| The Visitor | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Giulio Paradisi |
| Produced by | Ovidio G. Assonitis |
| Written by | Screenplay by Luciano Comici and Robert Mundi, from a story by Assonitis and Paradisi |
| Starring | John Huston, Mel Ferrer, Glenn Ford |
| Music by | Franco Micalizzi |
| Cinematography | Ennio Guarnieri |
| Editing by | Roberto Curi |
| Distributed by | Film Ventures International |
| Release date(s) |
August 3, 1979 (Italy) November 21, 1980 (United States) |
| Running time | 101 minutes |
| Country | Italy/USA |
| Language | English |
The Visitor (1979) is a psychological thriller film directed by Giulio Paradisi (Michael J. Paradise), based on a story by the Egyptian writer (and producer) Ovidio G. Assonitis. The film starred such names as John Huston, Shelley Winters, Mel Ferrer, Glenn Ford, and Sam Peckinpah. Prominent Libertarian talk-show host Neal Boortz also had a role in the movie. The film was a co-production between Italy and the United States, with an Italian title of Stridulum and Spanish of El visitante del más allá.[1][2]
Contents |
A young girl with telekinetic powers is the focus of a battle between good and evil. Katy Collins (Paige Conner) is no ordinary 8 year-old girl. Indeed, she is unique, carrying within her the power of Sateen, an inter-spacial force of immense magnitude. Katy's primary mission on earth is to carry these genes forward, a task accomplished by convincing her mother, Barbara (Joanne Nail) to bear a similarly endowed male child with whom Katy would eventually mate.
The film-making involved a great deal of symbolism, with an attempt to be an art film, though it ultimately received poor reviews by the mainstream critics. The film has been called a rip-off of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Damien: Omen II, because the film revolves around a dispute between extraterrestrials from heaven and demonic forces. The Visitor has also been criticized by audiences, who claim the film's cover art (featuring a bizarre, alien-like being hovering over a city) was misleading, because the said images did not appear, nor were referenced in the film. The film was written and produced by prolific Italian-American filmmaker, Ovidio G. Assonitis, who was known for making rip-offs of Hollywood blockbusters.
The production companies were Brouwersgracht Investments and Film Ventures.[3]