Communion (1989)

Oct.4 and Dec.26 the Strieber family drives from NYC to their cabin in the woods. Both nights there are some powerful lights outside and maybe aliens. The dad is mentally affected by the "bad dream", goes to the shrink and is hypnotized.

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:

The true story of one man's terrifying journey into the unknown.

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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

The Main Theme musical soundtrack ''Communion Theme'' was composed and performed by Eric Clapton. We hear this musical theme at the very beginning of the film.

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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: [as an Alien readies the Rectal Probe] Can we talk this over? It looks like you're going to sing White Christmas...

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Alternate Versions

The Fox TV version suffers from some poorly executed video signal enhancements; the brightness level of bright objects has been boosted and digitially diffused. This adds to the ethereal atmosphere of the "ship" and hides some of the flaws in the special effects. However, because it was applied to the entire tape, even the late afternoon sunlight streaming into Dr. Janet Duffy's (Frances Sternhagen) office appears to be the Second Coming.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Christopher Walken Performances (2012)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

Freakin' WEIRD movie, this!

Director Philippe Mora has made some bizarre movies in his time, and 'Communion' is one of the strangest. Christopher Walken plays writer Whitley Strieber who finds his life going in a very odd direction. Strieber isn't the most grounded guy in the first place - his writing technique seems to consist of putting on funny hats and pretending to be a wolf - but even his broadminded wife Anne (Mamet regular Lindsay Crouse) draws the line at freaking out at Halloween masks, pulling a gun on imaginary owls or intruders or whatever it was, and generally nutso behaviour. She convinces Whit to see a doctor, and then a psychiatrist. Under hypnosis Strieber finds out more than he is prepared for. At least he's not insane... I think.

This is one of Walken's greatest "out there" performances, as memorable as 'The Deerhunter', 'The King Of New York' and 'Wild Side'. He mumbles, grimaces, laughs, dances, twitches, stares, freaks out, charms, irritates and scares. I don't think his "Whitley Strieber" has anything to do with the real life one, but it's a sensational performance nonetheless. Walken has few rivals in screen psychos - only Dennis Hopper during his 70s excesses, or vintage Timothy Carey can rival him. Freakin' weird role in a freakin' weird movie! A must see for lovers of movie strangeness.