God Told Me To (1976)

Let’s take time out to feel sorry for God. The Almighty hardly ever gets the credit He deserves, and then when someone does acknowledge the providence of divine intervention, it’s usually some terrorist fanatic or a homicidal wacko like the sniper who starts out God Told Me To (1976) by shooting down 14 New Yorkers. A visceral and affecting, genre-bending drama, God Told Me To follows a homicide detective’s descent into madness as he unravels the motivations and traces the cult ties of the killer sniper. Disturbing and engrossing, the picture succeeds largely due to its pool of talented, committed actors and a narrative style that seems documentary in its warts-and-all presentation. Plus, there are snippets of utter nudity during explanatory flashback sequences.