Night Visitors is a super obscure little oddity of a film. There really isn't all that much information on it anywhere and hardly anyone seems to have even heard of it, let alone seen it. From what I can tell, it's never had a DVD release anywhere and wasn't even released on VHS in America. We get a straight laced family together at Christmas. They are enjoying things such as doing a jigsaw and chatting about accounting. A group of strange characters then get themselves inside under the guise of their car having broken down. Things then get strange.
I really liked the family at the house. They are kind of the over the top caricatures of the all American family that kind of reminded me of the Puttermans from Terrorvision. The gang are all interesting and unique characters too. We get the leader, who's a smooth talking, almost spiritual guy. There's Earl, who just snorts a load of coke and goes off the rails a bit. A black guy who seems to have come from an upperclass upbringing that he resents and the girlfriend of the leader, who looks great in a leather skirt and Lacey bodysuit.
Of the few reviews that are out there of this, most mention that it's very similar to Funny Games, which it predates by some time and that's very true. The invading gang aren't looking to rob the family, but seem more interested in having deep discussions and the leader wanting the family to kill him. It's all pretty interesting stuff and is more compelling due to the obscurity of the thing. It's pretty understandable that it didn't find an audience. It's not quite a horror film, not quite a comedy and not quite a drama and this is it's downfall. It becomes very dialog heavy and stagey which by the hour mark, gets a little dull. It really doesn't have a satisfying ending either, which is a shame as it feels like it's building to something big. It certainly doesn't deserve to be as obscure as it is though. Also, the VHS rip I have has a trailer for Hulk Hogan's No Hold's Barred at the start and Earl mentions Hogan later in the film, which was nice.
I really liked the family at the house. They are kind of the over the top caricatures of the all American family that kind of reminded me of the Puttermans from Terrorvision. The gang are all interesting and unique characters too. We get the leader, who's a smooth talking, almost spiritual guy. There's Earl, who just snorts a load of coke and goes off the rails a bit. A black guy who seems to have come from an upperclass upbringing that he resents and the girlfriend of the leader, who looks great in a leather skirt and Lacey bodysuit.
Of the few reviews that are out there of this, most mention that it's very similar to Funny Games, which it predates by some time and that's very true. The invading gang aren't looking to rob the family, but seem more interested in having deep discussions and the leader wanting the family to kill him. It's all pretty interesting stuff and is more compelling due to the obscurity of the thing. It's pretty understandable that it didn't find an audience. It's not quite a horror film, not quite a comedy and not quite a drama and this is it's downfall. It becomes very dialog heavy and stagey which by the hour mark, gets a little dull. It really doesn't have a satisfying ending either, which is a shame as it feels like it's building to something big. It certainly doesn't deserve to be as obscure as it is though. Also, the VHS rip I have has a trailer for Hulk Hogan's No Hold's Barred at the start and Earl mentions Hogan later in the film, which was nice.