(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“The soul of a young girl with telekinetic powers and her mother become the prize in a battle between good ETs and evil ETs.”
An old college film professor of mine love to say: “There are cult films, and there are C-U-L-T films.”
While I’ll admit to being mostly confused by his sentiment at the time, I’m much older – and I like to think ‘wiser’ – today, and I think what he was trying to suggest was that some pictures – in their inception – set out to earn offbeat statis while others find themselves with such an imprimatur over time. Because flicks are a combination of the efforts from hundreds of people, the skills of all involved obviously vary; and it remains the responsibility of those at the top – i.e. the producers, the director(s), and the screenwriter(s) – to push every piece of the narrative in one thematic and aesthetic direction. When that happens, it’s safe to suggest that C-U-L-T status can be applied to the finished product because everything – from the script to the talent to the many technicians toiling behind-the-scenes – is properly synthesized into a cohesive whole.
Put simply, these rare efforts should be easily identified as C-U-L-T right out of the starting gate. There’s little about them which appears conventional, and everything therein has been conceived just a bit off-center. Mind you: performances and details are still allowed to vary from person-to-person, set-to-set, and/or scene-to-scene, but there’s no escaping the fact that everything wrapped up in the total running time is imbued with the same curious flavor or hums to the same mystical undercurrent. Critically, you cannot separate one from the other and preserve the story as presented because doing so thwarts the feel intended by the storytellers. It’s this fusion that makes truly C-U-L-T films a cut above ordinary cult films … if that makes any sense.
The Visitor (1979) opens with an obviously dated special effects shot of an old man – Jerzy Colsowicz (played by John Huston) – looking like a Jedi Knight surveying the open, dusty plains of Tatooine. (See Star Wars from 1977.) A few moments later, a storm rolls in from over the horizon; and a young girl is suddenly plunged front-and-center in the midst of an unexpected snow storm. As she fades into the background, Jerzy watches her vanish into the midst, seemingly now ‘informed’ – with Jedi mind vision – of a significant task lying ahead of him.
Almost immediately, the film cuts to the scene of a blonde Christ figure lecturing a group of bald, monk-like children about the forgotten history of Zatteen. (Think ‘Satan’ and you get the picture.) Apparently, this mysterious evildoer from the stars escaped his original world and exiled himself to Earth, where he immediately went about the dark business of passing along his seed to hundreds of men and women of our planet, all in hopes that eventually a child can be born that will either wreak havoc or kinda/sorta herald his return. As fate would have it, Zatteen was killed long ago – by his rival Yahweh – but his spirit has returned in the form of a young girl named Katy Collins (Paige Conner). Finally, Jerzy arrives to this ‘monastery,’ and he’s now on a mission to bring the child back to the stars where she belongs.
One needn’t be a rocket scientist to notice right away that The Visitor is clearly grounded in Biblical lore, but – within moments – it goes into overdrive.
Essentially, young Katy is kinda/sorta envisioned as a contemporary version of the AntiChrist (or thereabouts), though we soon learn that she’s hell bent (snicker snicker) on getting her mother Barbara (Joanne Nail) to bring her a brother into this world and perhaps it’s he who is really intended to foster in the whole downfall of man from scripture. It also becomes clear that Barbara’s current suitor – Raymond Armstead (a young Lance Henriksen) – is also operating from a similar agenda as he’s been selected by a shadowy group of suited men (think ‘the Illuminati’) to impregnate the good lady Collins and bring about the Apocalypse at their bidding when Katy and the unborn male engage in incestual coitus.
As the dust settles on this rather elaborate set-up, it becomes obvious that there’s not one but two clandestine organizations battling out control of Earth’s destiny, each side rather obviously representing ‘Good’ and ‘Evil.’ Into this heady mix, writer/director Giulio Paradisi throws a greater deal of additional fodder, such as Katy’s physic powers, the manipulation of history (and sports!) by secret cabals, corporate conspiracies, extraterrestrial visitations, alien abductions, and – ahem – angry birds. It’s clear that Paradisi and his co-screenwriters’ fascination and love of films such as The Bad Seed (1956), The Birds (1963), The Exorcist (1973), The Omen (1976), and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977) seep into the story over 100+ minute running time, almost as if they all sat around a table in a writer’s room trying to figure out exactly how to plug every sequence they wanted to mirror from these other features into their final product.
