In the wake of 1977’s massive hits Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, science-fiction became all the rage through the rest of the decade. For a decidedly unusual entry in this genre, we go to 1979’s The Visitor.

Raymond Armstead (Lance Henrikson) owns a basketball team and dates Barbara Collins (Joanne Nail), the divorced mother of eight-year-old Katy (Paige Conner). Though Raymond appears to love Barbara, he embraces the relationship for a more sinister reason.

Raymond represents a mysterious group that supports the resurgence of Sateen, a mystical being who could wreak havoc among humanity. Because Katy displays amazing powers that could be harnessed for good or evil, a battle for her allegiance ensues.

The opening of Visitor offers what I will call a “declaration of intent”. It starts with trippy visuals during which a mysterious figure (John Huston) confronts a child who gets covered in some kind of weird fluffy debris – I guess.

After that off-putting intro, we immediately meet a dude who looks an awful lot like Jesus (Franco Nero) as he tells a bunch of bald kids about the battle between the good Yahweh and the evil Sateen. This leads us into “current day” where we settle into a more grounded experience.

Well, sort of. Visitor flits all over the place so much that it becomes tough to pin down a coherent narrative.

Though I described the film as sci-fi, that seems like an insufficient way to pin down its genre. Visitor combines so many domains that it never sticks with one for very long.

As noted, we get elements that pursue religious themes, and we also find some sci-fi veins. In addition, we find hints of police procedural, supernatural child and “evil kid” themes.

Perhaps a really talented filmmaker could bring together all these strands into a coherent and compelling package. Giulio Paradisi – here billed as “Michael J. Paradise” - was not that filmmaker.

Paradisi actually played small roles in Italian classics like 1960’s La Dolce Vita and 1963’s 8 ½. However, as a director, he only made a handful of flicks, all of which seem forgotten.

Or they should be forgotten in the case of Visitor. What a mess!

Again, we find no consistency, as Visitor simply rips off a slew of other films. Katy melds roles from 1956’s The Bad Seed and 1976’s The Omen.

Along with Close Encounters, we also get pilfering from The Exorcist, Carrie, The Birds and God knows how many other movis. Again, a strong director might’ve made something of this stew, but Paradisi just lacked the talent to bring it together.

Despite its epic subject matter, this ensures Visitor becomes a slow and tedious mess. The stabs at horror seem utterly overwrought, and the narrative evolves in such a clumsy manner that it feels edited at random.

We do find a slew of famous actors here, though most on the downsides of their careers. I don’t want to call them has-beens, but I strongly suspect these stars did so just for some easy paychecks.

In addition to Huston, Henriksen and Nero, we find aging notables Glenn Ford, Shelley Winters, Sam Peckinpah, and Mel Ferrer. Of the younger actors, only Henriksen went on to real success.

On the surface, the presence of these senior actors should lend credibility to Visitor. Instead, their presence just makes the movie seem sad.

It appears obvious that outside of perhaps Huston – who plays a moderately large role – the others came in for a day of work, collected their fees and went on with their lives. I doubt any of them made much from this low-budget affair, but given the minor demands of their participation, I guess it made financial sense.

“Anything for a paycheck” becomes literally the only logical aspect of The Visitor. Slow, silly and utterly nonsensical, it turns into a complete stinker.

The Visitor appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. Though a product of its era, the Dolby Vision image held up pretty well.

Sharpness was mostly solid. Occasional wider shots and interiors leaned softer than I’d like, but most of the movie seemed fairly crisp and concise.

No issues with jagged edges, shimmering, or edge haloes materialized. Print flaws also failed to appear, and grain felt both consistent and natural.

Colors looked positive. The film went with a fairly natural palette that didn’t dazzle but it seemed acceptably impactful, and HDR added punch to the tones.

Blacks were nicely deep and full, while shadows looked clear and smooth. HDR gave whites and contrast extra impact. The final product presented the film pretty well.

Don’t expect anything memorable from the DTS-HD MA monaural soundtrack of Visitor, as this was a consistently average mix for its age. Speech sounded a little thin but the lines were always concise and easily intelligible.

Music lacked much range but seemed clear and didn’t suffer from any shrillness. The same went for effects.

Though I failed to notice much dynamic range from those elements, the effects seemed acceptably distinctive, and they lacked distortion. This was a decent track for an older flick.

When we shift to extras, we launch with an audio commentary from film historians BJ and Harmony Colangelo. Both sit together for a running, screen-specific chat that focuses on their view of the film.

The tone sometimes veers toward campy mockery but the Colangelos also seem to genuinely believe Visitor offers a good movie. Not that they make a convincing argument for its alleged positives or give us any insights or material of basic interest.

The Colangelos basically offer appreciation for the film but they do so via an arch tone that gives them a "we were just joking" out if anyone feels otherwise. Even without this "are we serious or not?" vibe, the conversation becomes a chore.

Some of this stems from the many factual errors that pop up along the way. BJ claims she knows sports but also refers to the NFL as a basketball league. She also thinks 1977’s Exorcist II: The Heretic came out after Visitor instead of two years earlier.

Oh, and they agree that the bombastic score sounds like Paul McCartney and Wings, a claim that makes me think their only experience with Wings came from the song "Live and Let Die" - and even that one seems subtle and understated compared to the over the top and ridiculous Franco Micalizzi work done for this flick. The Colangelos talk about the 1970s with authority though they didn't grow up in that era and show absolutely no understanding of the decade beyond simplistic pop culture stereotypes.

All this makes for a fairly useless commentary, as even sporadic filmmaking remarks don't seem especially insightful. A mess of factual errors and general praise, this track flops.

Under Interviews. we find three separate circa 2014 clips. These involve screenwriter Lou Comici (9:10), cinematographer Ennio Guarnieri (4:26) and actor Lance Henriksen (9:02).

Across these, we learn about what brought them to the project, aspects of the screenplay, photography, cast and performances. All three offer good notes, especially since Comici and Henriksen seem pretty blunt about their experiences.

A Biblical Battle for the Cosmos spans 19 minutes, 15 seconds. It delivers a "visual essay" from film critic Meagan Navarro.

The reel covers the movie's origins, development and influences, cast and crew, themes and genre domains. Though she just reiterates the movie's story too much of the time, Navarro nonetheless adds some useful insights.

Finally, A Cosmic Right to Choose occupies 11 minutes, 25 seconds. Here we get notes from film critic Willow Catelyn Maclay.

Another "visual essay", Maclay discusses Visitor's status as knockoff/unofficial sequel, more genre areas, religious, political and social domains, themes and cinematic techniques. We get a few worthwhile thoughts but some of Maclay's remarks feel like a stretch, especially related to abortion.

In addition to the movie's re-release trailer, we get an Image Gallery with 40 stills that encompass movie shots and various ads. It becomes a decent compilation but nothing memorable.

A rip-off of famous movies with no discernible logic or purpose, The Visitor turns into a ridiculous mess. Nothing about this nonsensical production comes together into an engaging genre effort. The 4K UHD brings generally positive picture and audio with an array of supplements that vary in quality. Don’t expect much from this badly flawed film.