Communion (1989)

Whitley Strieber goes with his family and some friends to his holiday home in the forest. They experience some weird occurances, are they UFO activity? Whitley is abducted and then faces a ... See full summary »

Director:

Philippe Mora

Writers:

Whitley Strieber (book), Whitley Strieber (screenplay)

Stars:

Christopher Walken, Lindsay Crouse, Frances Sternhagen

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christopher Walken	...	Whitley Strieber
Lindsay Crouse	...	Anne Strieber
Frances Sternhagen	...	Dr. Janet Duffy
Andreas Katsulas	...	Alex
Terri Hanauer	...	Sarah
Joel Carlson	...	Andrew Strieber
John Dennis Johnston	...	Fireman
DeeDee Rescher	...	Mrs. Greenberg (as Dee Dee Rescher)
Aileen Fitzpatrick	...	Mother
R.J. Miller	...	Father
Holly Fields	...	Praying Mantis Girl
Paula Shaw	...	Woman from Apartment
Juliet Sorci	...	Second Grade Girl (as Juliet Sorcey)
Tifni Twitchell	...	Teacher
Joshua Miller	...	Tall Boy (as Joshua John Miller)

Storyline

Whitley Strieber goes with his family and some friends to his holiday home in the forest. They experience some weird occurances, are they UFO activity? Whitley is abducted and then faces a horrible dilema; was I abducted or am I going mad? He sees a psychiatrist who tries to use hypnotic regression to discover the truth.

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Plot Keywords:

ufo | screenplay adapted by author | outer space | boy | paranoia | 

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Taglines:

On December 26th, 1985, Whitley Strieber had a dream. Weeks later, he discovered his family had the same dream. Months later, he made the most shocking discovery of his life. Now, you will discover it.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 November 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die Besucher

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Lake, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$1,919,653

Company Credits

Production Co:

Allied Vision, Pheasantry Films, The Picture Property Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min (video)

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

While serving as executive producer, author Whitley Strieber, whose experiences serve as the basis of the film, expressed concerns about Christopher Walken's abilities in portraying him. When Strieber finally told Walken that he might be portraying him as a little too crazy, Walken replied, "If the shoe fits."

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Goofs

As Whitley opens the closet to find the teddy bear he opens the right closet door. When filmed from the inside, both doors are open and he then proceeds to close the left door.

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Quotes

Whitley Strieber: He's sending me to a shrinker who specialises in, believe it or not, rape cases.
Anne Strieber: Well, good.

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Alternate Versions

An alternate version of Communion (1989) is shown on FOX network television (USA). The alternate version has extra or extended scenes (compared to the theatrical/cable/video version) as follows:

• When Whitley (Christopher Walken) visits Dr. Freidman (Basil Hoffman), he describes the visitors while watching a salamander frolic in the physician's aquarium.
• When Whitley's Russian friend Alex (Andreas Katsulas) finds Whitley in the diner, he tells Whitley that as a child in his native country he heard stories of small beings who lived in the mines, called Kobolds. He tells Whitley he believes these stories are true;
• On the "ship," Whitley dances with the Little Blue Doctors after they exchange greetings (immediately before the "magic show");
• Upon the roof of their apartment building, the stars in the sky do NOT momentarily appear to resemble the face of a visitor, as they do in the theatrical/cabletv/video version;
• The end credits roll over a night time aerial shot of the Strieber family standing on the shore with New York City behind them.

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Connections

Referenced in The Watchers (2010)

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Soundtracks

Communion
Theme
Composed and performed by Eric Clapton
Written by Eric Clapton and Allan Zavod

User Reviews

Great performance by Walken amplifies the terror in this film.

After reading other users' comments, I concur that this film is not for everyone. I, also, am not a believer in this specific subject matter, but I don't let that interfere with my interpretation of the film. Nevertheless, this film absolutely scared the hell out of me. Walken's character, though often bizarre beyond the point of full understanding, is outstandingly well acted. Some may view this film as a silly alien movie. Others, such as myself, will feel absolute terror for Walken's character. Several scenes in the film have made their way into my head and are most disturbing indeed. Fans of this film will agree that specific visual and audio segments are the stuff of nightmares! Walken fans _must_ see this film, as should any alien buffs or film afficionados.