Now, that fact alone might turn a good number in the potential viewing audience off; but there’s still more worth discussing though I do try to avoid spoiling any significant factors. Suffice it to say, Franco Micalizzi’s sometimes moody and sometimes bombastic score has to be heard to be fully appreciated; Ennio Guarnieri’s occasionally frenzied cinematography needs to be seen to be understood; and Franco Vanorio’s contributions as art director give everything captured within a texture that feels as invasive as it might curiously wholesome. Every conceivable aspect to The Visitor could be studied because – lo and behold – it might mean something or, contrarywise, might mean nothing: art is subjective, and each of us hears or sees or experiences a film differently. But when so much that should be ordinary is given extraordinary display, then there’s no denying something deeper was likely intended by proxy. What exactly it might mean is up to each of you, so you’re encouraged to figure that out.
But the central tenet of Good versus Evil does come to a head in the last reel, and – dear Lord in Heaven above – it, too, is the kind of thing that defies description to a degree. What Katy and Raymond thought they could accomplish at this late a stage kinda/sorta escapes explanation, but the two are determined to extract their collective vengeance on Barbara, especially if it’s the death of her. Jerzy shows up in the nick of time – with an army of curious do-gooders – and achieves balance, though it likely won’t be anything anyone in the audience was expecting … much like the entire picture as a whole.
The Visitor (1979) (aka Stridulum) was produced by Brouwersgracht Investments. DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been handled by the fine folks at Arrow Films. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I can still assure readings that the provided sights and sounds are really impressive, especially considering the age of the flick. (Yes, there are sequences with some obvious grain and – ahem – a few of the “special effects” sequences aren’t as “special” nor as “effective” as they could be, but they work well for the time and place.) Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? The disc boasts an audio commentary, some archival talent interviews, and a few visual essays; and all are definitely worth the time. (The commentary meanders a bit in a few spots, but – ahem – so does the film so just be patient.)
Recommended, but this one will likely always find only a cult audience.
Undoubtedly, The Visitor (1979) is one of the most bizarre experiences I’ve ever enjoyed on film. The script clearly is an amalgamation of various screen influences from Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror – Star Wars, Close Encounters, The Birds, The Bad Seed, etc. – to the point of practically copying scenes done elsewhere and yet somehow – almost magically – the end result still manages to stand on its own two legs. Granted, it still has characters and sequences that don’t quite make perfect sense; but that’s also the charm of the whole affair, leaving you to make of those pieces what you will. However, I’ll stop short of dubbing writer/director Paradisi’s effort as an homage to those earlier works (as I’ve read some insist it is) because, respectfully, it wanders into too many different directions to seriously have been intended as some loving tribute to genre cinema.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Arrow Films provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray copy of The Visitor (1979) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“The soul of a young girl with telekinetic powers and her mother become the prize in a battle between good ETs and evil ETs.”
An old college film professor of mine love to say: “There are cult films, and there are C-U-L-T films.”
While I’ll admit to being mostly confused by his sentiment at the time, I’m much older – and I like to think ‘wiser’ – today, and I think what he was trying to suggest was that some pictures – in their inception – set out to earn offbeat statis while others find themselves with such an imprimatur over time. Because flicks are a combination of the efforts from hundreds of people, the skills of all involved obviously vary; and it remains the responsibility of those at the top – i.e. the producers, the director(s), and the screenwriter(s) – to push every piece of the narrative in one thematic and aesthetic direction. When that happens, it’s safe to suggest that C-U-L-T status can be applied to the finished product because everything – from the script to the talent to the many technicians toiling behind-the-scenes – is properly synthesized into a cohesive whole.
Put simply, these rare efforts should be easily identified as C-U-L-T right out of the starting gate. There’s little about them which appears conventional, and everything therein has been conceived just a bit off-center. Mind you: performances and details are still allowed to vary from person-to-person, set-to-set, and/or scene-to-scene, but there’s no escaping the fact that everything wrapped up in the total running time is imbued with the same curious flavor or hums to the same mystical undercurrent. Critically, you cannot separate one from the other and preserve the story as presented because doing so thwarts the feel intended by the storytellers. It’s this fusion that makes truly C-U-L-T films a cut above ordinary cult films … if that makes any sense.
The Visitor (1979) opens with an obviously dated special effects shot of an old man – Jerzy Colsowicz (played by John Huston) – looking like a Jedi Knight surveying the open, dusty plains of Tatooine. (See Star Wars from 1977.) A few moments later, a storm rolls in from over the horizon; and a young girl is suddenly plunged front-and-center in the midst of an unexpected snow storm. As she fades into the background, Jerzy watches her vanish into the midst, seemingly now ‘informed’ – with Jedi mind vision – of a significant task lying ahead of him.
Almost immediately, the film cuts to the scene of a blonde Christ figure lecturing a group of bald, monk-like children about the forgotten history of Zatteen. (Think ‘Satan’ and you get the picture.) Apparently, this mysterious evildoer from the stars escaped his original world and exiled himself to Earth, where he immediately went about the dark business of passing along his seed to hundreds of men and women of our planet, all in hopes that eventually a child can be born that will either wreak havoc or kinda/sorta herald his return. As fate would have it, Zatteen was killed long ago – by his rival Yahweh – but his spirit has returned in the form of a young girl named Katy Collins (Paige Conner). Finally, Jerzy arrives to this ‘monastery,’ and he’s now on a mission to bring the child back to the stars where she belongs.
One needn’t be a rocket scientist to notice right away that The Visitor is clearly grounded in Biblical lore, but – within moments – it goes into overdrive.
Essentially, young Katy is kinda/sorta envisioned as a contemporary version of the AntiChrist (or thereabouts), though we soon learn that she’s hell bent (snicker snicker) on getting her mother Barbara (Joanne Nail) to bring her a brother into this world and perhaps it’s he who is really intended to foster in the whole downfall of man from scripture. It also becomes clear that Barbara’s current suitor – Raymond Armstead (a young Lance Henriksen) – is also operating from a similar agenda as he’s been selected by a shadowy group of suited men (think ‘the Illuminati’) to impregnate the good lady Collins and bring about the Apocalypse at their bidding when Katy and the unborn male engage in incestual coitus.
As the dust settles on this rather elaborate set-up, it becomes obvious that there’s not one but two clandestine organizations battling out control of Earth’s destiny, each side rather obviously representing ‘Good’ and ‘Evil.’ Into this heady mix, writer/director Giulio Paradisi throws a greater deal of additional fodder, such as Katy’s physic powers, the manipulation of history (and sports!) by secret cabals, corporate conspiracies, extraterrestrial visitations, alien abductions, and – ahem – angry birds. It’s clear that Paradisi and his co-screenwriters’ fascination and love of films such as The Bad Seed (1956), The Birds (1963), The Exorcist (1973), The Omen (1976), and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977) seep into the story over 100+ minute running time, almost as if they all sat around a table in a writer’s room trying to figure out exactly how to plug every sequence they wanted to mirror from these other features into their final product.
Now, that fact alone might turn a good number in the potential viewing audience off; but there’s still more worth discussing though I do try to avoid spoiling any significant factors. Suffice it to say, Franco Micalizzi’s sometimes moody and sometimes bombastic score has to be heard to be fully appreciated; Ennio Guarnieri’s occasionally frenzied cinematography needs to be seen to be understood; and Franco Vanorio’s contributions as art director give everything captured within a texture that feels as invasive as it might curiously wholesome. Every conceivable aspect to The Visitor could be studied because – lo and behold – it might mean something or, contrarywise, might mean nothing: art is subjective, and each of us hears or sees or experiences a film differently. But when so much that should be ordinary is given extraordinary display, then there’s no denying something deeper was likely intended by proxy. What exactly it might mean is up to each of you, so you’re encouraged to figure that out.
But the central tenet of Good versus Evil does come to a head in the last reel, and – dear Lord in Heaven above – it, too, is the kind of thing that defies description to a degree. What Katy and Raymond thought they could accomplish at this late a stage kinda/sorta escapes explanation, but the two are determined to extract their collective vengeance on Barbara, especially if it’s the death of her. Jerzy shows up in the nick of time – with an army of curious do-gooders – and achieves balance, though it likely won’t be anything anyone in the audience was expecting … much like the entire picture as a whole.
The Visitor (1979) (aka Stridulum) was produced by Brouwersgracht Investments. DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been handled by the fine folks at Arrow Films. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I can still assure readings that the provided sights and sounds are really impressive, especially considering the age of the flick. (Yes, there are sequences with some obvious grain and – ahem – a few of the “special effects” sequences aren’t as “special” nor as “effective” as they could be, but they work well for the time and place.) Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? The disc boasts an audio commentary, some archival talent interviews, and a few visual essays; and all are definitely worth the time. (The commentary meanders a bit in a few spots, but – ahem – so does the film so just be patient.)
Recommended, but this one will likely always find only a cult audience.
Undoubtedly, The Visitor (1979) is one of the most bizarre experiences I’ve ever enjoyed on film. The script clearly is an amalgamation of various screen influences from Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror – Star Wars, Close Encounters, The Birds, The Bad Seed, etc. – to the point of practically copying scenes done elsewhere and yet somehow – almost magically – the end result still manages to stand on its own two legs. Granted, it still has characters and sequences that don’t quite make perfect sense; but that’s also the charm of the whole affair, leaving you to make of those pieces what you will. However, I’ll stop short of dubbing writer/director Paradisi’s effort as an homage to those earlier works (as I’ve read some insist it is) because, respectfully, it wanders into too many different directions to seriously have been intended as some loving tribute to genre cinema.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Arrow Films provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray copy of The Visitor (1979) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
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