The Visitor

In the annals of WTF film history, few films make a more vivid impression than The Visitor (1978), an Italian-produced horror-sci-fi oddity that manages to rip off movies as disparate as The Omen, The Exorcist, Close Encounters, The Fury and the psychedelic oeuvre of Alejandro Jodorowsky. Add in an all-star cast of old Hollywood icons, some Chariots of the Gods mythology and a child actor with a southern accent as thick as a plate full of chicken ‘n waffles and you’ve got one must-see hot-mess of a movie!

Pursuing the progeny of an evil alien entity, Jerzy (John Huston) finds his next target in the heart of Atlanta. Katy (Paige Conner) is a bad-seed with a bad attitude, using her telekinetic powers to torture her mother (Joanne Nail), housekeeper (Shely Winters) and the cop (Glenn Ford) investing a shooting at her birthday party. Her prospective stepdad (Lance Henriksen) coddles this behavior at the behest of a mysterious cabal (led by Mel Ferrer) determined to utilize Katy’s powers for their own nefarious ends.

Blind buys are always a risky affair, but, trust me, watching The Visitor with no preconceptions is one of life’s great cinematic experiences. The stolen ideas are stretched so thin that the viewer is constantly dreading when the narrative will snap back in their face…which it often does with shocking impact! Shattered glass, rusty fire escapes, car crashes, killer hawks and one unforgettable ice-skating duel splash across the screen every 10 minutes or so. Director Guilio Paradisi’s film doesn’t ask for your attention, it pins you down until you cry uncle! Yet it’s so competently shot and technically proficient that it passes for a major motion picture. God bless the Italian go-for-broke mentality that figures if one idea is good, then five or six is even better.

And God bless Arrow Video for putting out a 4K Ultra HD of the 109-min European version sourced from a new restoration of the original negative. There are several new extras tacked onto this limited edition – including an audio commentary, interviews and two visual essays that attempt to track of the plot – plus some vital archival extras, like a Lance Henriksen interview, trailer, image gallery, collectors’ booklet and reversible sleeve.

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