THE VISITOR (1979)--Directed by Giulio Paradisi. Stars Lance Henriksen, Joanne Nail, John Huston, Mel Ferrer, Glenn Ford, Paige Conner, Shelley Winters. This typically incoherent Italian OMEN ripoff might be worth a few laughs. Despite all the big-name actors on the cast list, the real stars are Henriksen (ALIENS) as professional basketball team owner Raymond Armstead and Nail (SWITCHBLADE SISTERS) as his girlfriend Barbara Collins. The mysterious Raymond lives in an enormous mansion with Barbara and Katy (Conner), her eight-year-old daughter from a previous marriage. Although he frequently asks Barbara to marry him, she always refuses, having pledged never to remarry after her previous marriage ended in divorce shortly after Katy was born. What Barbara doesn't know is that Katy is imbued with evil supernatural powers (which we first see her use to explode a basketball, spoiling a last-second shot and securing a victory for Raymond's team) and Raymond is working for a mysterious conglomeration of dark-suited men led by Dr. Walker (Ferrer), who need him to impregnate Barbara with a male child who can be used to eventually mate with Katy and create a master race of evil superpowered creeps.

While this is all strange enough, the movie's real joy is in watching all the major stars stumble around trying to make sense out of what they're doing. Huston (CHINATOWN) has a major role as Jerzy, a kindly old man who's working on the side of Good and may be a visitor from outer space. He and Katy are certainly rivals, who talk smack to each other during a game of Pong (!), each politely pledging to destroy the other. Winters delivers the lamest performance as the household maid suspicious of Katy's powers, while, at the other end of the spectrum, Ford actually does an excellent job with what he's given, a short role as a police detective who is murdered by Katy in the film's most exciting action scene, a spectacular, drawn-out automobile accident featuring some expert stuntwork. As for the (at the time) lesser known performers, Nail, who was magnetic as gangleader Maggie in Jack Hill's SWITCHBLADE SISTERS, suffers through a thankless role that has her being shot, artificially inseminated by aliens, confined to a wheelchair, shoved into a glass aquarium and other indignities. Henriksen is his usual creepy self, while Conner overacts in a style typical of child actors, although the scene in which she curses out Ford is a hallmark in hilarity.

So what the heck does THE VISITOR mean? Beats me, and I doubt even director Paradisi (credited on U.S. prints as Michael J. Paradise) or his writers and producers know. If you insist on following the plot from beginning to end, you'll find THE VISITOR to be pretty frustrating, but if you've seen enough Italian horror movies, you probably know that the best way to enjoy them is to sit back, let the violence, inept editing, massive plotholes and inappropriate music flow over you, and not take it too seriously. I certainly can't say THE VISITOR is a good movie in any sense, but the actors make it worth a cursory viewing, and there are a few interesting scenes to keep you from nodding off (Ford's death scene, for one). Look closely for director Sam Peckinpah (JUNIOR BONNER) in a (dubbed) cameo and Franco Nero (DJANGO) as Jesus Christ! According to some Internet sources, the U.S. print of THE VISITOR, including the out-of-print video release from Samuel Goldwyn Studios, may be heavily cut, with Nero's footage being a prime victim of edits. Music by Franco Micalizzi. Filmed in Atlanta, Georgia. Many cast members worked in other films for producer Ovidio Assonitis; Henriksen starred in PIRANHA II: THE SPAWNING (James Cameron's directorial debut) and CHOKE CANYON, while Winters and Huston appeared briefly in TENTACLES.

I've been meaning to track this one down despite bad reviews. I have a copy of the oh-so-seventies soundtrack by Micalizzi under the title STRIDULUM.

Any OMEN-style gore?

Nah, but there is a lot of smashed glass.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS


I love this flick. Absolutely delirious and completely nonsensical:

--the bald guys on top of the building, doing the Robot behind partitions?

--the ice-skating scene

--John Huston playing Pong!

