Years before the X-FILES was even a mere gleam in the eyes of Chris Carter, UFO conspiracy buffs had a film they could call their own, Philippe Mora’s COMMUNION. In 1985, author Whitley Streiber experienced an alien abduction (or so he claims), and was inspired to write the best-selling book, COMMUNION. A few years later the book was optioned as a theatrical feature, and Australian director Philippe (THE BEAST WITHIN) Mora was selected to translate the book to film. Whitney Streiber himself fashioned the screenplay from his best-seller. The film turned out to be a sleeper hit, and attained cult status due to the unique perspective and the great acting. The film has long been missing on a superior digital home theater format, and Elite was more than happy to team up with Philippe Mora, and bring this overlooked film to the DVD masses.

COMMUNION stars the amazing Christopher (KING OF NEW YORK) Walken as the main character, Whitley Streiber. Lindsay (THE ARRIVAL) Crouse plays his wife, Ann. Joel (STEPFATHER 3) Carlson is their son, Andrew. Whitley Streiber’s psychiatrist is played by Frances (OUTLAND) Sternhagen. COMMUNION is also notable for having some musical contributions from guitar great, Eric Clapton.

Whitley (Walken) is a writer who lives in a New York apartment along with his wife, Ann (Crouse) and their son, Andrew. Whitley is suffering from writer’s block, and is getting frustrated because of it. Together with a couple of friends, Alex (Andreas Katsulas—G’Kar from BABYLON 5) and Sarah (Terri Hannauer), the Strieber family head for their cabin retreat deep in the woods in upstate New York. That night, strange lights surround the cabin and it’s clear they are not alone. Strange things happen during the course of the night, but no one remembers anything the next day. Alex and Sarah suddenly inform Whitley that they wish to leave the cabin, and ask him to drive them. Disappointed, he agreesand they all head back to the city. Suddenly, Whitley begins to have incomplete flashbacks from the previous evening, only he can’t remember anything definite—only little pieces.

Over the ensuing months, Whitley slowly begins to question his own sanity and he can’t concentrate on writing. Even his marriage is affected by all this. He persuades his family to go back to the cabin in the woods to get away from it all. During their first night back, those strange lights return. Whitney is taken away by aliens in the middle of the night, and they implant a device in the back of his neck. However, he awakens the next morning in bed wondering if the whole thing was a dream. All evidence points to the event being a dream, until Whitley discovers the scar on the back of his neck from the alien implant! Whitley slowly begins to crack up and he sees aliens everywhere. It drives him so crazy, that he picks up a gun and tries to shoot his wife because he thinks she is an alien. Ann realizes her husband is a sick man, and he confesses to her about his unearthly problems.

Hoping to resolve the questions in his mind, and possibly save his ailing marriage, Whitley agrees to seek help. His doctor recommends him to psychiatrist Dr. Janet Duffy (Sternhagen). After analyzing him the best she can (and not getting any results), she suggests hypnotherapy. Ann watches as her husband is hypnotized and relives the fateful moments of his alien abduction. With each session, Dr. Duffy brings Whitley a little closer to his sanity. While under hypnosis, Whitley reveals that his wife is under alien influence as well. Next, Dr. Duffy hypnotizes Ann and brings submerged memories of her encounter to the surface. Next, Whitley tries group therapy with other people who claim to have been abducted. Whitley and Ann become very disturbed when their young son Andrew, tells them that he has been visited by aliens. The Streiber family return to their cabin in the woods; they must initiate contact with the extraterrestrials if they are to save their son’s sanity, as well as their own.

This is not is not a cheap made-for-TV movie made to exploit aliens and flying saucers. COMMUNION is a film that explores the effects of alien abduction on the lives of the victims. It is a film about one man’s reaction to the unexplainable intruding into his orderly existence. His reaction quickly turns to obsession, which threatens to consume his sanity and his marriage. He then goes through a discovery process in an attempt to apply an explanation to the unknown. COMMUNION is a philosophical parable indicating that any explanation would be nothing but a mask over the truth, which cannot be expressed in words.

This is a very psychological film, and Philippe Mora captures these elements perfectly on film. Even if the subject matter may not be your cup of tea, Mora keeps things fresh by applying a very surreal tone to the film. There are many flashbacks and hallucination scenes (which might confuse some viewers), but add to the dream-like quality of COMMUNION. Then to contrast this approach, Mora resorts to some typical horror film motifs, such as birds-eye-view shots and jolting scares and music (wait until you see the Halloween bug-mask scene!). Mora firmly unspools the narrative and thrusts the viewer into the middle of the psychological turmoil. This is without a doubt, Mora’s best film.

Christopher Walken’s performance alone is reason enough to watch COMMUNION. I know he overacts tremendously, but his performance is deeply eccentric, with a bafflingly elusive grasp of character and an unnerving, electrifying presence. Ann Crouse is wonderfully subdued as the wife who witnesses her husband’s mental stability come crashing down. In the beginning she is a perfect playmate of a wife, but when the hard times come, she turns into a shrew. Little Joel Carson also does a believable job as their distraught son, Andrew. Carlson’s performance will make you forget all about the little kid from THE SIXTH SENSE. Only Frances Sternhagen is out of place here, and her performance has a compromising effect on the film (much like her role in OUTLAND).

The special effects are elusive. COMMUNION was made in the days before expensive CGI effects so don’t expect blockbuster effects. The best effects in the film are the aliens (you’ll notice they do not refer to the extraterrestrials in COMMUNION as ‘aliens’). There are a few different races, ranging from a skinny bug-eyed race similar to those from CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND to an alien race not unlike the Jawas from STAR WARS. All the aliens are smaller than humans, but that doesn’t make them necessarily any less frightening. The various aliens and their gizmos are pretty well done for the time.

