The Visitation

Other than the budget, I went into this film knowing very little about it. I must admit that, for the first half-hour or so, I was distracted by the unusual shooting style which didn't seem to fit the flow of the story. However, as the film moved along, the jagged, misframed shots made more and more sense.

As the story unfolded, I found myself increasingly intrigued, and even uneasy. Peretti has a talent for hooking his audience, and then taking them for an unusual ride, and "The Visitation" was no exception.

For the minimal budget, this ended up being a very strong effort. I would definitely recommend it for teens and older audiences, but it may be a little too creepy for younger kids.

In Antioch, the former Father Travis Jordan (Martin Donovan) lost his faith on God three years ago when his beloved wife was murdered and the criminals never found. Suddenly, miracles happen in the little town: the son of the newcomer and veterinary Morgan Elliot (Kelly Lynch) survives a car accident without a single scratch; Travis's dog Max revives after being buried; a paraplegic walks; a wounded woman and her father with brain tumor heal. In all the events, three men wearing black were seen, and then the unknown Brandon Nichols (Edward Furlong) claims to be Jesus Christ. The local population worships Brandon, while Travis and Morgan feel that something is wrong and conduct an investigation, disclosing that evil has possessed the dwellers.

"The Visitation" is a great film that begins like an episode of "X-Files" and has a very scary conclusion. The intriguing story is disclosed only in the end, when it seems that there is no more hope for the good against evil, and I am impressed with the imbecile associations with Christians that I glanced in IMDb. "The Visitation" is a great horror movie, no matter if you are atheist or religious, with a good story of the fight between good and evil. My advice is, if you like horror films, watch this movie and you will not regret. The flaw in the story is the accident with Michael Elliot, who stays safe and sound in the end. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Visitante" ("The Visitor")

Looks like the guy that wrote the review before me has some issues. I suspect the film affected him or her in a way that would be say, uncomfortable. My wife and I watched it tonight and were pleasantly entertained. We're both relatively fundamental Christians, and myself am very familiar with Frank Peretti since he wrote "This Present Darkness" in the late 80's. I will be recommending this movie to other believers I work with. It holds the viewer's attention, and alludes to a few New age religious areas that are not so healthy. Yoga being one of them. Sort of risky to do that and the truth may be painful to some. Predictable ending but hey, we know the end of the big story anyway. See it.

Based on the excellent drama-horror book by Frank Peretti, this movie was more like a twisted, rewritten version done for film.

The story was reworked and exposition was changed, characters changed, until the master screenwriter came up with something more fitting for today's Hollywood- in other words the end results was cliché, badly cut, and dramatic in all the wrong places. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a B movie, it was better than most B movies I've seen. More like a B+ or an A-.

The editing and film style resemble a two hour long episode of CSI without the forensics- and CSI fans will notice that the cast is pretty much an entire ensemble of CSI extras.

In the end, its like they say, the book is always better. In this case the movie could have been just as good, but they decided to make it overly dramatic and hackneyed with little real character development and evolution.

Frank Peretti, I give you 2 thumbs up. Movie, you only get a tiny little knubby knuckle up.

Horror movies with religious themes seem to be everywhere these days. I mean, some joker even had the nerve to re-make "The Omen". While The Visitation does not quite belong to the upper echelon of religious horror, it is certainly one of the more accomplished efforts in recent years, largely due to its stellar cast and Robby Henson's steadfast direction.

Without giving away too much, The Visitation is an adaptation of Frank Peretti's novel about a young man, Brandon, who appears in a small town and begins performing miracles. Before too long the locals consider Brandon to be the embodiment of Christ and start acting like his disciples. The problem is that Brandon's powers seem to be coming from below, instead of above. While the story is not incredibly original, it is treated with intelligence and sincerity. The film takes time to develop the supporting characters, such as the disillusioned ex-priest, Travis, and a single mother, Morgan. As a result, there is an attachment to the characters and a deeper understanding of their sometimes illogical actions.

I hate to think how awful The Visitation could have been without its excellent cast. In fact, the film has something of an indie dream cast with Edward Furlong, Martin Donovan, Richard Tyson, Kelly Lynch and Priscilla Barnes. Edward Furlong is great as Brandon. In a role that could have so easily been drenched in hysterics, Edward shows restraint and turns in a genuinely creepy performance. His talent is such that he makes Brandon both abhorrent and sympathetic. Martin Donovan is as low key and convincing as ever, while Kelly Lynch only gets better with age. I can finally forgive her for "Curly Sue". Almost. It is great to see Richard Tyson and Priscilla Barnes in anything, so it's a special treat to see them act together as a somewhat demented married couple. He's possessed, she would like to be.

Robby Henson's direction is considered and the film succeeds in building a creepy atmosphere. There are some problems with the film, namely some very poor post-exorcism CG effects and an unusual lack of gore. The special effects are understandable given the film's tiny budget; less forgivable is the film's limp approach to violence. I suspect The visitation was butchered in order to get a lower rating, which is ridiculous given the nature of the material. There are several scenes, particularly one at Mrs Macon's mansion and one explaining how Brandon received his "gift", which feel incomplete and less graphic than intended. However, these gripes are pretty inconsequential in comparison to the film's many good qualities.

The Visitation is one of the highest quality straight to video horror releases in recent memory. This is the perfect example of a well made film with an excellent cast that still somehow managed to fall through the cracks. It deserved better.