The Visitor (1979)

The soul of a young girl with telekinetic powers becomes the prize in a fight between forces of God and the Devil.

Director:

Giulio Paradisi (as Michael J. Paradise)

Writers:

Luciano Comici (screenplay) (as Lou Comici), Robert Mundi (screenplay) (as Robert Mundy)

Stars:

Mel Ferrer, Glenn Ford, Lance Henriksen

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mel Ferrer	...	Dr. Walker
Glenn Ford	...	Det. Jake Durham
Lance Henriksen	...	Raymond Armstead
John Huston	...	Jerzy Colsowicz
Joanne Nail	...	Barbara Collins
Sam Peckinpah	...	Dr. Sam Collins
Shelley Winters	...	Jane Phillips
Paige Conner	...	Katy Collins
J.A. Townsend	...	Susan (as Ja Townsend)
Joe Dorsey	...	Sheriff Paul Townsend (as Jack Dorsey)
Johnny Popwell	...	AAA Mechanic
Wallace Wilkinson	...	Police Captain
Steve Somers	...	Self - Sportscaster
Lou Walker	...	AAA Mechanic
Walter Gordon Sr.	...	Thomas

Storyline

John Huston stars as an intergalactic warrior who joins a cosmic Christ figure in battle against a demonic 8-year-old girl, and her pet hawk, while the fate of the universe hangs in the balance. Multi-dimensional warfare, pre-adolescent profanity and brutal avian attacks combine to transport the viewer to a state unlike anything they've experienced... somewhere between Hell and the darkest reaches of outer space.

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Plot Keywords:

extreme violence | end of the world | psychic | supernatural power | fear | 

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Taglines:

They know we are here...

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Paige Conner had trouble saying harsh profanity to Glenn Ford in her big confrontation scene with him.

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Goofs

Prior to the Inspector's car accident, the chrome front bumper of his blue Buick LaSaber is heavily dented before the vehicle strikes any object. Immediately after actually hitting a few objects, the dent in the bumper disappears. The damage on the car on the driver's side bumper does correspond with where he later struck construction signs and a motorcycle, but appears and disappears before those collisions happen.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Jesus Christ: Once, far away... light years... distances beyond thought, a great slender ship with a tail of fire slid through the black reaches of space. On that ship was Sateen - a prisoner named Sateen. Words cannot describe his evil, his criminality. He had been captured by Commander Yahweh after decades of search and evasion, in a blood-drenched battle that claimed hundreds of lives. But shortly thereafter, Sateen escaped in a tiny scout craft, a fantastic escape from that spaceship. And ...

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Alternate Versions

"The Visitor" was released on DVD by independent distributor Code Red in November 2010. It was the first time the film had been presented in its uncut form in the United States.

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Connections

References The Lady from Shanghai (1947)

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Soundtracks

Shortnin' Bread
(uncredited)
By James Whitcomb Riley
Performed by Shelley Winters

User Reviews

Utterly bizarre midnight movie with some charms

This oddball midnight movie is getting a re-release and eventual DVD courtesy of the Alamo Drafthouse.

It's about an evil little girl, who is so evil that John Huston and his pacifist army of intergalactic bald yoga practitioners arrive from space to stop her. Meanwhile Lance Henriksen is the evil boyfriend of her clueless, innocent mother, who sold his soul to the satanic forces nurturing her in a Faustian bargain for...a basketball coach position.

Which leads to the early and highly memorable slo-mo basketball set-piece, easily one of the most unique choices of setting for a horror film sequence I've ever seen!

The atmosphere of this weird, weird film alternates between genuinely and oddly poetic (mostly thanks to the music), pure B-movie cheese, and unintentional hilarity. It's one of the strangest films I've ever seen, but that's not a bad thing in this case. If you give yourself over to its strange charms, this is some kind of consciousness-expanding experience.

Will you like it? There are folks who seek out these sorts of bizarre, unique B-movies. You know who you are. At the very least, you should this film an object of curiosity.

Somehow, and for some reason, John Huston, Glenn Ford, Franco Nero (as Jesus Christ), Shelley Winters, Lance Henriksen, Sam Peckinpah, Mel Ferrer and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are all in this movie.

Details

Official Sites:

Drafthouse Films [United States]

Country:

Italy

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

21 November 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Visitor

Filming Locations:

Dear Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$800,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Brouwersgracht Investments, Film Ventures International (FVI), Swan American Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min (edited)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1