The Visitant (1981) User Reviews

Nice shot-on-super 8 short film.

[b_kite · 8/10 · 4 July 2018]

This twenty minute short was written, produced, and directed by Paul Bunnell who was seventeen when he made it. I was actually surprised when I managed to come about it on you tube in pretty good quality considering it was shot-on-super 8 with a reported budget of $500 dollars coming from Bunnell himself. The story follows a father who goes to visit the grave of his departed son. He then starts to get terrorized by hallucinations of his son and several other ghouls, eventually the truth is revealed why?. Bunnell does a great job of turning this massive cemetery into what looks like a never ending labyrinth. There's some creepy effects and camera work on display witch plays to the films strengths. It was released on a VHS in 1986 called "Strange Tales" witch features several other short films, but, the quality of that is god awful. The best way to view it is from the DVD which contains "That Little Monster" (1994) another Bunnell film, this was also the version that is available on you tube. Bunnell would go on to direct several other short films throughout the 1980's, he also has 25 acting credits on IMDB and also directed a segment in the 1989 horror anthology "Terrifying Tales".

In the tradition of the Twilight Zone...

[Plain Jane · 10/10 · 15 March 2002]

THE VISITANT was written, produced, photographed, edited and directed by a seventeen year-old film maker in 1981 named Paul Bunnell. I recently got to preview the dvd and I was very impressed. Considering this film was shot on super 8mm film for an initial budget of only five-hundred dollars (according to the director), I found it very enjoyable for the genre. The story is about a man who is mourning the recent passing of his son. The man goes to a small cemetery to visit his son's grave. At the grave, a gust of wind blows past as a voice from behind whispers... "Daddy..." The man becomes startled and turns around only to find his "dead" son standing directly behind him. The boy runs away, the father pursues, and what follows is one incredible chase through the cemetery for the rest of the movie. The man encounters all kinds of ghouls (some funny, some scary) throughout the chase. At one point he even encounters writer/director Paul Bunnell himself, who has a very funny and unsettling cameo as a nervous jogger-ghost. There's even a driverless van. I don't know how they pulled this effect off on such a low budget, but it works. I won't spoil the ending but it rates right up there with some of the very best Rod Serling Twilight Zone episodes! You can certainly tell that the film was made on super 8mm, but the story is so engaging that you forget about the image quality after the first five minutes. I think this could be a great remake for writer/director Paul Bunnell. It would be interesting to see what he might do with the same material twenty-one years later; and with a decent budget, crew and 35mm camera. For a more recent look at the director's imaginative style, I also recommend That Little Monster (1994) which appears on the same dvd as The Visitant... both in the tradition of the original Twilight Zone television series.