I found this film in the bargain bin and sensed that it was a lost treasure and right i was! I understand why some people dislike it so, but I see it as a classic of its time. Its low-budget, gritty location-driven shooting is hardcore 70's style cinema, with a twist of manic Giallo style editing thrown in. It is the story of a visitor from a planet that was overtaken by storms so that their children had to become pure force, as shown in some fantastically composed sci-fi images of a lone planetscape and a chaotic sky that reminded me of "The Man Who Fell to Earth".
On earth a fiercely independent widowed mother does not want to marry the wealthy man who she's dating, which is a good thing because he's really working for a mysterious group of wealthy men who want her to have a son so that they may harness his powers for their own greed and corruption. Her pre-teen daughter Katie has these powers, is crazily talented at ice-skating and gymnastics, and also wants her mother to marry so she can have a brother. She cripples her mother during a bizarre birthday party scene so that her independence is at risk and she is forced to marry, but still the mother is determined to remain single. The Visitor (played by John Houston) intervenes in order to strip Katie of her evil urges and reclaim her as a force of good.
It does indeed sound confusing, but I had no problems in 2008 keeping up with its twisting plot, and appreciate the (by now) retro big screen TV and pong game that Katie's always playing, as well as the use of 1970's architecture, mod sci-fi imagery, and the use of birds as a recurring violent motif manifesting the alien powers. My only complaint is the music they chose... way too heavy.
Shelly Winters is awesome as the housekeeper keeping tabs on Katie and her emerging evil ways.
On earth a fiercely independent widowed mother does not want to marry the wealthy man who she's dating, which is a good thing because he's really working for a mysterious group of wealthy men who want her to have a son so that they may harness his powers for their own greed and corruption. Her pre-teen daughter Katie has these powers, is crazily talented at ice-skating and gymnastics, and also wants her mother to marry so she can have a brother. She cripples her mother during a bizarre birthday party scene so that her independence is at risk and she is forced to marry, but still the mother is determined to remain single. The Visitor (played by John Houston) intervenes in order to strip Katie of her evil urges and reclaim her as a force of good.
It does indeed sound confusing, but I had no problems in 2008 keeping up with its twisting plot, and appreciate the (by now) retro big screen TV and pong game that Katie's always playing, as well as the use of 1970's architecture, mod sci-fi imagery, and the use of birds as a recurring violent motif manifesting the alien powers. My only complaint is the music they chose... way too heavy.
Shelly Winters is awesome as the housekeeper keeping tabs on Katie and her emerging evil ways.