The Visitor

This nearly forgotten 1979 supernatural horror film—an Italian production with an American cast directed by a former Fellini assistant with more imagination than storytelling discipline—is quite possibly the strangest of the Exorcist copycats to appear in the 1970s. Filmmaker Giulio Paradisi (directing under the screen name Michael J. Paradise) here turns the idea of a satanic thriller into a cosmic battle, with John Huston starring as Jerzy Colsowicz, a paternal emissary sent from heaven (where Franco Nero is Jesus, surrounded by bald children) to stop Satan's bid to take over Earth through 8-year-old Katy Collins (Paige Conner). Paradisi also borrows from The Omen, Carrie, and The Birds, and works in a basketball game with an exploding dunk shot, an abduction out of UFO lore, and Glenn Ford as a police detective whose eye is pecked out by a hawk. The script is essentially incoherent in this minor cult film with a supporting cast that includes Mel Ferrer, Shelley Winters, Sam Peckinpah, and a young Lance Henriksen as an Atlanta sports mogul. Bowing on Blu-ray and DVD, extras include new interviews with Henriksen, screenwriter Lou Comici, and cinematographer Ennio Guarnieri (who all confess that they don't understand the movie or its director), and a booklet. A strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)