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
Ja Townsend
Jack Dorsey
Johnny Popwell	...	AAA Mechanic
Wallace Wilkinson	...	Police Captain
Steve Somers
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:

grindhouse | graphic violence | extreme violence | end of the world | psychic | 

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Taglines:

They know we are here...

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Drafthouse Films [United States]

Country:

Italy USA

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to the interview with Paige Conner on the Code Red DVD, Shelley Winters smacked Conner for real several times while both rehearsing and filming a key confrontation scene with her.

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Goofs

During the ice skating spinning sequence, Katie clearly let's go of the boy in the darker blue shirt twice (or the same footage is used twice). The aerial shot shows her letting go of the boy, and then a quick wide shot of them spinning together still holding onto each other, then the aerial shot again shows her letting go of the boy.

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Quotes

Detective Jake Durham: Now listen to me Katy isn't there something you want to tell me?
Katy Collins: Yeah. Go fuck yourself!

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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

I challenge anyone to make sense of this movie!

I find it hard to believe any U.S. distributor would actually take the time to release this to theaters, though the IMDb says that more than one handled this movie in theatrical release! True, the movie boasts an all-star cast, though looking at their brief screen time, it seems just about all these stars knocked off their scenes in not more than a couple of days.

It must be noted that the U.S. print is cut; I've heard from one source that the Italian print does make somewhat more sense. All I can do is judge this particular cut - which makes NO sense at all! People make schemes that are never explained, weird things happen for seemingly no purpose at all... it's a BIG mess! One example is with Italian superstar Franco Nero, who (because of the editing) only gets to appear for about 30 seconds at the end of the movie!

I will admit that at the very least you can salvage a decent number of unintended laughs. Not only is the movie so insane and incoherent that you can't help but laugh out loud, there are some individual delirious scenes that are wacked-out as well. The skating rink scene... John Huston impersonating a babysitter... John Huston playing pong with the mysterious girl (though it's clear that it's a one player pong game on the TV screen)... Shelley Winters overacting... and more. It's not a constantly hilarious experience, and you're bound to get frustrated to a degree with the garbled storyline, but the experience can't be seen as a total loss as well.