It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This curio is a low budget drama directed by Elia Kazan from a script by his son. This is probably one of the first times audiences got to see James Woods in a leading role. He plays Bill, a young man, just back from the Vietnam War and living in a rural menage with his girl, her older husband, and his child. The older guy is a Hemingwayesque writer with a penchant for booze, and Patrick McVey plays the role with aplomb. At their door appear a couple of Bill's old army buddies, and one of them has a grudge to work out, since Bill ratted him out something back in the war zone. The young woman gets into it too, and the tension grows to an inevitable confrontation. There are no revelations here, but it is worth a look.

Veteran actors James Woods and Steve Railsback made their film debuts in this not uninteresting, obviously low budget drama, made in a very stark and simple way by director Elia Kazan. Cited as an early effort to tell a serious Vietnam War related story, it's a fictional follow-up to the tale filmed 17 years later as "Casualties of War" (the latter was based on a true story). That said, when you know what the visitors of the title are capable of, you can feel that tension in the air. The deliberate pacing is likely to have less patient viewers fidgeting in their seats. While this viewer wouldn't consider this "deplorable" like Leonard Maltin does, he admits that there's a very grim quality to this material that hangs over everything. Characters' resentments towards each other emerge, but things never get completely ugly until the final act.Basically, a former soldier in Vietnam, Bill Schmidt (Woods) lives in a remote location with Martha (Patricia Joyce), the mother of his child, and Harry (Patrick McVey), Marthas' father who toils away as an author. One wintry Sunday, two old comrades of Bills' show up, Mike Nickerson (Railsback), and Tony Rodrigues (Chico Martinez). Bill is uneasy to see them rather than happy, and we find out that the two of them had raped and murdered a Vietnamese girl - whom they had chosen to believe was a Viet Cong - and Bill had pointed the finger at them, leading to their court-martial. Tony tells Bill that he wants to forgive and forget, but we're not sure of this. Mike and Tony endear themselves to Harry, a gruff & macho WWII veteran who feels nothing but contempt for Bill, whom he sees as a weakling.It may be that "The Visitors" is one of those films that engenders personal reactions: viewers may either appreciate what Kazan tries to do, or be appalled at the darkness on display. Certainly Kazan doesn't promise his audience a conclusive resolution (you wonder what will come next for the characters after the credits end) or a happy one. The mostly rough, grainy look does work for the material, and use of music is sparing. With only five main characters, there is an intimate feel to everything. The performances are solid across the board, with the young Railsback already showing that incredible intensity that became his trademark and served him well a few years later in the 'Helter Skelter' miniseries.Film buffs might want to give this a chance if just for curiosity's sake.Six out of 10.

Many of you have probably seen Brian De Palma's Casualties of War from 1987. CoW was based on a real story, this fictional 1972 film shows what happened afterward. All I can say is that this is an incredibly intriguing, but sadly forgotten film.There are many other aspects that make this film special. First of all it's James Wood's debut, second it's allegedly the first fictional film to deal with Vietnam in a serious manner, and third because of how intense the film manages to get. The very set-up sends flashbacks to Funny Games. Two old army buddies of Wood's shows up at his house. This might seem nice enough, but even without the knowledge I had you get the feeling that something is wrong. These are the men Wood's turned in for raping and killing a Vietnamese girl.The atmosphere screams of dread and you sit back horrified wondering when it's all going to explode. Unlike Kazan's other features it's not visually beautiful in the traditional sense, though it does have many haunting images. This film seeks a more personal touch, again one that might appear somewhat similar to Haneke's minimalism. One thing I found fascinating is that it often cuts the heads of it's characters, which creates an unnatural and weird, albeit very effective atmosphere.It's also wonderfully contained - there's basically just one setting - their house and the area near by. This only intensifies the whole situation. Of course it does have some small problems. For example the character doesn't seem to realize how serious the situation actually is. But this is one scary flick, and I would definitely recommend it!

A couple spend a quiet day at home, until the husband's 2 Vietnam "pals" come to visit. I saw this for two reasons. First of all, I feel Kazan was a great director and ,secondly, i adore James Woods.This is a very moody film that paints the world very bleak and creepy. It does draw you into it, the way you wait for the inevitable something to happen. the ending just didn't jibe for me. Did she want what happened? It seemed that way a little bit. Also it ends too abruptly.My Grade:CWhere I saw it: showtime extremeEye Candy:Patricia Joyce topless briefly