MESSIAH OF EVIL is an oft-overlooked supernatural potboiler from the 70s marred by unfinished scenes and choppy re-editing. The evidence was always there in what remains, of what was meant to be. The movie came complete with the subtitle THE SECOND COMING, yet that plot element is only hinted at in mere leftover shots...

When the movie hit the drive-ins, audiences didn't really know what to make of it. Padded with overwrought voiceover scenes and subplot diversions that veer off the road with jerky unsubtlety. Marketers were quick to retitle the movie as something sure to reel audiences in, carny-like:

They turned it into a NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD sequel. MESSIAH OF EVIL was re-released as RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (many years before the official sequel). It was advertised using imagery and typeface from Romero's film...

Leading to a lawsuit. The distributors lost and recalled the RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD version. Now, 40 years later, we pay tribute to this lost footnote in the history of an almost lost footnote itself.

We've recreated the advertising as a color, now in blood-red. You'll find the legal papers on the back cover! Thinking what could we do to tune the movie up as the LIVING DEAD sequel it was hawked at, we've gone through scene-by-scene and painstakingly re-colored the movie in atmospheric monochrome, bridging the gap with the black & white NOTLD.

And what about the so-called second coming? For this version, we've liberally applied the editing scissors to cut out the padding and anything that derails the story. This is *not* intended to replace the official movie, it's merely a supplemental look at what might have been, had the editing not been rushed without discernment.

What we've ended up with is a story focused more on the heroine, a stronger hint of the dark lord's second coming, and a dream-like, somnambulistic tone much like PHANTASM. And a runtime of 66 minutes & 6 seconds - 666.

1973. Directed by Willard Huyck. Stars Marianna Hill, Michael Greer, Royal Dano. Serial #: RS028. 66 minutes. Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1. NTSC/Region Zero. Manufactured On Demand.