not as good as all the hype

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

The Visitor is an Italian/Yank scifi flick that rips off so many classics (The Omen, the Exorcist, The Birds, Carrie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind) but in itself amounts to a pile of garbage. The cinematography resembles some of those 70's soft porn movies thanks to it's weird glowy lighting. There is also extensive use of those awkward extreme zoom shots and sometimes camera moves are flat-out idiotic (filming the back of peoples heads on purpose). They even dare use sped up footage because actors were not able to do something fast enough but this looks insanely cheap. The music seams to be lifted from Magnum P.I. or Shaft and does not fit a scifi/horror film that's supposed to be brooding and ominous. So much for the atmosphere. If the razzies had existed then many actors here would have received one. The girl that plays the 'evil child' is far from convincing but the other actors don't do much better. Can you believe Sam Peckinpah was in this film and he couldn't remember his lines so they dubbed him (badly - lip sync is way off). Lance Henriksen also shows his mug but his performance is as flat as his paycheck must have been. The story is one uneventful mess filled with plot holes and inconsistencies. So not a cult classic but cult crap hardly worth your time unless you want to see how not to make a movie.

The plot, as I hopefully understand it, is that Satan (or Sateen, as this film calls him) fathers children with supernatural powers. One of these children is 8 year-old Katy, who has telekinetic powers and a heavy Southern drawl. An intergalactic traveler called The Visitor must battle the child for the fate of the universe....or something like that. There's also some stuff about an evil hawk, some bald aliens, and a crazy-eyed Jesus with a bad blonde wig.Nonsensical Italian-made claptrap that combines '70s fascinations with the occult and aliens. It's an awful movie that rips off many better movies, made watchable by some striking imagery and interesting casting. John Huston, Lance Henriksen, Sam Peckinpah, Mel Ferrer, Shelly Winters, and Glenn Ford are all in this. That says more about the state of their respective careers at the time than it does about the quality of this production. Incoherent but good for some laughs. Dig that terribly out of place soundtrack, too.

This freaky movie freaked me out. If you love scenes of old men walking down stairs you'll love this movie. Thank you to the sound editor for playing sexy music during the discussion about abortion. The apparent mime camp on the roof was fascinating. And how about that Jesus guy on that heaven planet. Also, seemingly all children are bald in heaven. There's a lot of graphic beak stabbing viewer discretion is advised. This movie proves that you can get about with just about anything is you put on a freaky accent.I do not approve of the inappropriate angles during the gymnastic scenes. This movie was freaky and had some major flaws.

Italian exploitation and horror is known for a lot of things: strong atmosphere, striking visuals, nauseating gore, excellent music, exquisite cinematography-you know, the good stuff. Oh, and ripping off whatever was really big at the time. Two names come to mind in these cycles-one is Bruno Mattei, and the other is Ovidio G. Assonitis. Sure, he did produce the giallo classic "Who Saw Her Die?", but he's mostly known for producing, writing and directing films that ripped off "The Exorcist" ("Beyond the Door")." "Jaws" ("Tentacles", "Piranha II: The Spawning"), "Conan the Barbarian" ("Iron Warrior"), and other titles that were popular at the time. Well, in 1979, he put a whole lot of eggs in a basket to give the world "The Visitor", and the result is one of the most certifiably insane genre pictures I've ever seen.The plot deals with an alien being (John Huston-yes, that John Huston), who must save an eight year old girl Katy Collins (Paige Conner), who has evil powers. Her mother Barbara (Joanna Nail) is dating basketball player Raymond Armstead (Lance Henriksen, proving he had been in bad movies for years), and wants to marry her. Also, evil businessman Dr. Walker (Mel Ferrer) has a specific interest in Katy, and wants Babara to produce another child, which Babs has no desire to do. Well, she ends up getting pregnant anyway, and Jerzy Colsowicz (the name the alien ends up taking) lets her know that the kid can't be born. Plus, he now finds himself fighting Katy and her falcon for the fate of the universe, and Django himself, Franco Nero shows up as Jesus Christ, though the wig he's wearing makes him look like a member of a Glam Rock band than the Lord. Also, why Christ is visiting aliens is beyond me, but then again, Jesus does love everyone.I swear to God, I did not make any of this up. This all happens in the movie.Directed by Giulio Paradisi (who served as a second unit director for Fellini's "8½"), "The Visitor" is completely out of it's gourd. Let's say somebody spent a few days watching an old Biblical Epic, "The Omen", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", "Rosemary's Baby", "The Fury", "The Birds", "Star Wars" and "The Exorcist." After this movie binge, they thought "You know what would be awesome? If someone combined all of those movies!" This movie is the end result.To be fair, the acting, cinematography and direction are all mostly good, but the movie in itself is a train wreck that you find yourself recommending to others even though it's bad. Even by the standards of Italian genre fare the plot makes no sense, it contains a largely inappropriate score, and is so unapologetic about the movies it's stealing from. Then there's the other appearances, with Sam Peckinpah, Glenn Ford and Shelly Winters all showing up, seeming to be confused as to why they are in this movie.At the same time, there's nothing at all to hate about the movie. I mean, it's a bad movie, but it's also the kind of once in a lifetime viewing experience that anyone who says they love horror should see. There really is nothing else quite like this movie, and to pardon the cliché, it must be seen to be believed, even though you won't be able to make sense of anything that's happening on screen.