Visitors of the Night

If you like drama, there's not enough of it in this movie to intrigue you. If you like suspense, you'll certainly not suspend your nap as this movie "progresses." If you appreciate science fiction, there's precious little science and even less imaginative fiction to warrant watching this mess. In other words: this movie has nothing for everyone.

Spunky Candace Cameron Bure (she played the oldest daughter in the TV series, "Full House.") plays Katie English, a somewhat rebellious child (she can't even act rebellious), is repeatedly abducted by aliens, draws some pictures of it, and yells at her mother (the lovely Markie Post). But Mother, after being hypnotized, recognizes these tell-tale signs in her daughter, including puncture marks that looked like they were inflicted by a tri-fanged vampire, that remind her of her own alien abductions. There's a lot of crying, arguing, yelling, etc., and the movie deftly meanders, whining forth for over 2 hours.

Our little "Rebel" also prances atop a figurative soapbox a couple of times, spouting environmental doomsday pap. This has absolutely nothing to do with the plot of the movie, but was apparently put there for the viewers "benefit" and "education." This 1995 script has Katie telling her classmates how "civilization as we know it" will collapse by the year 2000 (The same drivel that teachers back in 1980 told children would happen before 1990; the same claptrap that's vomited in classrooms across America today).

Finally the viewer gets to see the aliens. These entities are the quintessential mouthless, big-eyed, naked, mind-communicating creatures we've come to expect. But that's okay, they're a welcome relief in the movie. Yes, they're a welcome relief, but they are, however, rather incompetent scientists: they can't get their experiments right. But nonetheless I couldn't help but feel sorry for them for having repeatedly abducted such crybabies as specimens. In fact, I kept hoping they'd abduct me so that I wouldn't have to finish watching this horrible movie.

I strongly recommend that you neither rent the video release, nor watch this movie should it again rear it's boring head on TV.

Visitors of the Night is a made for television science fiction tale about a woman whose daughter seems to be getting abducted by aliens, but it could all tie into her own past.

Full of your usual alien abduction cliches, such as the lights, the people floating through windows, lost time and generic looking alien types this is pretty bad stuff.

Starring Stephen McHattie in a role he's too good for and nobody else of note, the movie would have been better if the daughter hadn't been written as such an utter brat.

Seriously, how and why am I supposed to care about the plight of such a whiney, nasty little girl exactly? On that front, I was rooting for the aliens.

Highly generic stuff we've seen all before. Want the general idea and how it's done right? Watch an episode of the X-Files (1993).

Few redeeming features.

The Good:

Stephen McHattie

Looks okay

The Bad:

Badly cliched

Daughter was detestable

Head scratching finale

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Some people know the price of everything but the value of nothing

1/2 out of ****

Former TV star Candace Cameron plays a rebellious teen who's being abducted by aliens. Markie Post is her mother, who as a child, also experienced extraterrestrial encounters and fears her daughter will suffer the same fear and torment.

For ninety minutes, this made-for-TV drama passes by with little sci-fi or horror elements. Most of the focus is on the mother-daughter relationship between Cameron and Post, both of whom are veterans to this kind of manipulative schlock. Being veterans, however, doesn't necessarily mean it'll elicit good performances. Cameron is as terrible as ever and while Post is believable enough as a concerned mother, any quality in her performance is consistently mired by the writing.

In-between the alien abductions and mother-daughter stuff, we mostly see Cameron interacting with her friends, none of whom I can even remember in the slightest bit. Funny, instead of this material acting as filler, it feels as if all the sci-fi aspects are filler for the saccharine drama.

When the movie finally decides to introduce us to the aliens, the revelation and reasons behind the abductions are disappointingly baffling in its simplicity, not that I was waiting anxiously to be blown away, but a more elaborate conclusion would have made the film a more bearable watch. The final scenes suggest that the power of love can take on any challenge, or something like that. It all ends so abruptly, I couldn't help but chuckle at such an idiotically ambiguous ending. I need a barf bag.

90's sci fi TV movies always make me apprehensive of exposure to formulaic story lines. However, Visitors of the Night contains sufficient originality and intrigue even by 2016 standards, to have kept me watching through to the end. This was partly because the characters were easy to relate while the acting kept things interesting by making the most of the writing. One good thing about the writing is that it never loses its way or goes off on a different tangent to attempt to capture more interest.By focusing on the primary story line the writer manages to generate a very focused plot.

Provided you are not expecting to be kept riveted to your seat, and simply want something easy that will not challenge you, Visitors of the Night is better than many rival TV movies and worth watching.

Just caught this on late night Lifetime channel. I know it's usually a women's channel but I have always found Markie Post to be very attractive & she was smoking in this film. Made for TV movie also featuring Candace Cameron who is repeatedly abducted and probed by space aliens is desperate for help. Markie Post is reliving nightmares as well and then it comes to her that she also was abducted and probed by these evil space aliens. They then realize a common thread regarding the abductions and join forces to stop them once and for all. Post manages to get abducted in Cameron's place and finds out exactly what these pesky aliens are up to and pleads with them to stop their research and things get quiet...for a short time...Must see movie.