Messiah of Evil - S15 E116

Messiah of Evil - S15 E116

From Shoot The Hostage by Shoot The Hostage Podcast

May 25, 2026 · 1h 20m · Episode 163

About this episode

The episode explores the cult classic 'Messiah of Evil' and its connections to liminal space movies and David Lynch's style.

Welcome back to the second stop on Sarah’s tour of liminal space movies, and this week we’re descending into the 1973 cult cinema classic, Messiah of Evil. It’s the film that sparked this entire season, and while it might have sat on a shelf for years, it’s currently having a bit of a second coming on the pod. We’re breaking down the dreamlike logic of Point Dune (formerly new Bethlehem) and exploring why this film feels so much like David Lynch’s style, even though it was hitting screens before Eraserhead was a glimmer in Lynch’s eye. We discuss directors Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck ambitious artistic vision and how editor Scott Conrad (of Rocky fame) managed to piece together such an atmospheric experience from a production that literally ran out of money. Beyond the hanging beds and important Mr Blobby tangents, we wade through the claret to get to the iconic supermarket scene to discuss the consumerist ghoul angle. Dan finds a rare moment of connection between the film’s hand-painted murals and his own Dad’s late-night black-tape art projects, while Sarah defends the Dick Smith neon-lurid blood recipe as peak 70s cinema aesthetic. What to expect in this episode: A breakdown…

People in this episode

Hosts: Sarah, Dan

Topics covered

  • liminal space movies
  • cult cinema
  • 1970s film
  • dreamlike logic
  • consumerism
  • artistic vision

Keywords

  • Messiah of Evil
  • liminal space
  • cult cinema
  • 1970s aesthetics
  • David Lynch
  • consumerist ghoul
  • artistic vision

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Messiah of Evil, Eraserhead, Rocky, Noel’s House Party

More episodes of Shoot The Hostage

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Shoot The Hostage podcast page.