Reviews: The Visitant; Revisitant

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2021
Images from the Internet

I found out about the sequel, so I figured I would check out the original first.

 

The Visitant
Directed by Jon Binkowski
Kings of Horror; FWC Pictures
87 minutes, 2014
https://kingsofhorror.com/the-visitant/

After a short and well done prologue, we are introduced to struggling and aging actress Samantha (Michelle Simms). Her current gig is as a professional psychic in an amusement park. I used to date the assistant of a professional psychic and have seen how intense the job can be, and how over the top the clientele are sometimes. Samantha is a charlatan, and she knows it.

But, as these things must in this kind of film, a mysterious client, Lee (Sallie Glaner), shows up with a real psychic problem: a visitant by malevolent spirit in her home. Like a game of tag team, the wraith connects to a person and makes their lives a living hell, with electronics flashing, lights going on and off, glass breaking, and oddly enough, towels being folded, among other manifestations.

Michelle Simms; Sallie Glaner

This was a surprisingly fun ride, with some genuine jump scares and effects that are not over the top, but definitely effective. There is some CGI involved but it looked minimal to me, with most of the effects being practical.

The one big flaw in the story, in my opinion, is that Samantha stays in the house, often on the phone with her friend Maya (Tracy Wiu), who is both a real psychic expert and in the Greek Chorus role so Samantha can express what she is thinking out loud, and give some exposition about Samantha and her late husband. One minute all these supernatural things are happening, the next she’s excusing it and refusing to go. If I may digress, I once stayed overnight at a friend’s family home, in the basement suite. As I was falling asleep, I felt someone sit on the bed. I turned on the light and no one was there. I slept in the car. Samantha has a radio static call her name and is only momentarily bothered by it. Sure, the thing will follow her, but she does not know that. She should have left until she did.

Other than that, I found the film much better than I expected. It was definitely creepy, even though it uses some tropes that are not uncommon. I was impressed, and it kept my attention. Usually, I write my reviews as I watch the film, but for this I am composing it after.

I was also impressed by the acting. Simms keeps up the character without being either too over the top, or so dead-pan that she doesn’t recognize the situation. Simms is onscreen nearly the entire film and often by herself (not counting the spook), and she carries it fiercely right until the end. Again, while she is calmer than I would be in that situation and much earlier, she gives the character some pathos and determination. As the initial visitant attachee, Glaner does a great job. What I have seen of her before (demo reels on IMDB), she tends to play stoic doctor or executive types, but here she does frazzled really well, especially when she’s talking to Samantha at the amusement park.

There were a few cliché elements I was expecting which did not occur, which is also a credit to the writing. It is nicely shot and edited, using the timing well. The twist about how the progression of the spirit worked well within the story’s framework. Overall, it was a surprisingly fun and one of the better nasty ghost films I have seen in a while.

Watch the whole film free HERE 

 

ReVisitant
Directed by Jon Binkowski
Kings of Horror; Renaissance Entertainment; Terror Films
100 minutes, 2019
www.revisitant.com
www.terrorfilms.net

Since I do not have a nosebleed, I am going to progress onto the recently released sequel of The Visitant, witfully titled ReVisitant.

With what seems like a larger budget, the prologue is essentially a recap by showing five minutes of the ending of the first film, along with some other informative reminding bits going forward.

We are introduced to a new family a couple of doors down from the original house, which is now owned by the bank, scheduled to be razed. Personally, I think it is a great house, but capitalism tends to win out.

Maya Smith, Amy Smith, Lisa Enos Smith, Jade Rattigan

The occupants are a mother, Leslie (Lisa Enos Smith), her young daughter Sarah (Jade Rattigan), a teenage daughter, Amanda (Amy Smith), and Amanda’s friend, Kat (Maya Smith). Sarah tends to sneak into the spooked house and “rescues” some of the creepy artifacts, but what gets passed along to the family is far worse, and if you have seen the first film, you know what I mean. Actually, I’ll bet you can pretty well figure that out anyway.

The entity manages to jump to many people in this issue, much like in the 1998 film, Fallen. There is also a couple of nods to Poltergeist (1982), such as an incident involving a chair; Sarah really seems to be getting into the whole ghost thing, but you know it’s going to get darker as the film progresses. As the being takes hold, it is interesting to see its progression, from being like a trailer attached to a car to becoming the whole RV.

As more and more characters get added to the story, including some from the first film, an abusive stalker ex-boyfriend Norm Becker (J.T. Becker) who you know is as good as toast, and cat lady neighbor Miss Patty Pender (Patty Bender, in another character/cast name bender), there is more of a variety than in the first release.

With all the horror this family goes though, the film also has a – dare I say it – devilish sense of humor, at times, along with some decent jump scares. For example, a relatively comic relief character, Griffon (Marc Musso). is wearing a Scare Zone tee-shirt, from a 2009 film by ReVisitant’s director.

Sallie Glander, Amy Smith

As with the first, the standard for the acting here is incredibly high, with Sallie Glaner and relative newcomer Rattigan holding her own.

There were three questions in the story I had when the film proper ended, two of which were resolved “Dark Shadows” style during the final credits (make sure you sit through the credits at least until the cast is listed). The third and unresolved one is that Maya had been tagged by the meanie for a year, but it wasn’t until after it passed to the next person that she brought out Griffon to get rid of the manifestation, whom she apparently knew even before the first film?

In this film as with the last, there are some genuine jump scares and effects that, while are also not over the top, are more intense, with minimal CGI.

As is common in the follow-up, we are given the back story of the spirit and a hint of more to come. I certainly would not object to that. Both these films are good candidates to be added to the spookathon canon.