The Visitor (1979)    Film Ventures International/Sci-Fi-Horror    RT: 108 minutes (Uncut European Version)    Rated R (language, violence, frightening images, sexual content)    Director: Giulio Paradisi (as “Michael J. Paradise”)    Screenplay: Luciano Comici and Robert Mundi    Music: Franco Micalizzi    Cinematography: Ennio Guarnieri    Release date: March 14, 1980 (US)    Cast: Mel Ferrer, Glenn Ford, Lance Henriksen, John Huston, Joanne Nail, Sam Peckinpah, Shelley Winters, Paige Conner, Franco Nero, Neal Boortz.    Box Office: N/A

Rating: *** ½

 If you like weird movies, have I got one for you. This one is absolutely bats*** bonkers! The Visitor, an Italian made sci-fi-horror from Giulio Paradisi (credited as “Michael J. Paradise”), has to be one of the weirdest movies ever made. It borrows elements from Close Encounters, The Exorcist, The Birds and Damien: Omen II to make one very bizarre cinematic creation. How else would you describe a movie that has Franco Nero playing Jesus (or somebody like Him)?

 I remember seeing the commercial for The Visitor when it first came out in the Philadelphia area. The wild imagery immediately got my attention. I tried to convince the parental units to lift their unconstitutional ban on R movies to no avail. Once again, injustice prevailed and 12YO Movie Guy was denied access to another cool looking horror movie. I eventually saw it on video in February 1987 courtesy of The Video Den. I didn’t really know what to make of it, but I didn’t dislike it. I didn’t see it again until I acquired the DVD not long after its Code Red release in 2010. It was the uncut European version with nine minutes of footage not in the original US release. I can’t say the extra scenes cleared anything up. The Visitor remains as insanely incoherent as ever.

 There’s something you need to know when deciding to watch The Visitor. It’s not just another sci-fi-horror with a lame plot and a high body count. Surprisingly, the gore quotient is rather low here. However, what it lacks in splatter, it makes up for in true weirdness. The action begins on a distant planet where a benevolent looking fellow who resembles Jesus (Nero, Enter the Ninja) sends an emissary named Jerzy Colsowicz (Huston, Chinatown) to Earth to capture a little girl with super-human abilities. Katy Collins (Conner) is no ordinary 8YO girl. She carries the power of Zatteen within her. And who might Zatteen be? As near as I can figure, Zatteen is a very powerful evil force that can bring about the complete destruction of humanity. He already has a plan in motion. Before he died, he impregnated several Earth women including Katy’s mother Barbara (Nail, Switchblade Sisters). It’s his progeny that will bring about the end of mankind.

 Katy wants her mother to get pregnant and give birth to a little brother who would have similar powers. A group of malevolent aliens in human form, led by Dr. Walker (Ferrer, City of the Walking Dead), would also like to see this happen. They send basketball team owner Ray Armstead (Henriksen, Aliens) to act as her boyfriend and lover. Barbara doesn’t want another child nor does she want to get married. That’s when she has an accident (caused by Katy) that results in her being paralyzed from the waist down. The idea is to make her dependent on Ray and push her into marrying him.

 After Barbara’s unfortunate “accident” involving a gun Katy receives as a birthday present, Atlanta PD detective Jake Durham (Ford, Happy Birthday to Me) investigates the matter. He attempts to question Katy about the incident. In true demon child fashion, she curses him out with statements like “Shove it up your ass!” and “Go f*** yourself!” Shortly after this encounter, Durham gets attacked by a bird while driving down the highway and ends up dead in the ensuing car accident, but not before he gets off the film’s loopiest line: “Yeah, that bugs me, man. That really bugs me.” It’s akin to Jack Webb’s famous line of dialogue from Dragnet (“The LSD Story” episode) when he says, “You’re pretty high and far out. What kind of kick are you on, son?” in terms of absolute hilarity.

 Many bizarre events occur throughout The Visitor. It would be easy to believe that the filmmakers did some serious drugs while making it. There’s some business involving birds. It has something to do with a story about Zatteen getting attacked by birds. Katy appears to possess some power over birds; she can make them attack other people. There’s also a very strange woman, Jane Phillips (Winters, The Poseidon Adventure), who shows up at the Collins home to help out after Barbara’s accident. Apparently, she has psychic powers and knows that Katy is “bad”. It leads to a humorous scene where she slaps Katy after the child refers to her mother as her “whipping boy”. That’s right, Katy is a brat in addition to being evil.  In one scene, she takes on a group of bullies at an ice skating rink and sends some of them flying through store windows.

 There are many other bizarre scenes in The Visitor like the “alien abduction” sequence involving Barbara. And what’s up with all those bald-headed guys on the roof of the skyscraper? Or the exploding basketball? And why would anybody believe that a babysitting agency would send an elderly man to look after a little girl? That’s how Jerzy gains admittance to the Collins house so he can tell Katy that he’s come to take her home. It doesn’t always make a lot of sense, but that’s what I love about The Visitor. It increases its creepy factor and holds the viewer’s attention. I’m more apt to pay attention to a movie where I don’t understand everything that’s going on. It’s far more interesting than something completely simplistic and predictable. The funniest part is that all of the actors deliver their lines with a straight face. Now that’s what I call great acting.

 I like the unusual cast of actors assembled for The Visitor. It’s pretty impressive for a low budget Italian production. What’s more, they all deliver slightly off-key performances. One doesn’t really know what to make of their characters. It’s like the whole movie takes place in some alternate universe, one with a slightly different reality than ours, one where people’s behavior can’t be described as “normal” (our perception of “normal”). It definitely adds something to the already wonky viewing experience. In addition to the aforementioned people, the cast also includes director Sam Peckinpah (The Wild Bunch) as Dr. Sam Collins, Barbara’s ex-husband. Paige Conner, who hasn’t acted since the 1989 comedy Fast Food, is great as the evil child who might make a suitable mate for Damien Thorn.

 The only word that can adequately describe the experience of watching The Visitor is surreal. From the decent special effects to the eerie musical score, the whole thing plays out like a very strange nightmare. John Huston playing a game of Pong with Katy? That’s something you don’t see every day. I can safely say that I recommend The Visitor to anybody with a taste for the strange and unusual. You’ll probably never see anything like it ever again. That is, unless somebody attempts a remake. Perish the thought!