Cinema history is filled with alien movies filled with giant ships trying to take over the world or predatory creatures hunting humanity. However, Communion (1989) is the product of a completely different mind, pushing all these clichés aside and definitely not a classic pulp alien invasion movie. What lies behind the film is not Hollywood’s action formula full of explosions, but a much more uncanny and internal idea: What kind of psychological crisis does a person experience if he sees an alien in his own safe space, that is, his home?
The film focuses exactly on this breaking point. Not an Invasion, but an Internal Disintegration The main concern of the movie is not intergalactic wars; how the human mind cracks helplessly in the face of the unknown. One day, our character (based on Whitley Strieber’s own “lived” memories) encounters the gray aliens we know, but it doesn’t end there. The film shows the denial process that follows this encounter, the trauma, the fear of losing sanity, and the question “Am I crazy, or have they really come?” It perfectly handles the existential crisis created by the question.
Aliens are not taking over the world; It invades a man’s perception of reality. In this respect, the film turns into a claustrophobic psychological thriller rather than a science fiction. The Christopher Walken Factor and B-Movie Aesthetics Let’s talk about the weak but unique aspects of the film. Let’s sit back and be honest: Communion is not a very good masterpiece. TV Movie Atmosphere: The visual effects, alien designs and lighting used are average in places, even looking a bit cheap like a TV movie.
The lack of budget of that period and the artificiality brought about by practical effects are evident. The Miracle of Christopher Walken: But there is a huge trump card that pulls the film away from this “cheap” aesthetic: Christopher Walken. Walken’s eyes that look like he’s going to go crazy at any moment, his eccentric acting and his unique chaotic energy reflect the mental crisis experienced by the main character so well that they single-handedly cover the film’s budget deficit.
If it weren’t for his strange, uncanny behavior, the movie could have been a truly forgettable production. Moreover, the melancholic, strange music played in the background by Eric Clapton, yes Eric Clapton, the guitarist of the Cream band, incredibly nourishes the ambiguous, dream-like (or nightmare-like) atmosphere of the movie. Why Are IMDb Scores So Low? When you take a short tour on the internet, you see that the movie has very low scores on platforms such as IMDb.
I think it’s all about the wrong expectation. People see aliens in the poster and expect something epic like Close Encounters of the Third Kind or pure action/horror like Alien. They are disappointed when they find a low-budget, slow-moving and completely psychological drama. In summary; You can sit back and watch it comfortably without having very high expectations, and after watching it, you will wonder, “What would I do if I saw something like that on the door of the room when I was alone at home?” It’s a spooky period film that makes you wonder: It’s a work that science fiction and horror enthusiasts should give a chance, just for Walken’s strange performance and the different perspective it offers.
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