The Visitation DVD Review:

The final product of a film is often much different than what it started out to be. Often this happens after production has ceased. One of the ways that a film might change is in the editing room, where scenes are deleted and the overall theme of the film can often be changed. The other way a film can change is in the marketing of it. The film itself may be the same, but it won’t be viewed the way that the filmmakers intended if the trailer gives away essential plot information, or the DVD cover misleads viewers to believing it is about something it is not in order to make more sales. The Visitation is a building mystery of a film, but with one look at the cover I knew what the outcome would be, which I am certain was not the filmmaker’s intention.

Based on the best-selling novel by Frank Peretti, The Visitation is a supernatural thriller about a questionable second coming of Jesus Christ. In the small town of Antioch all sorts of miracles begin to happen. People are being healed and strangers begin appearing and disappearing just to tell the town that “he is coming”. When a stranger calling himself Brandon (Edward Furlong) comes into town and starts a revival town members flock to him in order to be healed. He bears the stigmata and all but a few believe him to be Christ. One of the skeptics is an ex-minister (Martin Donovan), who lost his faith when his wife was killed. Martin is determined to find out what is really going on, and as he investigates he finds that nothing is as simple as it seems.

Since it is based on a novel, The Visitation may have seemed like an easy solution for a film. The material was already available, so less work was needed, and any fans of the novel would be sure to seethe film. The only problem is that not all books make good films. Reading this story may have been suspenseful because it would allow for the reader to get more caught up in the world before events started to turn, but when watching a film there is less time to grow accustomed to your surroundings before something must happen.

The Visitation is not a bad film, and there is actually quite a surprising twist at the end, but it is simply too similar to many other films to be entirely enjoyable. Many elements are predictable, which causes them to lose their suspense. All one has to do is take a look at the cover of the DVD, with an eye that holds a cross shaped fire blazing, and you have an idea of what the film will be. These religious thrillers are nearly always obsessed with demons far more than they are religion. It does have an accurate portrayal of demon possession as is written by the bible, but most that would know that would probably rather stay away from films depicting them.

The DVD is simple, with a still frame menu and nothing but a trailer for another religious film as special features. It is a double sided disc, with widescreen on one side and full screen on the opposite.



Ryan Izay