Heavenly leader Yahweh (Franco Nero, Django) assigns Jerzy Colsowicz (John Huston, Chinatown) to locate the children of his vanquished rival, Zatteen. Jerzy’s trail leads to Atlanta, where one of the offspring, Katy Collins (Paige Conner, Little Darlings), uses her telekinetic powers to trigger a massive explosion at the end of a professional basketball game. The chaos pleases Raymond Armstead (Lance Henriksen, Aliens), the owner of the victorious team and the lover of Katy’s mother, Barbara (Joanne Nail, Switchblade Sisters). Armstead and a cabal of secretive men harbor a diabolical plan involving both mother and daughter to resurrect Zatteen. As Katy’s mystical powers grow stronger by the day, the threat becomes increasingly uncontrollable. Mel Ferrer (The Pyjama Girl Case), Shelley Winters (Lolita), and Sam Peckinpah (director of The Wild Bunch) appear in a hallucinatory, genre-defying battle that stretches across the cosmos.
What We Thought:
Despite a cast including Mel Ferrer, Glenn Ford, Lance Henriksen, John Huston, Sam Peckinpah and Shelley Winters, I had never heard of The Visitor. After watching it, I understand why. It’s a sci-fi version of The Omen, but nowhere near as cool as that sounds.
I honestly don’t know if I understood the film in the slightest. There’s a young girl with powers and a sort of religious tone to it, but it’s science fiction with aliens and space ships at the same time. Katy is a girl with a suspect birth who can do things with her mind. Her mother ends up in a wheelchair and there’s a group of government type men trying to create another child for a Christ like figure from space or something like that. I really don’t think I understood the film beyond the basics. Maybe it has a cult following, but I have no idea.
I have to admit I’m baffled by The Visitor. It has a huge cast and I have no idea what to say about it. The special effects are pretty bad even for the time period. Did it explain how the birds could be controlled and I missed the explanation? How was the mother able to drive while in a wheelchair? It never shows anyone helping her getting in and out of the car with her wheelchair in the trunk. Lance Henriksen’s character gets on a plane because the Satanist government type didn’t think he was doing his job good enough yet he’s back at the house when everything goes bad at the end. No one seems to wonder why he’s back. I really didn’t understand the movie, but if you are a fan you’ll enjoy this new 4K release with some new commentary, new essays and more.
Special features include a 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible); original lossless mono audio and an optional remixed 5.1 DTS-HD MA surround audio; optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing; a brand new audio commentary, brand new visual essays; archival interviews with actor Lance Henriksen and others; the theatrical trailer; image gallery; and a collectors booklet.
The Nerds Templar 