Night Visitor

This was an ok film with obvious roots in Rear Window and The Boy who Cried Wolf. A kid with with a history of telling "stories" witnesses his next door neighbor who he thinks is a prostitute killed by his unpopular teacher. No one, especially the police, believes him. He eventually uncovers a Satanic conspiracy. This movie wasn't great but had its moments. If you have time to kill, you might find it harmless. I liked the final showdown. ** out of ****

You know there are a lot of fun, low budget horror films that are very ambitious and fun. Like Blood and Lace, Night Visitor, Killer Klowns From Outer Space, I Was a Teenage Zombie and hundreds of others that are always fun to watch. Reviewers sometimes don't like them because they think they are one reel short of Dr. Zhivago and are spoiled by viewing Halloween, The Exorcist, Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and others. But these great 'second' tier films can be way underrated. Usually made of a few hundred thousand dollars instead of millions, they offer a fun, quirky, style about them. Night Visitor has a star studded cast in odd ball character roles. The teacher is a Satanist who kills people for his sacrifices. A student tumbles on to his secret and seeks help to help uncover him. See Dig That Crazy Cast review for actor backgrounds. Sadly, the director mentions that the studio edited his film, which seemed much darker. This version is lighter and fun to watch. I recommend a whole sub genre of horror films made under 1 mil and are exciting adventures into the mind of directors and writers without large budgets. I recommend this film, I watch it every time it comes on Comet TV, which probably means it has been edited like all the others on TV. You'll have fun.

Night Visitor is an entertaining and old school 80's horror flick that shares a lot in common with another horror classic called Fright Night. A senior in High School named Colton discovers his neighbor is a hooker but his friends don't believe him. So one night he decides to get photos for proof, except he happens to photograph her being murdered by a devil worshiping serial killer...who also happens to be his history teacher! The only problem is Colton likes to cry wolf and tell stories. So the police and the other students are skeptical. So Colton decides to stop this psycho himself. There are some great 80's tunes, some good acting, and some good T&A. But the film has no gore and a low body count. Shannon Tweed is a treat and Elliot Gould is fun to watch as the ex-detective. It felt like a re-hash of Fright Night but was still fun and unique. The whole teacher being a killer idea was effective. The bum from "Scrooged" plays the killers "special" brother. A pretty good film. Oh, and a terrible poster for the film...it looks like a giant bug or bee when it's really the killer's mask.

It's the solid performances from some recognisable faces that lift this all too typical boy-who-cried-wolf theme in this inconsistent low-budget satanic thriller. What strike me the most was how the storyline is so close to Tom Holland's terrific vampire film 'Fright Night (1985)', but it comparison it does lack the charm and thrills of that film. Vampires no more, but Satanists are the flavour. The hysterically unusual pairing of a wearily scorning Allan Garfield and playfully loony Michael J Pollard was a hammy blast as the two Satanist brothers. Derek Rydall and Teresa Vander Woude make for appealing teen leads that get caught up in the devilish mess. Richard Roundtree's no-bull performance is lean, but potent as the detective on the case and Elliott Gould is amusing as a retired detective who comes out of retirement to help out the teenagers. In support roles the ravishing Shannon Tweed and eventual *-star Teri Wiegel added some sexual energy. Henry Gibson also pops up. Director Rupert Hitzig hones in a workable display and keeps it on the move, even if his jump tactics inadequately fail. Anyhow the predictably implausible and contrived screenplay seems to be playing it for camp laughs, than actual chills. Just wait for the chainsaw and shotgun clash! It's like it's made up of a bunch of comical errors and eccentric passages, but one or two sequences install some welcoming suspense. But really, the humour does overplay it. And what was the idea of that corn-riddled, over extended ending accompanied with a howling song. It was awful! The whip-lashed musical score drums up the repetitive chanting ala 'The Omen' style, but it doesn't come near Goldsmith's classic piece.

Elliott Gould, Allen Garfield, Michael J. Pollard, Richard Roundtree, Henry Gibson, are among the interesting cast, that are badly wasted in "Night Visitor". The script involves devil worship, adolescent humor, raging teen hormones, and outrageous overacting by everyone. Nothing in "Night Visitor" can be taken seriously, and that means that the whole mixed up mess just trundles along with the audience left holding the bag, because neither of the elements, the devil worship or the humor work. Do not be tempted by the eclectic cast, as you will be sadly disappointed. I know I was. ............................... Not recommended - MERK

Another movie with attractive females and atrocious dialogue. A cast that makes the movie seem intriguing, but falls short as predictable, and improbable. For some unknown reason in a horror film, nobody believes the witness. We have to always assume this cardinal rule in cheesy horror, but it has even progressed into mainstream studios. After Billy Cole (Derek Rydall) witnesses his overweight history teacher murder a prostitute (Shannon Tweed), the local police department is uncertain what to believe. I mean the murder happened as stated, at the address stated, in the fashion as the witness stated. But the only question that arises from the police department is "is he telling the truth" scenario, in regards to the identity of the satanic killer. To make things worst, Billy keeps attending the satanic teachers classes, as if nothing had happened. I mean, which parents would allow their child to go to class, knowing their son had witnessed a murder? Would they not fear retaliation by the killer is highly probable? Would the police not hold the identified killer in custody, at least until a trial was set? I mean, they had an EYEWITNESS to a murder! The lead actor Derek Rydall is about as bad an actor I've seen in 42 years of my life. Boring, predictable, and unfunny. With actors like Alan Garfield, Michael J Pollard, and Elliot Gould, you'd think the people who made this stinker would utilize them better. It's as if they give this movie a glimmer of hope, in a movie badly needing a lead character. Night Visitor is a unique film that's filled with potential, but falls short in dialogue, budget, and direction. It just didn't work out. Being a directorial debut, isn't enough of an excuse for this implausible bomb.

