From producer Ovidio G. Assonitis comes this rip-off of THE OMEN which may be lacking in coherence and plot structure, but makes up for that in having a mainly famous American cast to give it some box-office draw. The only difference this time is that the child is a girl instead of a boy, but the usual accidental deaths are all present, along with a number of people on the sides of both good and evil fighting over her.
This surreal movie opens with John Huston facing a snow-covered girl with reptilian eyes in a barren desert where the sky is green and a huge storm brews around them. I think this symbolic opening is supposed to remind us of THE EXORCIST and that movie's prologue with Max Von Sydow facing Pazuzu in the desert. The special effects are unconvincing but nonetheless interesting, giving the movie a weird, surreal kind of look, a theme which runs throughout. After this we are introduced to Jesus Christ (played by Italian favourite Franco Nero) who tells a group of skinhead boys the battle between good and evil is still going on! A bizarre prologue to be sure but things are just going to keep getting weirder.
Finally, after about twenty minute, the plot begins for real. Barbara Collins is visiting a basketball game with her daughter, Katy, and her lover, Raymond (Lance Henriksen). Katy makes the basketball explode and thus her favourite team wins. We soon learn that the girl is possessed by evil and has a familiar, in the form of an eagle, to do her bidding. Her eyes also turn silver occasionally via some spooky-looking contacts. Henriksen, it soon transpires, is part of an evil organisation and has been charged with the task of getting Barbara pregnant again (as she gives birth to evil babies).
It's pretty hard to watch this film and keep track of what's going on, because of the sheer lack of coherence in the plot and the wealth of ultimately unexplained things that happen. The evil group that Ferrer leads is never fully explained as to its roots or why it affects them when the child dies. Similarly, the character of Huston is never fully explained or the bald-headed boys in the 'hospital'. The movie is pretty dated, with some appalling fashions (especially in the gigantic sunglasses that Katy wears occasionally) and a cool funky '70s music score (a highlight). Two black accident repair men turn up for a spot of wisecracking comic relief! The special effects are lacking but imaginative, and there's a fine stunt involving Ford crashing his car which is executed well.
The various deaths are about as gory as in THE OMEN, with brief flashes of a bloody eyeball being pecked or a knife driving into a throat. There are some standout moments involving Katy making a metal partition crash down onto a hot dog stand in her attempt to kill Huston, the aforementioned green sky dream sequences, and the ending, in which Katy is attacked by hundreds of birds. There's also a fun hall-of-mirrors sequence seemingly stolen from ENTER THE DRAGON.
The cast is a good one and makes up for the script's deficiencies. Mel Ferrer, a genre staple in this period, makes good use of his cold, creepy eyes as the chief villain. Lance Henriksen basically reprises his role from DAMIEN: OMEN II but is underused. Shelley Winters is good value as a bible-bashing nanny, while director Sam Peckinpah makes a brief cameo as a doctor. Glenn Ford is pretty good as a detective hot on Katy's trail who comes off the worse for wear, while John Huston is excellent and understated as the central crusader for good.
Paige Conner, though, goes over the top as Katy and comes off more as annoying and whiny than frightening or evil; she's pretty unconvincing and not a patch on Linda Blair. The final chief cast member is the familiar-looking Joanne Nail who struggles through an awful role which subjects her to a ton of abuse, like being accidentally shot, propelled into a fish tank, thrown down a flight of stairs, and garroted; it's pretty disturbing the amount of misfortune that happens to her, especially when she's in the wheelchair, and in this the film echoes Lee Remick's unfortunate character in THE OMEN.
I would liken this movie to EXORCIST II in that, overall, it is a flop and disappointingly disjointed, but it has some key artistic scenes that make it worth a watch. Of course, if you're a fan of any of the actors appearing in it then I would recommend it too, to see how they handle being in such a film. Sometimes boring and sometimes fascinating, THE VISITOR is worth tracking down for fans of the bizarre.
This surreal movie opens with John Huston facing a snow-covered girl with reptilian eyes in a barren desert where the sky is green and a huge storm brews around them. I think this symbolic opening is supposed to remind us of THE EXORCIST and that movie's prologue with Max Von Sydow facing Pazuzu in the desert. The special effects are unconvincing but nonetheless interesting, giving the movie a weird, surreal kind of look, a theme which runs throughout. After this we are introduced to Jesus Christ (played by Italian favourite Franco Nero) who tells a group of skinhead boys the battle between good and evil is still going on! A bizarre prologue to be sure but things are just going to keep getting weirder.
Finally, after about twenty minute, the plot begins for real. Barbara Collins is visiting a basketball game with her daughter, Katy, and her lover, Raymond (Lance Henriksen). Katy makes the basketball explode and thus her favourite team wins. We soon learn that the girl is possessed by evil and has a familiar, in the form of an eagle, to do her bidding. Her eyes also turn silver occasionally via some spooky-looking contacts. Henriksen, it soon transpires, is part of an evil organisation and has been charged with the task of getting Barbara pregnant again (as she gives birth to evil babies).
It's pretty hard to watch this film and keep track of what's going on, because of the sheer lack of coherence in the plot and the wealth of ultimately unexplained things that happen. The evil group that Ferrer leads is never fully explained as to its roots or why it affects them when the child dies. Similarly, the character of Huston is never fully explained or the bald-headed boys in the 'hospital'. The movie is pretty dated, with some appalling fashions (especially in the gigantic sunglasses that Katy wears occasionally) and a cool funky '70s music score (a highlight). Two black accident repair men turn up for a spot of wisecracking comic relief! The special effects are lacking but imaginative, and there's a fine stunt involving Ford crashing his car which is executed well.
The various deaths are about as gory as in THE OMEN, with brief flashes of a bloody eyeball being pecked or a knife driving into a throat. There are some standout moments involving Katy making a metal partition crash down onto a hot dog stand in her attempt to kill Huston, the aforementioned green sky dream sequences, and the ending, in which Katy is attacked by hundreds of birds. There's also a fun hall-of-mirrors sequence seemingly stolen from ENTER THE DRAGON.
The cast is a good one and makes up for the script's deficiencies. Mel Ferrer, a genre staple in this period, makes good use of his cold, creepy eyes as the chief villain. Lance Henriksen basically reprises his role from DAMIEN: OMEN II but is underused. Shelley Winters is good value as a bible-bashing nanny, while director Sam Peckinpah makes a brief cameo as a doctor. Glenn Ford is pretty good as a detective hot on Katy's trail who comes off the worse for wear, while John Huston is excellent and understated as the central crusader for good.
Paige Conner, though, goes over the top as Katy and comes off more as annoying and whiny than frightening or evil; she's pretty unconvincing and not a patch on Linda Blair. The final chief cast member is the familiar-looking Joanne Nail who struggles through an awful role which subjects her to a ton of abuse, like being accidentally shot, propelled into a fish tank, thrown down a flight of stairs, and garroted; it's pretty disturbing the amount of misfortune that happens to her, especially when she's in the wheelchair, and in this the film echoes Lee Remick's unfortunate character in THE OMEN.
I would liken this movie to EXORCIST II in that, overall, it is a flop and disappointingly disjointed, but it has some key artistic scenes that make it worth a watch. Of course, if you're a fan of any of the actors appearing in it then I would recommend it too, to see how they handle being in such a film. Sometimes boring and sometimes fascinating, THE VISITOR is worth tracking down for fans of the bizarre.