--Huston's mugging and faux-symphony conducting shortly before the climax

--the quizzical looks on the face of Mel Ferrer's butler

--the score!

In all seriousness, I do like the set design of the house, and the climax with the birds flying through the house is pretty impressive. Henriksen is good, Ferrer seems much less phoned-in that he normally was at this phase in his career, and of all the Hollywood vets, Ford really does seem to be trying harder than everyone else in his brief screen time.

Do we really know much about the making of this classic? Henriksen's never talked about it, and Paige Conner has pretty much disappeared from the biz.

Where's the DVD???!!

For those in the LA area, we'll be screening a 35mm print of THE VISITOR at our next Grindhouse Film Festival on September 20th (along with Naschy's NIGHT OF THE HOWLING BEAST). I'll be posting the full details next week.

I saw this at the drive-in when I was a teenager (I think as a double feature with either BEYOND THE DOOR 2 or some Italian AUDREY ROSE knockoff...I forget which one).

The film didn't make a lick of sense to me. I'm sure I was pretty lubed on Stroh's, however.

Recently I found a used copy and kicked back to see if I just didn't get it back then...and nope, it still didn't make any sense. Although a fresh-faced Lance Henriksen is a kick.

This time I enjoyed it more for what it was, though.

Whatever that is.

Has anyone ever SEEN this longer cut? Is there a Greek/Dutch/Japanese tape that we know actually exists? I've been hearing about the longer version of this for years, but it's never turned up in any grey market sources that I've seen. I'm just wondering if anyone here has actually come across it.

And to answer my own question, it looks like Code Red is getting ready to release the uncut version of this nutty movie, adding 17 minutes of footage, including additional scenes with Nero and Peckinpah. You can see screencaps from the release-date-TBA disc here. Thanks to WilWil for the heads up on this.

Holy crap! It's actually happening! Finally!

(loudly and triumphantly humming Franco Micalizzi score)



There's also some BEYOND THE DOOR caps as well, so that should be out soon, which is good because, you know, I'm not quite broke enough.

Check out those extras on BEYOND THE DOOR! Juliet Mills commentary! Ovidio Assonitis commentary! Richard Johnson interview!

Oh, brother. Well, I know I'll be getting it, though I wish I could fight the urge. BTW, has Lance Henriksen ever done a DVD commentary track? I'd love to hear his thoughts on going to Italy to take a starring role in this mess.

Hey all, anyone have any idea what the name actors were paid for this and similar films?

And how would Peckinpah get involved?

A couple of years ago, I was mulling over doing a piece on this film for a magazine, and via Google, found a business contact info for a Paige Connor in the Atlanta area. She was an accountant or something--it was something business-related. She was the right age (early-to-mid 30s), so I e-mailed her just in case it was her. She was kind enough to reply that she wasn't the one I was looking for. At least that's what she said...

I wonder if the Code Red folks managed to track the elusive young starlet down. I'd love to hear her thoughts on John Huston faking his way through Pong, or telling Glenn Ford to go f--k himself.

I also want an interview with any one of the vogueing bald dudes on the top of the Omni Center! Those were probably extras rounded up in Atlanta, right? Some of those guys still have to live in the area!

Damn, I love this movie!

Code Red already arranged the participation of Paige Conner (quite beautiful, by the way) for their upcoming DVD - she conducted an on-camera interview and was also there to participate in a commentary track. Code Red posted about all of this on their blog back in April:

http://codereddvdblog.blogspot.com/2007/04...iegel-jeff.html

Can't wait to see this full uncut version! I remember leaving the theater dumbfounded after watching the film on its original US theatrical release, but I was still somewhat intrigued by the insanity and craziness of it all at the time. Where did this strange and ridiculous film come from? Years later with my personal euro-vibe at full-blast, I bet the film will be an incredibly weird and satisfying viewing experience today, especially in this extended cut.

And if you can't get enough:

http://codereddvdblog.blogspot.com/2007/05...onner-with.html