Search/Recent Changes
DBTropes
...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

Messiah of Evil

 Messiah of Evil
type
TVTItem
 Messiah of Evil
label
Messiah of Evil
 Messiah of Evil
page
MessiahOfEvil
 Messiah of Evil
comment
Messiah of Evil is a 1973 American horror film written and directed by the screenwriting team of Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz (American Graffiti, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom).After Arletty's estranged artist father, Joseph (Royal Dano), goes missing—leaving behind a cryptic letter asking her not to follow him—Arletty (Marianna Hill) goes against his wishes, visiting the mysterious seaside town of Point Dune to search for him. There, she meets a group of strangers who were all familiar with her father's paintings. But beneath Point Dune's seemingly mundane exterior resides a strange, zombie-like cult.Elisha Cook Jr. plays a wino who makes cryptic comments to Arletty about how she will have to kill her father with fire.
 Messiah of Evil
fetched
2024-02-22T02:31:58Z
 Messiah of Evil
parsed
2024-02-22T02:31:58Z
 Messiah of Evil
processingComment
Dropped link to Womanchild: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
 Messiah of Evil
processingUnknown
Womanchild
 Messiah of Evil
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Messiah of Evil / int_1b65dfad
type
The Cameo
 Messiah of Evil / int_1b65dfad
comment
The Cameo: Walter Hill, who would go on to an illustrious career as a director, plays the man who gets his throat cut by a swimming pool in the opening scene (which has absolutely nothing at all to do with the rest of the movie).
 Messiah of Evil / int_1b65dfad
featureApplicability
1.0
 Messiah of Evil / int_1b65dfad
featureConfidence
1.0
 Messiah of Evil
hasFeature
Messiah of Evil / int_1b65dfad
 Messiah of Evil / int_409c178f
type
Zip Me Up
 Messiah of Evil / int_409c178f
comment
Zip Me Up: Gender-flipped, as Thom asks Arletty to unzip his vest. It's transparently obvious and she is not fooled, but she does it anyway, and it nearly works.
 Messiah of Evil / int_409c178f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Messiah of Evil / int_409c178f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Messiah of Evil
hasFeature
Messiah of Evil / int_409c178f
 Messiah of Evil / int_491b0105
type
Sexy Sweater Girl
 Messiah of Evil / int_491b0105
comment
Sexy Sweater Girl: Arletty wears a very snug sweater in the first part of the film.
 Messiah of Evil / int_491b0105
featureApplicability
1.0
 Messiah of Evil / int_491b0105
featureConfidence
1.0
 Messiah of Evil
hasFeature
Messiah of Evil / int_491b0105
 Messiah of Evil / int_49d59be9
type
Scenery Porn
 Messiah of Evil / int_49d59be9
comment
Scenery Porn: The house where Arletty is staying is absolutely gorgeous, whether the lights are on or not. When they are, it's highlighted by a blue light, and when it's not, her father's paintings can be seen in their full glory.
 Messiah of Evil / int_49d59be9
featureApplicability
1.0
 Messiah of Evil / int_49d59be9
featureConfidence
1.0
 Messiah of Evil
hasFeature
Messiah of Evil / int_49d59be9
 Messiah of Evil / int_4e3d253b
type
Downer Ending
 Messiah of Evil / int_4e3d253b
comment
Downer Ending: Well, at the very best, it's certainly not a happy ending. Arletty is forced to kill her own father, Thom just disappears and is presumably murdered by the cult, Arletty herself is spared but institutionalized, driven insane by the events of the film, and the dark man is allowed to continue spreading his flesh-eating cult across the country.
 Messiah of Evil / int_4e3d253b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Messiah of Evil / int_4e3d253b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Messiah of Evil
hasFeature
Messiah of Evil / int_4e3d253b
 Messiah of Evil / int_504a1991
type
Body Horror
 Messiah of Evil / int_504a1991
comment
Body Horror: As people transform into some sort of flesh-eating zombie. Arlett's father wrote in his journal about how his body temperature fell to 85 degrees. Arletty starts losing her sense of feeling, and in one scene, vomits up a mess of live lizards, roaches, and worms.