Getting back to Walken, there is a peculiar relationship between him and the various aliens. Christopher Walken is more bizarre than the extraterrestrials themselves. Notice the way he carries himself, the way he gestures and delivers his lines. His performance as Whitley Streiber is an expression of his own weird, personal magnetism. There is some priceless dialog between Walken’s character and the aliens, which makes the viewer ponder the delusional effects of the film. COMMUNION is the only movie I have seen that captures the pure primal fear, the mind-blowing bizarreness, and the profound life-changing aspects of how an alien abduction might occur and its resulting circumstances.

SIGHT

Elite presents COMMUNION is its original aspect ratio of 2.35.1 with enhancement for 16x9 TVs. Considering the age of this low budget film, Elite has done a superior job with the transfer. The image is razor sharp. Colors are vibrant, with the exception of the many night and dream sequences being a little dark. Contrast and brightness are very good with pleasing shadow detail. Flesh tones are a tad pale. What really makes a big difference on this transfer are the deep blacks, since the film displays many shades of black that help to create a dreamy atmosphere. There are no brightly-lit exteriors, but there are a lot of claustrophobic interior sets (such as apartments, doctors’ offices, cabins, etc.). The detail level here is tremendous, and really contributes to the paranoid tone of the film. The transfer does not reveal the limitations of the special effects; the various aliens (there is more than one race) look great and realistic in the image. The alien props and production design do not hold up as well, however. And you clearly see in one scene an alien tube is covered with tin foil. Maybe those aliens should switch to Saran Wrap. COMMUNION plays with your mind, and Philippe Mora succeeds in bringing this surreal, dream-like, quality to the film, that does not get lost in the transfer; and that is the biggest compliment I can give.

SOUND

Elite serves up a strong Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. This is the first such soundtrack they have attempted, and it is a solid first effort. This mix really helps breath new life into this film from the late eighties. While the DD 5.1 soundtrack is not quite THX quality, it is exceptionally good for a low-budget film of this era. The mix is high on ambiance and fidelity, but lacks consistent panning and directional effects (not that the film requires this kind of activity). The film is a psychological exploration piece; it is not a special effects or action vehicle, as fans may believe. Huge amounts of sound field activity are not needed. But what is delivered on this soundtrack sounds perfect. Space ships or alien vehicles are not shown, they are only heard rumbling overhead. The film is mostly dialog driven, and the voices come through clearly and without distortion from the center speaker. Depending upon the interior location, you hear voices reverberating from various places in the room. The scenes of the alien abductions and human experimentation are accompanied by incomprehensible alien chatter and the hum of their strange machines. Every so often, there is a horror film style "jolt" scene to keep the audience awake, and these jolts sound clear and powerful. One of the highlights of the soundtrack is of course rock legend Eric Clapton’s themes that he composed. Clapton’s themes are very surreal with light guitar leads mixed with progressive synthesizer sounds. Composer Allan Zavod also handles the traditional scoring. Both styles compliment each other nicely, and are a key element to the appeal of COMMUNION. A very good sound mix, just don’t expect a lot of strong 5.1 activity, ala ARMAGEDDON.

FEATURES

Included is the theatrical teaser (1.85.1, Mono, 60 seconds) and the full trailer (1.85.1, Mono, 57 seconds). These are some effective trailers, but they are quite grainy, and the quality is no where near as good as on the feature. There is a Still Gallery menu that features 50 production photos and stills, and 62 storyboards. Browsing through these galleries would be a lot more enjoyable if Elite had Eric Clapton’s themes running in the background. There is a sequence from Philippe Mora’s unreleased 1999 film, ACCORDING TO OCCAM’S RAZOR. The sequence depicts a UFO believer who has a tiny piece of alien technology removed from his arm through very bloody surgery. This sequence is Full Frame, DD 2.0, and runs 1:51. We also have 15 minutes worth of outtakes and alternate footage not used in the film. These outtakes feature commentary by Philippe Mora. These scenes mostly consist of a naked Chris Walken interacting playfully with the various types of aliens in the film. These scenes all have a very dream-like and surreal quality. The outtakes are Full Frame with Mono sound. There is a behind-the-scenes featurette which briefly focuses on Philippe Mora, Chris Walken, and the real-life Streiber family. This featurette lacks narration and the specs are: 1.85.1, Mono, 5:46. Finally, there is a superb audio commentary by director Philippe Mora and UFO Magazine publisher, William Birnes. The two provide an interesting and insightful glimpse into the making and genesis of the film, and UFO conspiracies in general. This DVD has the best/most extras I have seen from Elite yet.

CONCLUSION

Whether you enjoy this movie or not probably depends on how you view UFO abduction conspiracies. If you believe in aliens constantly abducting people, then this may be your CITIZEN KANE. If you think that people who claim to be abducted are wack jobs, then this movie may annoy you. But if you appreciate the nonconformist approach to filmmaking with a David Lynch-like approach, then you should check out COMMUNION. This film came before similar-themed films like FIRE IN THE SKY, and the breakthough show THE X-FILES. I’m surprised that Elite’s great DVD didn’t generate as much fanfare when it was released, because surely the DVD deserves it. This DVD cements Elite’s place in the independent arena, and proves they can produce a quality DVD (16x9 enhanced picture, DD 5.1 sound, and plenty of supplemental material) as good as a major. This DVD easily is superior to most of the titles put out by studios like MGM, Artisan, Pioneer, and even Disney.

COMMUNION is available from DVDEmpire.com

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