The sci-fi/horror epic that 1979 couldn't handle. An intergalactic warrior joins a cosmic Christ figure in battle against a demonic eight-year-old girl and her pet hawk, while the fate of the universe hangs in the balance.
The Visitor is a head-spinning mishmash of The Omen, The Birds, Rosemary’s Baby, Star Wars and Close Encounters -- but even that barely hints at the fervor with which director Giulio Paradisi hurls his cast (John Huston, Glenn Ford, Shelley Winters, Franco Nero, Lance Henriksen and, yes, even Sam Peckinpah) into the cinematic void.
Just when you think you've nailed down which direction the film’s heading in, The Visitor shatters your notion of the time-space continuum with a blackhearted blowout of interplanetary possession, telekinetic avian assault, exploding basketballs and ecclesiastical laserstorms. (Giulio Paradisi, Italy, 1979, 108 min.)
Restoration courtesy of Drafthouse Films and the American Genre Film Archive