The Visitors (1972)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Elia Kazan

Writer:

Chris Kazan (writer)

Release Date:

16 November 1972 (Denmark)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller | Drama

Plot:

Bill, Martha and their little child Hal are spending a quiet winter Sunday in their cosy house when...

Plot Keywords:

Vietnam | Rape | Revenge | Hostage | Veteran

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Patrick McVey	...	Harry Wayne
Patricia Joyce	...	Martha Wayne
James Woods	...	Bill Schmidt
Steve Railsback	...	Mike Nickerson
Chico Martínez	...	Tony Rodrigues

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Newton, Connecticut, USA

Company:

Home Free

Trivia:

Brian De Palma says on a interview given for the DVD extras of Casualties of War (1989) that the idea from this movie came from the same story that Casualties of War (1989) is based on. The story was published in "The New Yorker" Magazine in 1969, and later became a book. Allegedly Elia Kazan also read the story on The New Yorker and had the idea of a fictional script that showed the after wards of the true history showed in Casualties of War (1989), in which the character played by Sean Penngoes to jail after has been convicted by a martial court of war crimes (he and three outer guys kidnapped, raped and them murdered a Vietnamese girl in the Vietnam war). In the movie, Sean Penn's character, in his trial, promises revenge to Michael J. Foxcharacter, who was the one that reported him.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Making of 'Casualties of War' (2001) (V)

Soundtrack:

Lute Suite #1

Unexpectedly Savage

I recently saw this obscure film on cable and was not ready for the disturbance it set in me afterwards. It is a basic retelling of many story's we've seen before, (old army buddies come back after the war to seek redemption on the friend that did them wrong) but it was a bit of a stand out in the it has a very unexpected, shocking ending. It explores the violence and the tension of the situation well, moving slowly and methodically, which works for a while but then falls short, as you have to say "enough all ready" and get on with it.

Decent performance by a young James Woods and also by Steve Railsback in his first film (who later goes on to star if the cult classic "Life Force". All and all, if you can get past the amateurish production value, an OK exploration of violence and invasion that just takes forever to get going. If you liked Michael Haneke's "Funny Games" (though I particularly didn't) I would recommend this film.