Another review compared this to Carnival of Souls or the movies of Jean Rollin, and I think that is an apt assessment.
The movie is definitely running on dream logic. It's not until the third act that we get an explanation of what is happening, and even then, it feels like the writers pulled it out of their ass: "Uh, a Satanic cult of cannibals. Yeah, that's it."
I had never heard of this movie and I'm actually surprised. This is just so bizarre and artsy that it must have a loyal fanbase.
Anyway. Not much of a story going on here. I think most people would chalk this up as the weirdest zombie movie ever made, but Messiah of Evil doesn't care about your feeble attend to decrypt what is going on here. Tying up loose plot threads? "Don't have time for it!" Having a story that makes sense and isn't just weird for its own sake? "Think again, Jack!"
Ultimately I did not like this. It operates in the arthouse-garbage realm of David Lynch where bad writing can pass as depth because "you just didn't get it." That being said, I get why some people would like it. If there was just a little more focus on telling a story that makes sense, I'd be among them.
This wasn't half bad - a soundtrack that influenced "It Follows" maybe. Pretty atmospheric...was it a cannibal movie - a body snatchers - movie - a zombie movie ? A good solid film that would have been even better without the unnecessary voiceover.
Shout by Pera MisteriosBlockedParent2021-11-19T18:11:34Z
Utterly bizarre, Messiah of Evil feels like Jean Rollin adapting an unpublished work by HP Lovecraft. Its tone alternates between spooky and incompetent like the pendulum on a grandfather clock and at times feels like either Carnival of Souls, being legitimately atmospheric and spooky and Manos the Hands of Fate, feeling like a stifling nightmare of a person that has no business making movies. It's no wonder that the couple which produced it went on to make Howard The Duck. Definitely worth your time, but temper your expectations. It dares you to shut it off and watch something else before pulling you back in.