 Messiah of Evil / int_504a1991
featureApplicability
1.0
 Messiah of Evil / int_504a1991
featureConfidence
1.0
 Messiah of Evil
hasFeature
Messiah of Evil / int_504a1991
 Messiah of Evil / int_698d7dad
type
Lovecraft Country
 Messiah of Evil / int_698d7dad
comment
Lovecraft Country: Point Dune most certainly fits the bill, despite being in California and not New England. Town with a Dark Secret? Check. Weird residents under the influence of an eldritch power? Check. Hell, even the title character comes across as a dead ringer for Nyarlathotep.
 Messiah of Evil / int_698d7dad
featureApplicability
1.0
 Messiah of Evil / int_698d7dad
featureConfidence
1.0
 Messiah of Evil
hasFeature
Messiah of Evil / int_698d7dad
 Messiah of Evil / int_6a1c2a6
type
Cosmic Horror Story
 Messiah of Evil / int_6a1c2a6
comment
Cosmic Horror Story: The blood moon heralds the arrival of the plague and the spreading of the dark man's cult, which Arletty speculates he will continue to spread across the country and possibly even the world. And there's nothing that can be done to stop it.
 Messiah of Evil / int_6a1c2a6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Messiah of Evil / int_6a1c2a6
featureConfidence
1.0
 Messiah of Evil
hasFeature
Messiah of Evil / int_6a1c2a6
 Messiah of Evil / int_7e577db
type
Slashed Throat
 Messiah of Evil / int_7e577db
comment
Slashed Throat: The movie opens on a man being lured to a park by a young woman, who cuts his throat with a straight razor. This is totally irrelevant to the rest of the movie.
 Messiah of Evil / int_7e577db
featureApplicability
1.0
 Messiah of Evil / int_7e577db
featureConfidence
1.0
 Messiah of Evil
hasFeature
Messiah of Evil / int_7e577db
 Messiah of Evil / int_81c23aae
type
Bloody Horror
 Messiah of Evil / int_81c23aae
comment
Bloody Horror: Whenever someone's infected, blood tends to seep out of their pores, be it from their neck or their eyes.
 Messiah of Evil / int_81c23aae
featureApplicability
1.0
 Messiah of Evil / int_81c23aae
featureConfidence
1.0
 Messiah of Evil
hasFeature
Messiah of Evil / int_81c23aae
 Messiah of Evil / int_82a51bc7
type
Bad Moon Rising
 Messiah of Evil / int_82a51bc7
comment
Bad Moon Rising: The prelude to the hundredth anniversary of the arrival of the 'Dark Stranger', a former minister and Donner Party survivor turned evil being, concerns the maturation of the 'Blood Moon', being a red ring that slowly eclipses the moon as the people of Point Dune, California below turn slowly into insensible, live flesh-eating, cannibalistic, sadistic zombies who bleed from the eyes, ears and mouth as they lose all morality. "Like they were being dragged closer to Hell itself."
 Messiah of Evil / int_82a51bc7
featureApplicability
1.0
 Messiah of Evil / int_82a51bc7
featureConfidence
1.0
 Messiah of Evil
hasFeature
Messiah of Evil / int_82a51bc7
 Messiah of Evil / int_863fa679
type
What Happened to the Mouse?
 Messiah of Evil / int_863fa679
comment
What Happened to the Mouse?: When Thom and Arletty swim out to the middle of the ocean, Tom just disappears. Considering that the cult ended up taking Arletty back to shore, it doesn't look good for him.
 Messiah of Evil / int_863fa679
featureApplicability
1.0
 Messiah of Evil / int_863fa679
featureConfidence
1.0
 Messiah of Evil
hasFeature
Messiah of Evil / int_863fa679
 Messiah of Evil / int_8ba9512b
type
Our Zombies Are Different
 Messiah of Evil / int_8ba9512b
comment
Our Zombies Are Different: It's not clear if the cult are actually zombies, but they seem to be undead and clearly have a taste for raw meat. They do act and look the part, gathering and devouring victims in hordes, but seem to have a degree of sapience, like when they all sit down in the movie theater. Apparently, it entails being infested by another entity, and the transformation isn't complete until after one eats flesh.
 Messiah of Evil / int_8ba9512b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Messiah of Evil / int_8ba9512b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Messiah of Evil
hasFeature
Messiah of Evil / int_8ba9512b
 Messiah of Evil / int_9c1f758a
type
Kill It with Fire
 Messiah of Evil / int_9c1f758a
comment
Kill It with Fire: This is the only way Arletty is able to fend off her crazed, bloodthirsty father. The old wino Charlie appears to have predicted this.
