Stridulum (1979)

User Rating:

2.7/10   

Director:

Giulio Paradisi

Writers:

Ovidio G. Assonitis (story)
Luciano Comici (written by)

Release Date:

1980 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

They know we are here...

Plot:

The soul of a young girl with telekinetic powers becomes the prize in a fight between forces of God and the Devil. |

Plot Keywords:

Child | Omen | Deal With The Devil | Satanism | Supernatural

Cast

Mel Ferrer	...	Dr. Walker
Glenn Ford	...	Det. Jake Durham
Lance Henriksen	...	Raymond Armstead
John Huston	...	Jerzy Colsowicz
Joanne Nail	...	Barbara Collins
Sam Peckinpah	...	Dr. Sam Collins
Shelley Winters	...	Jane Phillips
Paige Conner	...	Katy Collins
Ja Townsend
Jack Dorsey
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bill Ash
Steve Balzer
Neal Boortz
Steve Cunningham
Joe Dorsey	...	Sheriff Paul Townsend
Calvin Embry
Jack H. Gordon
Walter Gordon Sr.
Charles Hartnett
Hsio Ho Chao
Franco Nero	...	Jesus Christ
Johnny Popwell
Aron Siegel	...	Hot dog stand customer
Steve Somers
Betty Turner
Lou Walker
Wallace Wilkinson	...	Police Captain

Also Known As:

The Visitor (USA)

Runtime:

Germany:101 min | USA:90 min | Argentina:100 min

Country:

USA | Italy

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16 (f) | Australia:R | UK:18 | USA:R | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Company:

Brouwersgracht Investments

Goofs:

Continuity: After the police officer is attacked by the bird and rolls his car down the bank, we see that the car is clearly about to come to rest upright. But subsequently we see the car upside down as it catches fire.

Quotes:

Detective Jake Durham: Katy, I know you know something that was in that package, now tell me what it is and I woun't bother you anymore.
Katy Collins: Okay I will tell you but you might have to write it down. Are you ready?
Detective Jake Durham: Yes.
Katy Collins: Shove it up your ass!

appealingly weird mish-mosh of aliens, evil businessmen, demonic children, and birds

Weird movie, but it appealed to me. It does have plot elements and maybe even scenes that are derivative of other movies, but it puts them in such a strange blend that it comes out pretty original.

The movie opens with an old man on a barren otherworldly surface. It goes from him to a man with his girlfriend and her daughter at a basketball game. He's the team's owner. The editing and music in the scene are odd. The music throughout the movie tends to be incongruously more energetic and dramatic that the scene itself or its context. The young girl lowers her glasses to look one of the players right in the eye. He manages a dunk in the last second, and the ball evidently explodes in fire or light as he does so.

The old man from the opening (I believe he is The Visitor) shows up in an airport carrying a passport where he is met by a man with a shaved head. He's taken to the roof of a skyscraper where there are lots of people wearing identical outfits all with shaved heads carrying up large gray boxes. Later, there are white screens on the roof, behind which people's shadows move.

The basketball team owner has boardroom meetings with mysterious men who are unhappy with him. He is to get married to his girlfriend and have a son, but he is not having much luck with that.

The little girl has a birthday party. She sees the old man there, but maybe he isn't really there. When she opens a box that should contain a toy peacock that talks in a creepy voice (we saw it being bought earlier), it instead has a handgun. She takes it out happily, and throws it on a table, where it goes off, shooting her mother. Her mother is rehabilitated as much as she can be, which is inter-cut with the girl doing gymnastics routines.

The girl's eyes sometimes seem to have a white light in the irises, and she seems to have power over birds. There is a memorable scene with a policeman (who she swears at like a sailor) on a highway when he encounters a bird.

Many more weird scenes follow! The end leaves things a bit of a mystery, to say the least. If your usual horror fare is a remake or the latest installment in a seemingly endless series, best to avoid this one.