quality of the film. Admittedly, it feels art house, there is some irregular editing and the score is very much of its time, but there's plenty to like about it.

Kaufman's Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), Dead & Buried (1981) and the aforementioned Dawn of the Dead clearly have taken a cue from Willard Huyck's jumbled but effective film. Especially the scene where slinky brunette Anitra Ford is pursued through a supermarket. There is also truly creepy scene again with Ford and an albino trucker, played by Bennie Robinson, who you'd think would have been in a lot more horror movies. If you liked Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971) and Night of the Living Dead there's some horror delight to be found here from the shocking first kill to the insane asylum ending.

Messiah of Evil oozes dread and suspense, it's a chilling 70's horror flick that despite its faults is a lot better than some of today's so called horrors.

A young woman carries out a relentless search after losing contact with her artist father resulting in fateful consequences . As a beautiful woman named Arletty (Marianna Hill) travels to the west coast , she goes searching for her missing artist father . Her journey takes her to a strange Californian seaside town . At the beginning she doesn't find him , but Arletty meets Thom (Michael Greer) , a man who's travelling with two lovers, Toni (Joy Bang) and Laura (Anitra Ford). From this moment on , Arletty has unfortunate encounters , nightmares and daydreams . And other weird episodes during which the frightened Arletty seems to be mercilessly chased along the way . In order to live they will take you one by one and no one will hear you scream ! . Meet Albert. Albert likes good music, motor trips by moonlight, and...eating human flesh !. Albert is one of the Dead People. What is happening with the zombie apperance ?. Enter at your own risk! . Enter... if you dare . She Escaped Death. Now It Wants Her Back! She Was A Stranger Among The Living. Is there death after life? . A story so unusual it will burn itself into your mind . A weird tale of the unnatural . A picture that will haunt you. Terror you won't want to remember . In a film you won't be able to forget. Terror reigns when he returns.

A really atmospheric and psychological horror film in little budget and enjoyable compositions , it is set at a Californian coastal town that is supposedly invaded by some odd beings , Zombies-alike , and in which our starring must contend the personal demons as well as odd , stalking enemies . There are several scary scenes , chills , thrills , suspense and astonishing ending . A simple and plain plot about a gorgeous girl who's subsequently frightened by ghostly apparitions and becomes drawn to a mysterious abandoned little town with a few townsfolks prowling here and there . The film bears a certain resemblace to the classic ¨Carnival of Souls¨(1962) also with a disconcerting protagonist surrounded by fantastic appearances . Spooky and ghastly frames when our starring is relentlessly chased and attacked by weird figures whose repeated apperances seem mysteriously connected with his disappeared father . Cult-followed suspenseful movie has young Marianna Hill escaping from threatening people and including a tense as well as surprising finale . Including a good support cast such as : Elisha Cook Jr., Anitra Ford , Royal Dano , Charles Dierkop , and even brief appearance by prestigious director Walter Hill as the stabbing victim in prologue and Gloria Katz co-writer cameo as the woman in the box office at the theatre .

It contains a striking cinematography by Stephen Katz in brilliant color and with too much night scenes , adding a sinister atmosphere . Likewise, adequate and rare electronic music by Bishop . This is a confusing but acceptable low-rent production from the writers of ¨American Graffiti¨ : Willard Huyck , Gloria Katz. Filmmaker/writer/producer Willard Huyck was married to Gloria Katz who also served as writer, producer and uncredited filmmaker . As Willard Huyck is a writer/producer and occasionally director with no much success , such as : Best Defense , Willard the Duck , French Postcard . While Gloria Katz was a notorious writer including the following ones : Radioland Murders , American River , Howard the Duck , Indiana Jones and the temple of Doom , French Postcards , More American Graffiti , Lucky Lady , among others . Rating : 6/10 . The movie will appeal to cult movie fans .

After losing contact with her artist father, Arletty (Marianna Hill) travels to the coastal town Point Dune. She does not find him and stumbles upon Thom (Michael Greer), a weird wealthy man that is travelling with two lovers, Toni (Joy Bang) and Laura (Anitra Ford), to meet her father. She reads his diary and soon she realizes that there is something strange with the residents of the Californian town.

"Messiah of Evil" is an atmospheric horror film with a messy screenplay and disappointing conclusion. There are several great scenes and creepy deaths with wonderful cinematography. However the character Thom never works and his arrival to the house of Arletty's father is ridiculous. The living sharing Point Dune with the dead is also absurd. Last but not the least, there is no satisfactory explanation for the transformation of the dwellers into zombies. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Zumbís do Mal" ("Zombies of Evil")

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.

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.