Messiah of Evil (Standard Special Edition)

A woman arrives in a sleepy seaside town after receiving unsettling letters from her father, only to discover the town is under the influence of a strange cult that weeps tears of blood and hunger for human flesh. From Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, the writers of American Grafitti, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Howard the Duck, this dreamy and atmospheric film transposes the post-Night of the Living Dead zombie movie to a surreal small-town American setting, presented through gorgeous Techniscope visuals that echo the stylish European horror of Mario Bava and Hammer.

A true cult film, Messiah of Evil, which was also released as Dead People, has overcome distribution challenges to enjoy growing awareness and high acclaim after decades of word-of-mouth enthusiasm among horror cinema fans and critics around the world.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

• New 2023 restoration from a 4K scan of the best-surviving elements of the film from the Academy Film Archive
• Uncompressed mono PCM audio
• English Subtitles
• Audio commentary by critics and horror experts Kim Newman and Stephen Thrower
• Archival interview with co-writer-director Willard Huyck by Mike White from the Projection Booth Podcast
• A new “Messiah Of Evil” documentary (more info TBA)
• Visual essay on the American Gothic by critic Kat Ellinger