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God Told Me To

God Told Me To

Crime · Horror · Science Fiction · 1976

A New York detective investigates a series of murders committed by random citizens who claim that 'God told them to'.

Movie details

God Told Me To

“The people of this city are being terrorized. The crimes have no motives. The killers have only one explanation...”

1976 Crime · Horror · Science Fiction 1h 30m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.3 / 10

6.9K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

80 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

55 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

5.8 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

A New York detective investigates a series of murders committed by random citizens who claim that 'God told them to'.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over God Told Me To?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Anon

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Set in a near-future world where there is no privacy, ignorance or anonymity, our private memories are recorded and crime almost ceases to exist. In trying to solve a series of unsolved murders, Sal Frieland stumbles onto a young woman who appears to have subverted the system and disappeared. She has no identity, no history and no record. Sal realizes it may not be the end of crime but the beginning. Known only as 'The Girl', Sal must find her before he becomes the next victim.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Larry Cohen

Written by

Larry Cohen

Tony Lo Bianco

Tony Lo Bianco

Peter J. Nicholas

Deborah Raffin

Deborah Raffin

Casey Forster

Sandy Dennis

Sandy Dennis

Martha Nicholas

Sylvia Sidney

Sylvia Sidney

Elizabeth Mullin

Sam Levene

Sam Levene

Everett Lukas

Robert Drivas

Robert Drivas

David Morten

Mike Kellin

Mike Kellin

Deputy Commissioner

Court is in session

Put God Told Me To on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Arthouse Gremlin

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Prestige Tourist

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.