Visitors (2003)

After six month at sea on a solo trip around the world, Georgia Perry’s 44-foot sail boat sits idle with no wind in her sails for several days. Cabin fever sets in and the border between fact and fantasy begins to trickle away. Are uninvited visitors bordering the vessel, or is her mind deceiving her? But if these are just tricks in her imagination, how do these ghostly encounters leave Georgia with bruises? If the visitors are real, is there a bigger danger…?

A fine little psychological thriller

It's interesting that so many reviews of this film rate it poorly. Whilst I'd not give it 5 stars, it's certainly worth 4. The script is fine, the acting good, the direction and production OK - what's not to like?

I guess a lot of the people who don't "get" this film were either expecting something quite different, or else they are not sailors. The general plot has been covered here several times so I won't repeat it again at length - it is a simple situational thriller in which a lone sailor, becalmed in the Indian Ocean, begins to experience vivid hallucinations. These are at least partly in reaction to the death of both her parents whilst her round the world single-handed attempt was under way.

Were the "visitors" real? No, of course not - they are all complete fantasies. Lone sailors frequently experience vivid, lucid hallucinations during long voyages. Watch "Deep Water", the recent bio-pic about the Golden Globe trophy in 1968, to get a taste of this in real life. One competitor went totally nuts and jumped overboard after craeting an elabourate hoax regarding his position - another saw and talked to Bing Crosby whilst in the middle of the Atlantic! It's old news.

What made the film gripping for me was the realization that, isolated as she was, her own mind was her greatest enemy. At one point she jumps overboard to escape imaginary pirates, and only comes back to her senses once on board again. That's REAL terror - the knowledge that in an isolated and totally self-sufficient environment, you may do yourself or your only means of survival real damage during an hallucination. The one person you can absolutely trust, yourself, is suddenly someone to be feared. Truly terrifying, more so than any ghost story.

The end is excellent. Having internalised the death of her parents, and with her boyfriend no longer faithful and her sponsor for the race backing out, she does the best thing possible - gives them all the finger and sails on to new horizons. May 18, 2008

A Little Beauty

I have to admit, this movie really gave me the Creepy-Crawly's! The fine line between reality & fantasy comes across quite well, in this spooky little thriller.
If you like tales about cats, sailing the high seas, ghosts, a bit of romance; and in the end the heroine prevails(good on her!)it's worth a squizz! There's some good special effects too - very entertaining!

February 15, 2007

The Visitors Imaginery Friends

This movie is eerie style, which almost fits an illusionary profile of psychology-thriller. The movie is confusing at the start, and continues to make the watcher feel confused throughout the movie, yet as the scenes come together, it seems more real and plotted well. If you want a movie that peeks curiosity, then this movie will definately peek your mind to want to see what happens...Some compare the movie to "ghost ship," yet I cannot see the comparison entirely at this point.

February 12, 2007

Not a Horror Film...

...per se. This should appeal more to fans of drama/suspense.

If you're like me and enjoy indulging in films that watch like paperback novels, then this should do it for you. The DVD cover is a bit misleading-- this is about a strong-willed, stubborn woman who decides to sail around the world with no human contact save via radio.

During the trip, cabin fever sets in and she confronts her past and fears through ghostly visitors which include her parents and some pirates.

This picture provides the viewer with some great drama, interesting characters, and an overall satisfying cinematic experience. If it was meant to be scary, it failed (except for the chick's mom-- she was freaky), but shines as a psychological drama.

Check it out if it sounds like your thing. May 21, 2006

I liked it a whole lot better than everyone else did...

Visitors (Richard Franklin, 2003)

This movie is getting no love at IMDB, and I'm not terribly sure why. Perhaps the raters over there are used to more highbrow fare; I watched this the week after watching Ghost Ship, and comparison between the two seems unavoidable. In every way, Visitors comes out on top.

During a round-the-world solo sailing race, Georgia Perry (Pitch Black's Radha Mitchell) runs into a calm patch (we eventually find out she's just a few days from the end of the race at this time, so she's already been at sea for roughly six months with only a cat for company). While stuck in the doldrums, Perry has to fight off a bout of isolation-induced insanity where she hallucinates visitations from important people in her life-- her dead mother (Susannah York), her ailing father (Prisoners of the Sun's Ray Barrett), and various others, while having to worry about running across a pirated tanker, and having her only contact with other humans come from radio contact with her fiancee Luke (Blade: Trinity's Dominic Purcell) and Rob (Christopher Kirby, recently seen in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith), the radioman on a freighter who are coincidentally on the same course.

Radha Mitchell is not only drop-dead gorgeous, but is one of those exceptionally talented and yet underrated actors who never seen to get nearly enough work (while Julia Roberts, at twenty million a flick, is working more than ever). It is her performance that truly carries this picture, though many of the minor cast also turn in reasonable performances (Purcell, especially, is appropriately slimy, and Susannah York delivers the kind of role that explains why she was so in demand in the seventies). The film's climax begs comparison with that of Ghost Ship, and while it's cheesy, in comparison it's wildly understated; the denouement is a tad on the "girl-power!" side, but is still thoroughly fitting.

A fun way to kill ninety minutes, and well worth it for a glimpse of Radha Mitchell's charms. *** ½ September 12, 2005

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