Evil Come Evil Go 1972

In a disturbing, hard-edged tale, about faith twisted into control, “Sister” Sarah Jane Butler is a hymn-humming religious fanatic who believes God has chosen her to cleanse the world of those who seek pleasure through sex. She seduces a bar patron and guts him after they leave together, a brutal first act that sets the tone for what follows. She then drives to Los Angeles, where she lures another man to his death and, in a chilling final twist of her creed, scrawls on a mirror, “God is Love, not Sex,” as a stark public proclamation of her mission. (portrayed by Cleo O’Hara)

While busking and preaching on the street, Sarah befriends Penny, a naive lesbian who is being supported by her wealthy but ashamed parents. Penny, played by Sandra Henderson, is drawn into Sarah’s orbit and gradually becomes part of a dark plan that centers on control, devotion, and obedience. Sarah moves in with Penny and takes her on as a devoted disciple, initiating her into “Sister Sarah’s Sacred Order of the Sisters of Complete Subjugation” by tying her to a bed, stripping her, and teasing her with a knife as they sing a defiant tune. The moment is underscored by a visceral, ritualistic atmosphere, reinforced by their shared performance on the streets and the dangerous certainty of their bond.

As the pair rouses themselves to expand their influence, they begin to dream bigger: they sing in public spaces, they plot a television series that Sarah will use as a platform for her views, and they intimidate Penny’s tenants in a bid to cement their control. The dynamic grows increasingly claustrophobic, a coercive duet where faith and fear feed each other in a dangerous symbiosis.

Sarah has Penny lure a man home, and while he and Penny are intimate, Sarah suddenly stabs him to death. Penny is horrified by the murder but remains under Sarah’s sway, bobbing along in a nightmare she can’t escape. As the bodies accumulate, Penny’s ex-girlfriend Junie visits—and in a brutal moment, Sarah garrotes Junie with a scarf while she is with Penny, another chilling lesson in obedience and power. Junie is portrayed by Jane Tsentas.

The pair dump their victims in the woods, repeating a grisly pattern as they move through each encounter. They spot a couple having sex and, after the woman leaves, the man approaches them and departs with the duo, a sign that the cycle may continue, even as Penny remains conflicted and fearful about what she’s become. A guitarist who has trailed the group throughout the film remains an ominous presence, finally following from a distance as the credits roll with the eerie refrain of their wanderings.

As the credits loom, the mood tightens: the film closes on the unresolved tension of a duo whose fanatic devotion has eclipsed any sense of humanity, leaving the audience with an unsettling question about belief, power, and the price of obedience. The final note, sung softly in the background, hovers over the woods where the last bodies lay, a reminder that the line between salvation and domination can be dangerously thin.

Glory, Glory, Hallelujah

• Penny, Sandra Henderson

• Junie, Jane Tsentas