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Messiah of Evil

Play trailer Poster for Messiah of Evil R 1973 1h 29m Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 11 Reviews 56% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
While searching for her missing father, a woman (Mariana Hill) comes to a town crawling with flesh-eating zombies.
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Messiah of Evil

Critics Reviews

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Budd Wilkins Slant Magazine 10/27/2023
Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz’s eerily brooding Messiah of Evil remains an undervalued gem of American gothic filmmaking. Go to Full Review
Anton Bitel Little White Lies 10/18/2023
co-writers/co-directors Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz confound life and art, reality and dreams, sanity and madness in their surreal vision of conservative America succumbing to – or biting back against – the encroaching counterculture. Go to Full Review
Marya E. Gates Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) 10/11/2024
Truly, I was so nervous watching this film that I wanted to vomit the whole time. Now that’s what I call cinema Go to Full Review
Kathy Fennessy Seattle Film Blog 10/06/2024
3.5/4
Here's to Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz for giving their first film everything they had. It shows, it thrills--and it endures. Go to Full Review
Eddie Harrison film-authority.com 08/14/2024
4/5
‘…Messiah of Evil is somehow far more than the sum of its parts…catnip to horror genre fans…a key film in the annals of pre-Stephen King American horror...' Go to Full Review
Ray Pride Newcity 07/04/2024
8/10
Pleasingly lethargic, alternately bloody and hypnogogic California pop-art-inflected supernatural horror film. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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P B Jul 10 Kind of watchable but as with most 'Arthouse' movies they seem to think that the "art" will suffice for a coherent story and comprehensible dialogue. 100% on Rotten Tomatoes my arse! See more Paul M May 9 I expect more from this. It’s directionless and wandering, missing many of the things that make a lower budget movie entertaining and fun. It’s not terrible but a bit of a swing and miss. There are much better zombie movies on the market, plain and simple. See more Dave S Apr 7 When Arletty (Marianna Hill) shows up in the fog-shrouded town of Point Dume to visit her father, she quickly begins to sniff out that something is amiss thanks to some strange encounters with the locals, who warn her of the menace of blood moons and the return of the ‘dark stranger’ after a 100-year absence. It’s pretty obvious from the get-go that Messiah of Evil was made on a shoestring budget (cheap looking sets, echoey sound, electronic score, etc), but, despite the financial restraints, it does manage to establish an ominous atmosphere at times and has a handful of decent set pieces. However, it gets a bit tiresome as the weirdness stacks up (why are the zombies all so well dressed and why in the world doesn’t Arletty just leave town?) and you eventually have to wonder if it’s really worth the effort to figure out what the hell is going on. See more Dom L 06/10/2024 Bizarre and fascinating! Recently came upon this cult film after many years of hearing about it, and it did not disappoint. A truly unique tone. See more g j 06/02/2024 Quintessential 70's horror with a broodingly unsettling atmosphere and an arresting visual style. The plot is fairly incoherent, but plays second to the general mood of the film anyway. See more Jon G 03/02/2024 I cannot believe I missed this gem so many years ago! So happy to have found it! See more Read all reviews
Messiah of Evil

My Rating

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Movie Info

Synopsis While searching for her missing father, a woman (Mariana Hill) comes to a town crawling with flesh-eating zombies.
Director
Willard Huyck
Producer
Gloria Katz
Screenwriter
Gloria Katz, Willard Huyck
Production Co
V/M Productions, International Film Corporation
Rating
R
Genre
Horror
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 23, 1973, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 1, 2016
Runtime
1h 29m
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