Dopey combination high school horror movie and serial killer nonsense has goof-off student accusing his hard-ass history teacher of murdering the sexy prostitute who lives next door. B-grade item distributed by MGM/UA (!) at least gave employment to some interesting and talented actors, including a heavily-bearded Elliott Gould as a retired detective (excellent), Richard Roundtree as the local police captain, Henry Gibson as a psychologist, Brooke Bundy as the kid's mom, Shannon Tweed as the flirtatious neighbor, Allen Garfield as the evil, smirking teacher and Michael J. Pollard as Garfield's Renfield-like brother. Director Rupert Hitzig never finds an appropriate tone here; he presents a Satanic ritual with an absolute straight face, but nearly all the surrounding drama lapses into either camp or cliché. *1/2 from ****

Basically the boy who cried satanist. High schooler Billy Colton (Derek Rydall) thinks his dreams have come true when "working girl" Lisa (Shannon Tweed) moves in next door. He gets more than an eyeful one night when he sees her murdered by a Satanic serial killer who just happens to be Billy's history teacher Zachary Willard (Allen Garfield). Of course no one will believe him since Billy and Willard have a history. So he enlists the help of girlfriend Kelly (Teresa Van der Woude) to try and convince his deceased dad's former cop partner (Elliot Gould) to help him prove it. This is pretty standard stuff and director Rupert Hitzig and screenwriter Randal Viscovich seem to be taking quite a bit from the earlier FRIGHT NIGHT (1985). If I had to recommend it for anything, it would be the loopy performance by Michael J. Pollard as Zachary's brother and co-killer. He really has some funny bits, which I'm sure were improvised, in that always amusing Pollard delivery style. Richard Roundtree is the unconvinced cop and Henry Gibson has one scene as a satanic expert. Surprisingly, Tweed stays clothed the entire time she is on screen (even during her sex scenes).

This is a perfect example that around the end of the eighties early nineties horror was really death. This flick do has the perfect cast and even that shows that a perfect cast doesn't make a movie. It started pretty will with the kidnapping of a hooker. A new girl (Shannon Tweed) arrives and looks rather sexy (which is normal have been Playmate of 1982 and married to Kiss member Gene Vincent) and her neighbor, a teenager Billy Colton (Derek Rydall), falls in love and is peeping tom on her. One night he see she's handcuffed and he wants to take a picture. Climbing the roof he witnesses that her neighbor is being killed by his teacher Willard (Allen Garfield). Of course being a teenager and full of imagination no-one believes him when he tell the police that his teacher is the killer. With comedy elements, especially when Billy visits Lisa, in a horror you have to be sure that it all fits together. Sadly it doesn't. Once the killing is done you do see girls being captured but the horror is far gone. Oh yes, sure, there's some satanic rituals involved and the score does work but on screen the retard and the black mess doesn't work. They do show a breast to please the viewer but once the dagger goes into the flesh is doesn't satisfy. You see the dagger going down from the POV of the victim and only a bit of red stuff appears on her face. No on-camera stabbing or result to see. Can't say anything bad about the filming and editing except a few continuity mistakes for first time director Rupert Hitzig, already produced Jaws 3D (1983). But I can say that it wasn't a good flick. Still some will seek for it for all the well known thespians in it. Gore 0/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 0/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 0,5/5

A pair of satanists drive around in an old black Cadillac, picking up hookers to sacrifice. A high school student who's always telling tall tales (I was late to school because my mother burned her hair when her hairdryer exploded!) tries to get closer to a female friend, and meets a sexy older woman who moves in next door. The high schooler witnesses a murder, and even though when the police show up the body is there as described, murdered when and how he described, they don't believe him when he says who the killer is. I found that a bit hard to believe, even given his penchant for making up stories. A bit randomly, his best friend is a smartass named Sam Loomis, like Donald Pleasance's character in Halloween. The satanists (of which there are only two) kill some women in their car, and some in their house. They don't seem to actually have any satanic powers. There's a few recognizable faces in the movie. Michael J. Pollard plays a sort of character he's played before, a man with the mind of a child. Henry Gibson shows up briefly as a police consultant on satanic crimes. Richard Roundtree plays a cop, as he has a thousand times. Elliot Gould is a family friend who the student tries to enlist. The movie never really takes off at any point. The ending concludes things, and then follows with a musical montage and a freeze-frame which struck me as silly.