- Year
- 1976
- Country
- USA
- Runtime
- 90 min
- Director
- Larry Cohen
- Updated
- 9 Aug 2026
- Obscurity
- cult (41/100)
- Also known as
- Demon
God Told Me To
A detective investigates random killers who all say God ordered it. It goes somewhere insane.
Larry Cohen's most ambitious and deranged film. A devout NYPD detective investigates a wave of random mass killings whose perpetrators all calmly explain that God told them to, and the trail leads to a virgin-born messianic figure and a revelation about the detective's own origins that no summary can do justice.
It is a genuine one-off, mixing police procedural, science fiction, religious horror and social breakdown into something no studio would ever greenlight. Ambitious, uneven and unforgettable. Cohen at his most out-there.
Trailer
The numbers
Nobody has rated this yet. Be the first to make a claim you'll have to defend.
Your call
Where to watch
Legal options in USA
Links open in a new tab (↗). Availability data via TMDB and changes constantly, so confirm on the service. Legal options only. Checked 9 Aug 2026. All options ↗
Discuss with AI
Open a chatbot with a question about this film already typed out. Useful for a second opinion, plot detail, or where to find a copy.
Filed alongside
▶ watchobscureThe Queen of Black Magic
Suzzanna, Indonesia's horror queen, wronged by a whole village and collecting on the debt.
obscureBewitched
Shaw Brothers black magic: worms, curses and a Taoist priest fighting a Thai sorcerer.
▶ watchobscureSeeding of a Ghost
Ninety minutes of restrained Shaw revenge, then twenty of rotting-corpse insanity.
▶ watchobscureThe Boxer's Omen
The most deranged thing Shaw Brothers ever paid for, and it never slows down to explain itself.
cultMystics in Bali
The Indonesian one everybody means: a flying witch's head, viscera trailing, hunting in the dark.
▶ watchcultPurana Mandir
The hit that proved Indian audiences would pay to watch a man in a rubber demon mask.