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:

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 title-drop in the book is very different and more significant.

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Goofs

When Whitley leaves his vehicle in the 'final' visit to the cabin, the camera cuts to the entire cabin drenched in light. As he starts approaching it you can clearly see the source of light as a spotlight at the top right of the screen.

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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

Who dare look behind the mask?

This film left a lasting impression on me, which didn't wane during the second and even third viewing. I have never thought about it as an "alien-movie". (Incidentally, the word "aliens" is never once mentioned in the film.) In my opinion, it is a film about the man's reaction to the inexplicable intruding into his orderly existence. It is all about people, not aliens. Each character has their own reaction to the strange. In fact, what we see is a "pilgrim's progress", with Walken fighting against various attempts (by others and by himself) to explain it away. It is a philosophical parable, saying that any explanation would be nothing but a mask over the truth, which cannot be expressed in words. As Walken says: "This cannot be it. I didn't come all this way for you to tell me that this is it."