Now, I ‘m not a big ‘found footage’ person. I’m more than a little selective of the ones I choose to watch and which ones I consider good. A lot of the time found footage movies (think Paranormal Activities and The Blair Witch Project) have the problem of dragging on for far too long and having people using cameras when people in real life wouldn’t. And the real life thing is important as ‘found footage’ means the footage is found and edited somehow.
The Night Visitor solved the camera issue wonderfully. Some of the camera angles are from someone spying on the family (the “night visitor” mentioned in the title) and I applaud that decision. This makes it so that there can be cameras on at all times without wondering why someone still has their camera on.
The camera the family has is used because a new age spiritualist says that the husband and wife need to film themselves 24/7 to save their marriage. It’s cheesy, yes, but it gives a good explanation as to why cameras are used.
When scenes are shot in the hand held camera the quality goes down, as to be expected. There are some shots where the camera is steady on a tripod in scenes such as when Jen (Brianne Davis) and Cochrann (Gary Cairns) attempt to make a sex tape. The movie starts out on one of those scenes which is really hilarious. The couple is having a hard time staying together so of course it allows for some adorable cuteness as they try to work things out.
Scenes shot on the security cameras are better quality and allow for a greater view of a scene like people are used to seeing in a movie. Chronicle (2012) used the same basic technique of switching from camera to camera in its finale.
The story itself revolves around a couple that has a failing marriage and their child. Everyone is given just enough development for the story. There is a mystery throughout the movie of what is actually going on. Near the end you find out that the son (Hudson Pischer) isn’t the only child having creepy things happen to him. That other families are having the same problems.
At the end of the movie you get an answer of who but not maybe why. Possibly in the upcoming sequel some answers will be given.
The best part of this movie is, hands down, Michael Biehn.
Brianne Davis gives Jen a vulnerability but still shows that the character does have her strengths. Mainly through the business that Jen runs.
Jennifer Blanc plays Brandy who is the frantic mother who comes in near the end of the film. It’s very brief but she portrays the character in the light the character needs to be portrayed in. Brandy will play a bigger role in the sequel.
So what do I rate this movie? I consider it a b-movie and I love b-movies. Give me a good b-movie any time and I will watch it. I have a little b-movie collection so I don’t hate the genre. However, it’s hard for me to review and rate them due to me finding it difficult to balance my professional critique and my personal enjoyment of the film.
The Night Visitor uses its ending to its best advantages and will satisfy any Terminator Fan.
The movie is fun but it lacks substance and not having answers is annoying. Of course we might get answers in the sequel (probably the intention)… If the sequel ties off these loose ends it will definitely work in favor of both movies and the story as a whole.
More Michael Biehn in the sequel please!