MESSIAH OF EVIL
Director: Willard Huyck Run Time: 90 min. Release Year: 1974
Starring: Anitra Ford, Joy Bang, Marianna Hill, Michael Greer, Royal Dano
After receiving a string of unsettling letters from her father, Arletty arrives in a sleepy California coastal town called Point Dune. Dad is nowhere to be seen. Instead, Arletty finds a town full of drugged-out burnouts, barren shopping centers, and… something else. Echoing everything from Herk Harvey’s CARNIVAL OF SOULS to Mario Bava’s KILL, BABY… KILL!, MESSIAH OF EVIL is a swirling vortex of Lovecraftian terror, analog synth attacks, and grisly bloodshed from the team who’d later go on to make HOWARD THE DUCK. Marianna Hill (HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER), Michael Greer (FORTUNE AND MEN’S EYES), and Elisha Cook Jr. (THE MALTESE FALCON) star in this unjustly overlooked major work of independent American horror that’s primed for (re)discovery.