Communion (1989)

Director:

Philippe Mora

Writers (WGA):

Whitley Strieber (book)
Whitley Strieber (screenplay)

Release Date:

10 November 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

On December 26th, 1985, Whitley Strieber had a dream. Weeks later, he discovered his family had the same dream. Months later, he made the most shocking discovery of his life. Now, you will discover it.

Plot:

Whitley Strieber goes with his family and some friends to his holiday home in the forest. They experience some weird occurances...

Plot Keywords:

UFO | Halloween | Alien Contact | Cabin | Hypnosis

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Christopher Walken	...	Whitley Strieber
Lindsay Crouse	...	Anne Strieber
Frances Sternhagen	...	Dr. Janet Duffy
Andreas Katsulas	...	Alex
Terri Hanauer	...	Sarah
Joel Carlson	...	Andrew Strieber
John Dennis Johnston	...	Fireman
Dee Dee Rescher	...	Mrs. Greenberg
Aileen Fitzpatrick	...	Mother
R.J. Miller	...	Father
Holly Fields	...	Praying Mantis Girl
Paula Shaw	...	Woman from Apartment
Juliet Sorci	...	Second Grade Girl (as Juliet Sorcey)
Tifni Twitchell	...	Teacher
Joshua Miller	...	Tall Boy (as Joshua John Miller)

Runtime:

Netherlands:101 min | Germany:106 min (video) | USA:107 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Singapore:PG | Australia:M | Spain:18 | UK:15 | USA:R | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Lake, California, USA

Company:

Allied Vision

Trivia:

While serving as executive producer, author Whitley Strieber, whose experiences serve as the basis of the film, expressed concerns about Christopher Walken's abilities in portraying him. When Strieber finally told Walken that he might be portraying him as a little too crazy, Walken replied, "If the shoe fits."

Goofs:

Continuity: As Whitley opens the closet to find the teddy bear he opens the right closet door. When filmed from the inside, both doors are open and he then proceeds to close the left door.

Quotes:

Whitley Strieber: [Doppleganger scene] I am you. And you are me. And we are here. I am the dreamer and you are the dream.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Fourth Kind (2009)

Soundtrack:

PUTTIN' ON THE RITZ

aftermath of a life altering experience

Whitley suddenly finds himself in an alien world, where once he tells his abduction story, he becomes subject of, strangely enough, his own ridicule, but also public skepticism. When his mind tells him something even his own, never mind outsiders, own logic rejects, he truly finds himself inside an alien nightmare of a reality. But this is the moment he has his "communion", when he changes as a person. The symbolism is powerful in this movie, suggesting that it's not what is obvious, but that there is a hidden meaning behind a life-altering experience.

From a creative point of view, a story like this might be quite appealing, and regarded as extravagant, but how would we cope with somebody claiming to have lived such things? Or more, with our own minds telling us? And how are these things going to affect us? Are they going to derail us from our current paths, change our perception, or are we going to regard them as oddities beyond our grasp and understanding? There is a moment where Whitley says that they are all masks of God, perfectly underlining the fact that the strangest thing can actually be just a bit outside our roam of understanding, but still within some common frame of cosmic alignment. It's up to us weather we accept or reject it.

Much of the movie is Walken's merit, because his performance compensates the lack of elaborate special effects and there are some occasions where his facial expression is enough to make your skin crawl.