Visitors

"Visitors" has got a strong and likable lead. Being a fan of `Pitch Black' I decided to check this one out at the Fantasy Filmfest. The premise is promising and the atmosphere on the isolated sailing boat comes across nicely. At the theatre the surround sound is very effective because mysterious noises come from different directions. The film isn't boring but it isn't new and original either. The ending is disappointing so my rating is a solid 5. I expected a tense psycho thriller, but it isn't very exciting. You've seen everything in other and better films before.

A fine cast, a cute cat, and a swell premise are given the further benefit of the involvement of director Richard Franklin and writer Everett De Roche, both of whom have proven themselves before. There are problems that start to rear their head kind of quickly, though, and what they all rather boil down to is that the pacing feels overly swift in every regard, and the movie at large is brusque and forced. These issues apply to Franklin's direction here above all but extend just as much to the writing (dialogue, characters, scene writing, narrative, use of flashbacks, and plot development), acting, editing, and cinematography. This would be troublesome no matter what genre space the title played in, but becomes more so considering that there's a significant psychological element to the proceedings - a thrust that necessarily requires a thoughtful, delicate touch, which 'Visitors' plainly lacks.

The film is still enjoyable as we see it, certainly. There are terrific ideas here, as small as a single scene or line of dialogue that could have been latched onto, and all the fundamentals are in place for a spooky good time. The trouble is that every last piece of it is presented so bluntly, curtly, and loudly that it is stripped of a substantial portion of its power: every nightmare, dream, or vision, further illustration of Georgia losing touch with reality, and otherwise incident; so much of the camerawork, cuts, and sequencing; and even too much of Radha Mitchell's acting, under these conditions. I don't wholly dislike this, but it's no more than half the picture it could have been if a more nuanced, tactful, understated approach had been taken toward every component part. As it stands any possible thrills and chills are diminished, and even basic viewer engagement. Entertainment remains, but how much?

I appreciate the production design and art direction, stunts and effects (even the digital ones, if and when used sparingly), and costume design, hair, and makeup. Franklin illustrates a keen eye at times for shot composition. Though the same isn't necessarily true of how it is employed here, I like Nerida Tyson-Chew's music in and of itself. But why is it that the detached voice of Steven Grives is the one facet of the movie to consistently demonstrate a measure of subtlety? Why is it only well within the last act that it feels like the feature at large is firing on all cylinders? Why does the ending, specifically, represent a complete tonal shift? There was potential here, and there were also too many choices made that shoved that potential into a neat, small, useless box. For everything that 'Visitors' could have been, it ends up being no more than middling, and becomes an exercise in discovering all the ways that the title could have been improved upon. Here is another instance where I'm glad for those who get more out the flick than I do, but I'm just rather disappointed. Check it out if you want, and it's surely best suggested for those who are major fans of someone involved, but there are too many better ways to spend your time to bother much with this.

I just found this movie bizarre. Parts of it were spooky and I thought Radha Mitchell did a fine acting job-but the cat was by far the best actor in the movie. What was with the bilge pump? Dead Calm or The Island would be much better spooky boat movies.

Georgia Perry is an ambitious and independent minded Australian woman determined to sail solo around the world. The first several weeks go off without a hitch but as the weeks of loneliness take their toll so do the strangeness. All matters of weird goings on occur such as having conversation s with her cat and dead relatives. But is this just a case of cabin fever or is their something else at play here, maybe something otherworldly?

I'll give the authors credit for coming up with an original SciFi / Drama / Thriller hybrid that works on several levels. The direction and photography is pretty dynamic considering that 90% of the running time takes place on a sailboat. On a film like this the lead actor is a core part of the film since they will be the one holding the ship together and Radha Mitchell fits the bill perfectly. She takes us through all the emotions, from familial tragedy to terror; she does a bang up job. Surprisingly there are even some good tension and a boo or two.

"Visitors" is an excellent mostly-drama that stays interesting and engaging due to a good script and an excellent lead performance.

The general premise of this film is a time-worn reliable gimmick: the lone woman in jeopardy. In this case, an interesting slow-build up to the main plot device keeps audiences engrossed: a 25 year old adventuress embarks upon a solo sailboat journey around the globe. While suffering through an extended period of being becalmed in tropical waters, she begins to believe she is being visited by ghostly apparitions who intend to kill her. Initially, the plot is intriguing as we wonder whether these nocturnal fears are real or imagined. However, as the film progresses, it deviates from being a straight forward thriller and introduces a lot of awkward goobledy-gook in which our heroine is visited by ghosts of her departed parents, menacing pirates, long dead relatives, and ultimately some over-sized spiders! Before long, the tiny vessel is as crowded as the S.S. Poseidon. The acting is very credible and the photography is also admirable, but director Richard Franklin makes the cardinal sin of showing us far too much of the mysterious visitors and their omnipresent status eventually makes them no more menacing than party guests who refuse to leave even though it's the wee small hours of the morning. The cumbersome screenplay degenerates into a confusing mess, and a completely unsatisfying climax that betrays our expectations that there will be a "sting in the tail" ending that explains most of what has preceded it. In all, a noble effort, but a failed one.