Format: Streaming video from AMC+ through Amazon Prime on Fire!
Paying homage to something without duplicating it or spoofing it is a fine line to walk, and it’s rare that a movie does it really well. When one of those movies pops up, it’s a rare treat. Messiah of Evil, despite its Satanic Panic-worthy name, is one such film. This movie has a lot going on in it, and it feels like it’s making reference to a lot of other tales. It still manages to tell its own story, though. So, while there are definite elements that are calling out to other films, the experience of this one is wholly its own.
When I say that there is a lot going on in this movie, I’m not really selling it hard enough. There is a definite connection to Romero’s zombie films in the storyline and the Italian homages to Romero in the visual aspects. If it had come out a year later, I’d suggest a connection to Romero’s The Crazies as well. There are aspects of the tone and feel of the film that are strongly reminiscent of Carnival of Souls. There is also a very strange sense of H.P. Lovecraft to this as well. While the film is set in California, it might as well be set in Innsmouth or Arkham. There’s also allusions to the Wendigo myth and the Donner Party. It also features cameos from Elisha Cook Jr. and The Warriors director Walter Hill.
A young woman named Arletty (Marianna Hill) arrives at California beach town Point Dune to visit her artist father, who she has not seen for some time. When she gets to his house, she finds it abandoned, but it does contain something like a diary. Arletty reads it, and discovers that the town of Point Dune is going through some terrible events; specifically, there is a darkness that is starting to consume the town. He, expecting her arrival, tells her not to look for him, but to talk to the owner of the local art gallery. She does, but the owner says that he does not sell her father’s work.
Around this same time, Arletty meets Thom (Michael Greer) and his companions, Tori (Joy Bang) and Laura (Anitra Ford), who are talking with Charlie (Elisha Cook Jr.). Charlie, who seems like the town drunk, tells them about the upcoming blood moon, which foretells of the arrival of someone called the Dark Stranger. It will soon be the 100-year anniversary of the first appearance of the Dark Stranger, which also heralds his return.
So what is going on? It’s something akin to a cult, but far more disturbing. A number of the townspeople of Point Dune gather on the beach at night, light bonfires, and stare at the moon. It’s soon evident that something is very wrong in Point Dune. Laura goes to the local supermarket and discovers a crowd of the moon-starers huddled around a refrigerator, eating raw meat. Laura will not leave the grocery store alive; she’s turned into the next course on the raw meat menu. The same thing happens to Toni at the movie theater; this time, the attack is presaged by the attackers bleeding from their eyes, which will be the sign of cannibalistic mischief in the future.
But what is happening to Arletty? And will her father return? And what of Thom?
As I said, there’s a lot going on here, but the film never feels overwhelmed by any of it because none of it feels forced. It’s also not lampshaded at any point—things happen that are reminiscent of other stories and films, but nothing is ever done to make it feel like the homage is the point of what is happening. There’s a weird town; it feels like Lovecraft. There’s cannibalism happening and we’re told that the Dark Stranger was a member of the Donner Party, so there’s a bit of a Wendigo feeling. The cannibals seem slow and affected, like zombies, and they travel in packs, and infect other people, and the amount of blood feels like an Argento film. All of this is clearly conscious and deliberate, but done in a way where, if you knew nothing of any of these films or the history, you wouldn’t find the movie difficult to follow or feel like you missed any story. This movie is smart, and it doesn’t feel like it should be.
Strangely, the film that I am reminded of the most is one that very possibly borrowed from Messiah of Evil: Dead & Buried. That was another film that surprised me because it was far better than I expected and far smarter than I expected, and I think it picked the bones of this one—someone shows up to a weird town and discovers that there is a terrible secret that threatens them and the surrounding area.
If you like weirder horror movies that go in directions you might not expect, you could do a lot worse than this one.
Why to watch Messiah of Evil: Tells an original story while still paying homage to a lot of sources.
Why not to watch: It’s weirder than you might be prepared for.