Messiah of Evil is not only a fantastic title/untaken metal band name, it's also a pretty damned good weirdo 70s faux-zombie flick. It was another vacation movie for me (find it at archive.org under its alternate title Dead People) so my notes are pretty scarce. But what I remember through the haze of Christmas scotch was pretty excellent.
It starts with a random scene of a guy running away from someone accompanied by a jazzy songstress singing about "holding onto love," and then has his throat slit by a teenage girl. It doesn't make a lot of sense. And having seen the whole movie, looking back... it doesn't make a lot of sense. (A continuing theme throughout the film.) After the title sequence, we cut to a long white hallway with a woman walking towards us - we learn from her minute-and-a-half monologue that she knows of some shady goings on in Point Dune and is now confined to an asylum. You can tell by the hazy visuals, weird music, and the long drawn out shot (as well as the crazy shit that she's saying) that Messiah of Evil will not be a very conventional film.
Then we cut to our story before our heroine Arletty was institutionalized. She is headed to Point Dune to search for her artist father who seems to have gone missing. He was contacting her periodically by mail - but then his letters started to get more rambling and paranoid. She is able to find his house, and his art is intense - every available surface is covered with stark murals and bold colors that mess around with your perception of the physical space. It's a great set for a movie. Also, the house is filled with swinging 70s furniture (my favorite being a bed suspended from the ceiling). It's a far out pad! But it's a little unclear - is he just a crazy artist? Or is something else going on in this town?
Arletty asks around about her dad (ignoring the urging of people to get out of the town ASAP) and encounters a trio of people who happen to be in town checking out her father's art. You never really learn a lot about these three (it's a guy and two women), except that he is probably rich, is fascinated about the legend of the town and it's blood red moon, and there is some romantic entanglement between the three of them. They creep Arletty out, but later, when they break into her dad's house she lets them stay (?). Arletty tries to figure out just what happened to her dear old dad, and these other three folks... just kind of hang around? But all is not well in Point Dune, as our friends are about to find out.
And honestly, I'll just leave it at that. A lot of stuff happens in this film, but it's kind of tough to explain it. It's a cheesy saying that I mock a lot of the time (especially when it pertains to IMAX theaters), but I really think you have to experience Messiah of Evil to appreciate it. Words can't do it justice.
Suffice to say, you'll need to be in the mood to enjoy a pretty surreal take on a horror flick. Like I said, not a lot of it makes a heck of a lot of sense. I can tick off what happened story line wise, but explaining *why* much of it happens would be rather difficult. But if artsy, dream-like 70's horror is your thing, check it out. It's not what I'd call a high budget by any means, but it builds appropriately and has the resources to make the big things seem important. That is to say: Messiah of Evil didn't go the Deathbed route and get made over a long period of time with a handful of cast members. It's got a good chunk of Deathbed's WTF'ery, but this seems like a little more of a "real" film. No disrespect to Deathbed - but that is more outsider art than this. They both share this surreal perspective, although Messiah has more of a concrete narrative.
I was just super stoked about Messiah of Evil. It's worth a look if you're into any type of cult cinema. I think it's at least always interesting, even if you don't always know what the heck is going on. And if you are into bizarre 70s stuff, check it out ASAP. It's public domain, so I think you can see it pretty much anywhere. The archive.org print is passable, but I would love to see a better print of it. It is in fact available on Blu-ray from Code Red (it seems to go in and out of print), but after checking back a few times I finally have one coming my way. Nice!
I would highly recommend this film.
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