Night Visitor (1989)

"Night Visitor" is a decent little combination of teen comedy and horror movie, no more and no less. It holds no real surprises. Still, it's amusing and it does have one good element, which I'll get to in a minute. The oddly chosen bunch of actors makes it interesting to see. Horror fans may be slightly disappointed with the way the gore and sex are downplayed.Derek Rydall plays Billy Colton, a high school student prone to telling tall tales. So when he learns the identity of the Satan worshipping cretin murdering prostitutes, people are inclined to disbelieve him. The police can't do anything without solid evidence. So Billy is forced to link the killer to their crimes, but fortunately ends up being helped by former cop Ron Deveraux (Elliott Gould), an associate of Billy's dad.The most fun one will have in watching this is the offbeat relationship between cranky history teacher Zachary Willard (Allen Garfield) and his simple minded, childish brother Stanley (Michael J. Pollard). One could make a movie based on these two guys alone. As for the rest, well, it's pretty routine stuff. Appealing younger performers such as Rydall and Teresa Van der Woude (as Rydalls' girlfriend) are ably supported by such veterans as Gould, Garfield, Pollard, Richard "Shaft" Roundtree as a police captain, Brooke Bundy as Rydalls' mom, and Henry Gibson as an expert on Satanism. The presence of Shannon Tweed, as the kind of next door neighbour many guys would like to have, does add to the enjoyment, as well as the role for 90s porn queen Teri Weigel as a victim.Marking the directing debut for experienced writer / producer Rupert Hitzig ("Electra Glide in Blue", "Wolfen", "Jaws 3-D", this offers agreeable entertainment that at least wraps itself up pretty quickly and delivers some appreciable chuckles.Seven out of 10.

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

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 porn-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.

The compulsive liar teenager Billy Colton (Derek Rydall) witness the murder of his sexy and prostitute neighbor Lisa Grace (Shannon Tweed) by his history teacher Willard (Allen Garfield). Like in the fairytale, nobody but his girlfriend believes on him. He looks for help with the former friend of his father already dead, Devereaux (Elliott Gould) and they two decide to investigate his teacher's house. The first movie I have watched in 2004 uses elements of horror and suspense and is not bad. Indeed it woks well on video and entertains. I believe at least two points deserve to be highlighted and commented. The first one is the ridiculous character of the great actor Elliott Gould. I do not know how he accepted such a role. The other point is the lack of continuity from about thirteen to sixteen minutes. Bill visits Lisa and gets a beer in his right hand. When Tony arrives, he waives goodbye to Lisa with empty hands. When he arrives home, he has the can of beer again in his right hand and is wearing a type of dark blue coat. When he arrives in his room, he is wearing only the light blue shirt that was beneath the coat. Very funny mistakes. My vote is six.