PAIGE CONNER POSSESSES EXPLOITATION HORROR IN 'THE VISITOR'

Paige Conner in THE VISITOR Year: 1979

THE VISITOR has many cult influences starting with THE BIRDS since the blonde-haired, blue-eyed eight-year-old girl, possessed by supernatural forces, has a lethal fine-feathered friend who keeps her safe: Especially from a detective played by the most famous of the "special guest" stars, Glenn Ford, a rudimentary tether to hold onto but not for long before a gritty exploitation element takes charge, ultimately making Ford a cameo...

Which can't be said of the titular star, John Huston, an Obi-Wan Kenobi type who, after a meeting with Franco Nero as an intergalactic utopian Christ, ventures to Earth to take down this little monster...

In that, Paige Conner turns in one of the greatest possessed kid performances ever, more the proverbial verb to Linda Blair's devilish noun i.e. this shaking bed gets around: The daughter of a basketball team owner's girlfriend, entering another homage, ROSEMARY'S BABY (Lance Henriksen as the John Cassevetes soul-seller). And despite the low-budget effects showing what's beyond our world, VISITOR takes to the streets with precision, and looking downright professionally choreographed...

Paige Conner in THE VISITOR Rating: ****

Veering into INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS or even CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND when the film's only human antagonist... the lovely mom in Patrica Nail... is abducted by some kind of aliens that, well... 

There's a lot of THE VISITOR that shouldn't be spoiled, and it's not as insufferably campy as its reputation implies... John Huston, along with tough nanny Shelley Winters, seem more into this Italian import than TENTACLES. Making this dusty gem a great fixture for the time and genre...

And despite the flaws, it's still original — but goes on twenty-minutes too long while the climax is remarkably creepy with insane violence, and the Italian director seems to know he's punishing his characters as well as even his intended cult audience. And least we forget one of the most borrowed if overused multi-mirror peaks derived by Orson Welles for THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI. Yet by this time you'll be either stunned or entertained, or a combination of both.

Paige Conner in THE VISITOR

Paige Conner in THE VISITOR

Paige Conner in THE VISITOR with Glenn Ford

Paige Conner in THE VISITOR

Paige Conner in THE VISITOR

Paige Conner in THE VISITOR

Franco Nero in THE VISITOR

Joanne Nail in THE VISITOR

Paige Conner in THE VISITOR

Paige Conner in THE VISITOR

Paige Conner in THE VISITOR

Paige Conner revisits Orson Welles in THE VISITOR

Paige Conner in THE VISITOR

Shelley Winters and Patricia Nial in THE VISITOR

Glenn Ford in THE VISITOR

The Killer Bird from THE VISITOR

Glenn Ford attacked by the bird in THE VISITOR

Paige Conner in THE VISITOR

Paige Conner and John Huston play Pong in THE VISITOR

Lance Henriksen in THE VISITOR

Sam Peckinpah cameo in THE VISITOR

Patricia Nial in THE VISITOR

Paige Conner in THE VISITOR

John Huston and his bald army in THE VISITOR