The Visitors (1988)
4/10
A lack of story and surprise moments
20 August 2009
Warning: Spoilers
The film begin promising. A family moves into a big house at the country side. The first part of the film is more like classic Swedish drama than horror. The characters act realistic, the atmosphere is rather gloomy and sometimes depressed overall, while the family having problems with the economy and the relations between the mother and the father. From here, it goes downhill. Strange things begin to happen in the house, but the father seem to be the only one who take notice about them. All of those things are very sparse and simplistic, which is not a mayor problem even if you begin to feel a lack of surprise moments. The characters (especially the father) begin to act more and more stupid towards the end and you just feel frustration about their actions, rather than sympathy for them or fear of the ghosts in the film. When the ghosts finally make their "real" entrance, it is not scary at all, and they just shows a little bit too much muscles (a lot of explosions that ruins the horror atmosphere and other stuff) which the film suffers from thanks to the bad special effects. Íf there would be at least a somewhat good background story or some solved mysteries about the ghosts or the history of the house, the movie would be worth watching, however there are none of those at all.

When I decided to see this film, I prepared for a not too good but somewhat enjoyable horror film. I was waiting for the horror to start but when it did I wished it would have continued as the beginning of the film instead.

Why should you consider not seeing this film? - Not very many surprise moments at all - Not very scary or atmospheric house or surroundings - Not a very good plot (there are no background-stories or solved mysteries about the ghosts in the house) - Bad special effects that ruins the film - Sometimes stupid and annoying characters

Why should you consider seeing this film? - As a drama, it works, at least in the beginning...
9 out of 14 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed