Search - The Larry Cohen Collection: Q-The Winged Serpent/God Told Me To/Bone on DVD

Ignore the gentleman below...

Dan Seitz | Somerville, MA, USA | 07/14/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The one calling this the Cohen Trash collection, especially since he's obviously not seen "Bone", which I would note that, while it is strange, it is also not in black and white.

Honestly, "Q: The Winged Serpent" and "Bone" are more cult items than good films. "Bone" I don't buy the sudden change, but it's got its moments and Cohen deserves credit for getting into the heads of his characters. "Q" is more an exploitation flick, but one has to love Michael Moriarty's performance and how this is a mix of "Five Million Miles to Earth" and "A Face In The Crowd."

But the gem of this collection is undeniably "God Told Me To." Sure, it's rough in places (that sudden blaxploitation subplot came out of where, exactly?) but it is a B-movie with good special effects and an interesting concept...and that's not even the best part.

The best part is that this is a film where the best scenes are actually the emotional ones between actors, and it's a disturbing portrait of a man having his faith pulled from him by slow degrees. The scene with the father is disturbing just for how straight the actor plays his monologue. The scene between Tony Lo Bianco and Sylvia Sidney is jolting, and the emotional confrontation between the two women in our hero's life at the end is amazingly well-handled.

"God Told Me To" is a B-movie about a man having his faith pulled from him by slow degrees. And when was the last time they dealt with something as serious as THAT?"