 Messiah of Evil / int_9c1f758a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Messiah of Evil / int_9c1f758a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Messiah of Evil
hasFeature
Messiah of Evil / int_9c1f758a
 Messiah of Evil / int_a5de0ab9
type
Polyamory
 Messiah of Evil / int_a5de0ab9
comment
Polyamory: Thom, Toni, and Laura are a throuple. The possibility of expanding the group to four, after Thom obviously takes a fancy to gorgeous Arletty, causes Laura to leave.
 Messiah of Evil / int_a5de0ab9
featureApplicability
1.0
 Messiah of Evil / int_a5de0ab9
featureConfidence
1.0
 Messiah of Evil
hasFeature
Messiah of Evil / int_a5de0ab9
 Messiah of Evil / int_c14ca4e0
type
Zombie Infectee
 Messiah of Evil / int_c14ca4e0
comment
Zombie Infectee: Late in the film, Arletty starts showing telltale symptoms of... whatever it is that affected the townspeople, but tries to stave it off and avoid eating flesh.
 Messiah of Evil / int_c14ca4e0
featureApplicability
1.0
 Messiah of Evil / int_c14ca4e0
featureConfidence
1.0
 Messiah of Evil
hasFeature
Messiah of Evil / int_c14ca4e0
 Messiah of Evil / int_cf7b362
type
Horror Hunger
 Messiah of Evil / int_cf7b362
comment
Horror Hunger: Cultists are ravenous for raw flesh, and will eat it in any form, be it rats they picked up at the beach, meat they find at the supermarket, or any human that crosses their path.
 Messiah of Evil / int_cf7b362
featureApplicability
1.0
 Messiah of Evil / int_cf7b362
featureConfidence
1.0
 Messiah of Evil
hasFeature
Messiah of Evil / int_cf7b362
 Messiah of Evil / int_d9cf40fa
type
Screw This, I'm Outta Here
 Messiah of Evil / int_d9cf40fa
comment
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Laura walks out after Thom becomes infatuated with Arletty. She's swarmed by a mob of hungry cultists in the supermarket.
 Messiah of Evil / int_d9cf40fa
featureApplicability
1.0
 Messiah of Evil / int_d9cf40fa
featureConfidence
1.0
 Messiah of Evil
hasFeature
Messiah of Evil / int_d9cf40fa
 Messiah of Evil / int_e19e68
type
Cruel Mercy
 Messiah of Evil / int_e19e68
comment
Cruel Mercy: The "dark man" spares Arletty instead of sacrificing her, knowing that nobody will believe her story and that she'll be institutionalized.
 Messiah of Evil / int_e19e68
featureApplicability
1.0
 Messiah of Evil / int_e19e68
featureConfidence
1.0
 Messiah of Evil
hasFeature
Messiah of Evil / int_e19e68
 Messiah of Evil / int_eba911fd
type
Dark Messiah
 Messiah of Evil / int_eba911fd
comment
Dark Messiah: The title character, also referred to as the "dark man". He apparently came to spread his newfound faith after escaping the Donner Party. Said "faith" turns people into slightly more functional zombies at the rising of the blood moon.
 Messiah of Evil / int_eba911fd
featureApplicability
1.0
 Messiah of Evil / int_eba911fd
featureConfidence
1.0
 Messiah of Evil
hasFeature
Messiah of Evil / int_eba911fd
 Messiah of Evil / int_f3e87937
type
Tears of Blood
 Messiah of Evil / int_f3e87937
comment
Tears of Blood: A telltale sign that someone is becoming one of the dark man's zombies.
 Messiah of Evil / int_f3e87937
featureApplicability
1.0
 Messiah of Evil / int_f3e87937
featureConfidence
1.0
 Messiah of Evil
hasFeature
Messiah of Evil / int_f3e87937
 Messiah of Evil / int_name
type
ItemName
 Messiah of Evil / int_name
comment
 Messiah of Evil / int_name
featureApplicability
1.0
 Messiah of Evil / int_name
featureConfidence
1.0
 Messiah of Evil
hasFeature
Messiah of Evil / int_name
 Messiah of Evil / int_name
itemName
Messiah of Evil

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Messiah of Evil
hasFeature
Bad Moon Rising / int_e2d83249