Frank and Sara moves into their new house on the countryside and they simply love it. But soon Frank starts to hear strange sounds coming from within the house along with that he finds the door to the attic always being open, even though he keeps closing it. He contacts a ghost-hunter named Allan who comes over to check things out, and they find that there are supernaturals elements within the house, but it also gets Allan killed. With his wife not believing him, Frank has to try and find out the truth of what's inside the house and its attic by himself.
Swedish horror from the late 80's, not the most common thing out there so all the more reason to check it out. I remember seeing a few scenes from The Visitors when I was much younger, but I never got to see the whole film, until now. I've been meaning to check it out for years, but somehow I have always forgotten to do so and the years have gone by. An old friend of mine brought this little horror gem up during a conversation that we had a year ago or so, and said that the film had really scared her when she first saw it 10-15 years ago. I wrote it down on a list, later managed to track it down and finally got to see it for myself. So was it worth it? Sure was.
The film pretty much plays out like The Amityville Horror, but with a few things different. First off, this one has some comedy in it early on that works wonders and makes the film easy to get into, as well as it's really enjoyable to watch. The comedy goes out the window after a while though and from then on it's full-on horror which works quite well. While the The Amityville Horror might be a cult classic or whatever, it doesn't take away the fact that the film was boring and left one unsatisfied when it was over. The Visitors on the other hand has things going for it all the way through, with likable characters, dialogue that feels and comes natural and that mixes humour and horror which is a tricky thing to do, but pulls it off pretty well when dealing with the two genres.
The story is nothing special though, but still makes for 104 minutes of quality entertainment. A family has just bought a house on the countryside, and Frank and his wife Sara moves in there with their two children. Everything seems great at first, but soon Frank starts hearing strange sounds coming from within the house, or more so, the attic. He gets freaked out and tells his wife, but she doesn't seem to believe him. One day when shopping at a supermarket, Frank finds a magazine that deals with the occult. He picks it up and in there finds an article written by a "ghost-hunter" named Allan. He gives the man a call and Allan turns out to be one eccentric dude who wants to come over and check out the house and what supernatural things that might be in it. It doesn't take long before both Allan and Frank are more than convinced that there's something evil present within the house, but when trying to use electricity and "ghost-hunting" machines that Allan has built himself, it also makes him end up dead. Left alone with no one believing him, Frank must try and figure out what's in the house and stop it before he ends up dead too.
Acting-wise, the film delivers to a hundred percent. Kjell Bergqvist who plays the role of Frank does a convincing job and is the highlight of the film. He adds a lot of humour to the movie, but is also very believable when frightened which helps add a certain atmosphere, feel or whatever you'd like to call it. The "ghost-hunter" Allan is funny as hell, he's a bit of a nut, but a very likable one. The film also features one scene that will most likely make you think of Evil Dead, and while it might not be totally ripped off, it's not too far from it either. On the other hand, I never expected an original film and you've probably seen most of what the film has to offer more than a few times before, but still, it does everything so well and therefore it is definitely worth checking out.
While I didn't get scared watching it, I sure got a few good laughs out of it. Not because it was so bad it was good, but for the fact that some of the humour in it works extremely well. The scares are definitely there, but if they are effective enough is up to you to decide. The movie has a creepy atmosphere of dread hanging over it most of it throughout, and with it taking place in the somewhat goofy 80's also makes it a bit better and gives it a good feel as well. If you can find it, it's recommended to check it out.
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE: Besökarna
MOVIE YEAR: 1988
DIRECTOR: Jack Ersgård
WRITING CREDITS: Jack Ersgård, Patrik Ersgård
GENRE: Horror
CAST: Kjell Bergqvist, Lena Endre, Johannes Brost
COUNTRY: Sweden
RUNTIME: 104 min
RATING: 7/10
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