Messiah of Evil

Messiah of Evil (later also shown under the title Dead People) is a movie made in 1972 by Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, the husband and wife team behind the film version of Howard the Duck as well as the screenplay for American Graffiti. It is considered by many horror critics to be one of the earliest "Nightmare" films, meaning that it portrays many dream-like, psychedelic scenes in an eerie, unsettling atmosphere. It has often been accused of ... more

Messiah of Evil (later also shown under the title Dead People) is a movie made in 1972 by Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, the husband and wife team behind the film version of Howard the Duck as well as the screenplay for American Graffiti. It is considered by many horror critics to be one of the earliest "Nightmare" films, meaning that it portrays many dream-like, psychedelic scenes in an eerie, unsettling atmosphere. It has often been accused of borrowing liberally from the 1962 horror film Carnival of Souls. The movie is in the public domain and is available on DVD alongside The Devil's Nightmare A young woman named Arletty (Marianna Hill) drives to the beach town of Point Dune, California, to visit her estranged father, an artist. She finds his house, abandoned. He left a diary in which he addresses her specifically. In it he complains about darkness consuming the town, and horrible nightmares he is having, and implores Arletty to never, ever look for him. His letter tells her to... less