DVD | The Visitation

Rating: M - Contains Violence & Horror.
Duration: 99 mins.
Genre : Thriller.
Actors: Edward Furlong, Richard Tyson, Randy Travis, Kelly Lynch, Martin Donovan.
Release Date: Available now.

I think that it’s only fair that I state my view on Christian movies up-front. As a whole they are very cheesy, badly filmed and terribly acted. There’s been a few exceptions of recent, most notably The Passion Of Christ and Luther. Whilst The Visitation doesn’t quite stand in the same league as the aforementioned movies, it is probably the best fictional Christian movie I have ever seen.

Loosely based on Frank Peretti’s novel of the same name, The Visitation is set in the town of Antioch. There’s strange goings on of recent days, with strange visitors promising ‘He is coming’, people getting miraculously healed and seeing images of Jesus in their showers and the clouds.

And then a charismatic stranger turns up in town, healing people and proclaiming love. Is this stranger the Messiah or something more sinister? The local church leaders can’t seem to agree, and the only one seeing sense is the towns ex-minister, a man of God no more, after his wife was murdered in a satanic ritual years ago.

The main actors are in the most part convincing, though the Messiah figure reminds me of a Michael Jackson rendition of Christ! The main failing in the acting department is the same curse that all Christian movies seem to suffer from: no matter how mad, how angry and full of fury, no one, not even the baddies swear or blaspheme. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to support the use of bad language, but the movie quickly loses any credibility at this point.

The pace of the movie is quite good, with some very tense scenes. The cinematography quite good, with some interesting angles being used, though there is a tendency to overuse some clichéd techniques.

The movie is rated M, and this should be carefully considered. Just because this is a Christian movie doesn’t mean it is suitable for the whole family.

Food for thought
How solid is your faith? Would you be taken in by someone who uses signs and wonders to woo his audience, or would you look deeper before jumping into the Kool-aid?