The Visitor is a bizarre, so bad it comes around to be good sci-fi/horror film that is just bizarre. Its happenings are so strange, you can’t take your eyes off the screen, and like I said, it’s so bad, it’s actually good, in a really bad way.

Aliens are fighting on the planet Earth. At the center of the battle is a mother, Barbara Collins (Joanne Nail) and the being that is her daughter, but also something more, something evil… Katy (Paige Conner).

John Huston, yes John Huston is on the side of the angels. Maybe literally. He plays Jerzy Colsowicz, who is hunting for Katy, aware that she is the progeny of something truly evil. He has a number of bald acolytes, and he and they all seem to be in service to a very Christ-looking Franco Nero.

Jerzy sets out to find Katy and her mother.

Barbara is in a romance with a basketball team owner, Raymond (Lance Henriksen!) who seems to be constantly pressuring her not only to marry him, but to have a child with him. Katy also pushes for this agenda as do a cabal of mysterious businessmen, who may also be more than they seem.

And you know who else may be in on that agenda? Her own doctor! Played by Sam Peckinpah!

During a birthday celebration for Katy, a gift somehow transforms into a gun, which goes off, injuring and crippling Barbara. Detective Jake Durham (Glenn Ford!) is called into investigate, and he’s sure there’s something off about Katy.

As Katy’s plans continue, Jerzy gets closer, but will he be in time to stop the cabal’s plans? And what of Katy’s eternal soul? To help her along she has a pet hawk. But there’s a some new help in the Collins home, in the form of a new maid, Jane (Shelley Winters!).

There’s a very odd score accompanying the film which seemed a little out of place to me. But I understand some people love it. ,For every horrible moment, there are actually some really cool shots and ideas at work in the film. Crazy set pieces, cool visuals. Sure the effects aren’t the best, but hey it was the 70s.

I don’t know how Paradisi got all these names to come work for him. I do like the fact that he makes the most out of his budget, and it looks like its all up there on the screen. The effects aren’t great, but they don’t really eject you from the story, in fact, there’s some pretty solid filmmaking here in terms of making the UFOS(?) and abductions (?) work with minimal visual effects.

This one was never on my radar, not until I read a bit more of the blurb and watched a trailer, and then how could I not?

I enjoyed it. It’s bizarre. It’s like you crossed The Omen with Rosemary’s Baby with Close Encounters… kind of? This one you need to see for yourself.