I had bought the Mill Creek Chilling Classics 50 movie pack a few years ago and I had noticed that Messiah of Evil (1973) was included in it but for one reason or another I never wanted to watch it. Fast forward to last years October Challenge and I was running out options to watch - so I half-heartedly decided to watch it. Well, needless to say, I didn't regret it, and even tho the copy wasn't the best in the world - it didn't damper my enjoyment of it, far from it. It was a great find and if I were to compile a Top 10 of my favorite horror films of the top of my head, then this would undoubtedly make the cut.Messiah of Evil is about a young woman who searches for her missing father after he abruptly and unexpectedly stops communication with her. When she arrives at a picturesque seaside home, where her father lived, she finds that the residents of the town are bizarre. She arrived with a hippie couple who are curiously attracted to the strange town. Together, the soon find out that the town is crawling with a flesh-eating cult.There are a few unforgettable scenes that are genuinely scary that leave an expression: like the supermarket scene and, of course, who can forget the movie theatre scene, both outstanding. The director, Willard Huyck, I have to say does a really splendid job in creating this almost dream-like vibe for the film and it doesn't let up. It is psychedelic. The story kinda reminded me of an old H.P. Lovecraft tale. The atmosphere is unrelentingly grim and I can only describe it as intense and an nightmarish dread. It is creepy as hell and it is full of very strange and memorable characters.What I like most about it - is it's ambiguity. We're never terribly sure if the "creatures" are zombies, ghouls, vampires or just cannibals or something else and no loose ends are tied by the end of the film either. It is shamefully still obscure among the numerous bad low-budget drive-in horror flicks of the 70's, it doesn't deserve it. I seen it late at night and I was pretty tired but I will never forget it. Messiah of Evil is one of a few horror movies that I truly found scary and I seen a lot.

A young woman goes searching for her missing artist father. Her journey takes her to a strange Californian seaside town governed by a mysterious undead cult.This is a very very strange trippy surreal movie that is American made but directed like an Argento Italian horror movie. Complete with tinny wind sounds indoors!The plot is hard to follow and little of it makes sense, which might be why I like it. It takes no prisoners. And the more odd it gets the more you are drawn to watching it.Is it a great film? I don't think so. But I'm not sure. It's that odd. You are left with the feeling that there is a subtext that only the husband and wife team who wrote and directed it know about. Like the entire trip has a different meaning than what you just watched.I'm giving it an 8. Part of me want to give it a six and part of me a ten.Also, we're never sure if the creatures are zombies or vampires or something else. But I'll tell you this: this movie has two of the most down right creepiest scenes ever filmed on the planet.Both involve woman who become victims of being eaten by the creatures. And when they get eaten, it's not in a way that's enjoyable to either.Had I seen this movie was I was a kid, I think those two scenes would have given me nightmares for years.

Arletty (Marianna Hill) arrives in a small, odd, creepy coastal town in California looking for her father and she quickly learns little is as it seems. Before Romero's Dawn of the Dead and The Crazies, there was Dead People a.k.a Messiah of evil. Shot in 1971 the film was not released until 1973. Like H.P. Lovecraft's Dagon and The Wicker Man (1973), weird locals are hiding a horrific secret... In Messiah, the people of Point Dune worship the rise of a red moon as they become zombies. The storyline is disjointed, but this adds to the mystic, surreal and dreamlike quality of the film. Admittedly, it feels art house, there is some irregular editing and the score is very much of its time, but there's plenty to like about it. Kaufman's Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), Dead & Buried (1981) and the aforementioned Dawn of the Dead clearly have taken a cue from Willard Huyck's jumbled but effective film. Especially the scene where slinky brunette Anitra Ford is pursued through a supermarket. There is also truly creepy scene again with Ford and an albino trucker, played by Bennie Robinson, who you'd think would have been in a lot more horror movies. If you liked Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971) and Night of the Living Dead there's some horror delight to be found here from the shocking first kill to the insane asylum ending.Messiah of Evil oozes dread and suspense, it's a chilling 70's horror flick that despite its faults is a lot better than some of today's so called horrors.

Arletty (Marianna Hill) travels to the coastal town of Point Dune, CA to look for her father after his letters stopped arriving. She finds his art studio/house in a normal state but he is nowhere to be found. The only clue she has in a journal where he has written some increasingly bizarre entries. To say any more would give too much away. I've always known of this film, but never knew anything about the plot. When the new Code Red DVD hit, I read lots of great reviews. So, naturally, my interest was piqued and I ordered it. I was not disappointed as the film kept me enthralled from the opening frame. What surprised me the most about the film was the art house aesthetic it seemed to adopt. The film has atmosphere galore with the movie house scene being the highlight. Also, if you love to ogle 70s stores/houses/parking lots, this is the film for you. I haven't dug into the extras yet, but I'm looking forward to finding out tons more about this unique horror flick.