Product Details

• Language: English, Spanish
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000I8XIXU
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #146,115 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Disturbing, January 15, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Visitors (1972) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I bought this movie in spite of bad reviews from critics; reason - I am interested in the work of Steve Railsback. This is one of his earliest movies; the theme is one of revenge basically but there is a sub-plot which is not spelled out and is deeply psychological. It deals with the inherent violence of the human race and the battle to conquer these tendencies. Steve Railsback's performance as the vengeful soldier is chilling but at the same time he manages to portray some vulnerability in the character. I did not find it repulsive but it's not for the faint hearted.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of those movies where everything just came together., June 27, 2009

By	Robert P. Beveridge "xterminal" (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The Visitors (Elia Kazan, 1972)

The whole time I was watching The Visitors, the penultimate film from American icon Elia Kazan (East of Eden, A Streetcar Named Desire, etc.), I kept saying to myself "I can't believe this is an Elia Kazan film." I'm still trying to figure out whether this is a good thing or not. I think it is.

The only feature script written by Kazan's son Chris, The Visitors is the story of the two lives of Bill Schmidt (James Woods in his big-screen debut), a Vietnam veteran who came home, settled down, got married, had a kid, and is living a generally idyllic life until two of the guys in his old unit, Mike Nickerson (Steve Railsback, in his any-kind-of-screen debut) and Tony Rodrigues (The Howling's Chico Martinez), pay him an unannounced visit. Things are tense from the get-go, but as the visit continues, they get weirder and more violent.

This is one of those movies where you know from the start things will not end well, but suspense isn't one of the things this movie is going for. Odd for a thriller, but Kazan (Chris) was obviously influenced by directors like Buñuel. Strange little branches of this story flower in unexpected places, few characters are who they seem, and somehow Kazan (Elia this time) never really seems as if he's out of his element, though he most assuredly is; The Visitors is more grindhouse classic than AFI classic, as understated as it is (for most of its length, anyway). Add in the stars being in exactly the right place for the casting director to have scored two complete unknowns who would, within a couple of years, be household names (Railsback in Helter Skelter, Woods in The Way We Were), and whether you find the subject matter compelling or not (whatever else this may be, it is a Vietnam War film), this is must-see TV. As a final note, I just read a review that compared it to Michael Haneke's Funny Games, and while I've been straining my brain while writing this for a different film it reminded me of, that one comes almost as close, so I'll mention it. (Mine probably would have given away a critical plot twist anyway.) *** ½