In Antioch, the former Father Travis Jordan lost his faith on God three years ago when his beloved wife was murdered and the criminals never found. Suddenly, miracles happen in the little town: the son of the newcomer and veterinary Morgan Elliot survives a car accident without a single scratch; Travis’s dog Max revives after being buried; a paraplegic walks; a wounded woman and her father with brain tumor heal. In all the events, three men wearing black were seen, and then the unknown Brandon Nichols claims to be Jesus Christ. The local population worships Brandon, while Travis and Morgan feel that something is wrong and conduct an investigation, disclosing that evil has possessed the dwellers.

The true face of terror is revealed in this supernatural thriller based on Frank Peretti’s best-selling novel. Miracles are happening in the sleepy town of Antioch, and everyone is talking about the mysterious drifter with the incredible powers. But who is this charismatic stranger — the true messiah, a false prophet or something far more sinister? The townspeople are soon divided, and when happenings at the stranger’s revival tent take on a bizarre and frightening twist, it’s up to an ex-minister to confront his own inner demons and unlock the shocking secret of The Visitation.

‘The term “Christian movie” makes most people cringe. They hear the term applied, assume that the movie is going to be perfectly horrible, and watch it thinking as such. When THE VISITATION came out on DVD, I picked it up. I had enjoyed Frank Peretti’s book by the same title a lot, and was very shocked by the ending of the story. And as I settled in to watch the movie, I started getting really excited.

Pretty much, a fallen minister, Travis Jordan, is at the end of his rope, not caring too much about what else happens in the little town around him. But then miracles start happening, people are being healed, and a mysterious stranger has come to town proclaiming love and peace to the people. Travis Jordan, a local veterinarian, and Kyle Sherman, a preacher, are all feeling very uneasy about the goings on, and when they start looking deeper into the situation, they start to find something they never wished they had stumbled onto…

The story does deviate slightly from the book, but the major plot points are intact, and the ending gives the viewer a somewhat disturbing feeling after film’s end. The cinematography is amazing, finding perfectly wonderful angles to film, and the cutting is just right to give an intense creepy feel to the film. The acting actually was pretty good, featuring Martin Donovan (Saved!) Randy Travis, Edward Furlong (Terminator 2), and Hilary Tuck (Honey I Shrunk The Kids the Television Series).

As far as CONTENT goes: There is a little bit of cleavage during one scene in the film, there are some very disturbing situations, but nothing incredibly graphic is shown. Blood is about the worst of the gore. There is no language in the film, which is a nice change for movies today.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed THE VISITATION, and I would encourage viewers to remember that movies and books are different entities. (Even parts of LORD OF THE RINGS were altered (or left out completely) from the books…)’ – Stevenson

‘If you watch “The Rainmaker” you’ll think it’s a great movie. If you watch it after you read the novel by John Grisham that it’s based on, it will leave you wanting a little more. “The Visitation” is very similar. Frank Peretti’s books, including “The Visitation”, have the tendency to draw the reader in until they are immersed in the fear that oozes from the pages. The movie doesn’t quite accomplish that. Of course, if any movie were to contain all of the elements of a Perreti or Grisham novel, it would be 12 hours long.

Having said that, the story is well told, though there are moments where it leaps ahead unexpectedly. The movie’s opening scene introduces three mysterious men who proclaim “He is coming.” Through the rest of the movie they lurk in the background, creating an uneasy sense of expectancy. Martin Donovan and Kelly Lynch are very likable as the main characters and Donovan is convincing in the role of reluctant hero. Randy Travis shows he is actually a good actor and provides most of the comic relief, which is a bit surprising.

Edward Furlong as “The Visitor” is a bit melodramatic, but does a good job of keeping you guessing to the end. The rest of the characters could use a little more development in the movie. One thing I did find irritating about the movie is a device the screenplay writer (not Peretti) uses during the frightening scenes. It is pretty much a rip-off of “The Ring”.

Overall, the movie is somewhat frightening. It’s not scary in a horror movie fashion, but more in a Hitchcock kind of way. It’s more of a disturbing feeling than a desire to scream. Kind of like “The Secret Window”.

While Perreti is recognized as a Christian author the movie is not preachy. There are some religious themes, but they flow with the story. It doesn’t force messages into the film that don’t fit as is so unfortunate in many otherwise good stories.

The budget for the movie is about $2 million. It looks like it. It doesn’t look cheap, but it doesn’t compare to the films with five times the money in the coffers. Perreti is currently working on a screen play for “The Oath”. I hope this movie has enough success to convince someone to front a little bigger budget for his next project.’ – Robert

‘It’s every author’s nightmare: sell your novel to a movie company, have them make the movie adaptation, and end up with it bearing little or no resemblance to the book you wrote. Frank Peretti must have faced this when he sat down to watch “The Visitation”, a movie very loosely based on his novel of the same name. Fans clamored for months waiting to see this movie come out after hearing rumors of it on the internet for so long. So how did it stack up?

Well, if you’ve read the novel, you probably aren’t going to like this movie. It bears little resemblance to that story, though many of the characters have the right names from the book. Edward Furlong was an odd choice for Brandon, since the character was so vital to the story and supposed to be a caring leader with charisma and love. Furlong shows a lot of road wear from his days of drug and alcohol abuse, making him a hard man to want to follow, but this hardness ends up coming in helpful as Brandon slides into the evil side.

The ending (and most of the picture) is a major deviation from the book. And things go a little too “Green Mile” at a couple of points, but if you’re just wanting to watch a good movie, this is a better choice than many. The story is good on its own merit, and spooky in a lot of places it should be. Familiar faces like Kelly Lynch, Randy Travis, and even Priscilla Barnes (from Three’s Company) are sprinkled throughout the cast, keeping it from being completely anonymous.

Not the worst picture ever made, but a horrible adaptation of Peretti’s excellent story. I understand budget contraints, but there had to be a way to make it a little closer to the novel. As for “Special Features”, the only thing is a movie trailer for “The End of the Spear”.’ – Brian