Communion (Mora, 1989)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a3/CommunionPoster.jpg?20160409125439

The Whitley Strieber story fascinated me when I was a 13 year old obsessed over UFO’s and the supernatural and I saw an interview with him on Irish TV in the late 80s. Ive never read the book though. Mark S has waxed lyrical about this movie before so I checked it out last night.

Its got the makings of a cult classic, this. Its about a NY writer who claimed he was abducted by aliens - theres creepy/funny scenes of him being anally probed and then dancing with rubbery aliens. Never leaves us too sure how serious we are to take this because the tone is so ‘off’. It does leave it open for us as to whether this is all in Strieber’s mind or maybe some reaction to childhood trauma.

From the very off, Walken ad-libs all over the place and he is so hilarious and strange, even more than he usually is. Strieber (who wrote the script) apparently asked him why he was making him look so weird and Walken replied by saying “Well, if the shoe fits….”. Strieber’s writing technique in the movie seems to involve filming himself on a camera in his study, wearing no pants and howling like a wolf btw.

strieber otm abt writing

this is such a great movie

the book is also genuinely odd, not at all what you expect from an airport best-seller

Saw this on tv sometime in the 90s and remember thinking at the time that it was good, and better than I expected it would be. Never read the book, though I too was obsessed with ufos as a kid.

the tone is so ‘off’.

Yeah this is something I distinctly remember.

https://www.wweek.com/arts/movies/2023/10/03/b-movie-icon-philippe-mora-gets-his-first-us-retrospective-at-cinemagic/

I'd offhandedly put him down as a hack director even though I've never seen any of his movies but this makes his filmography sound intriguing

time to get howling III: the marsupials to the top of the sight and sound list

Communion An Interview with Writer Director Philippe Mora

the tone is so ‘off’.

Not intentional I figure and I've never seen this film in full but this is somehow well represented by the alien's face on the poster - eyes in a diagonal 'evil' position but with an almost Mona Lisa smile which otherwise conveys trust (in the cosmic pegging or whatever).

My dad had the book when I was a child, the cover used to terrify me. I still think that particular image is kind of unsettling, I get a little jump if I happen across it on a bookshop or library shelf.

I read it years later, what I remember is that the first few chapters are scary, but the latter half of the book is kind of ponderous and boring.

I think the movie deserves some credit for the way it approaches the subject, a nice contrast to the literal-mindedness of most UFO-related popular media. The X-Files episode "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" is about the only other example I can think of.

Mora turns up in either Keiron Pim's David Litvinoff book or Harriet Vyner's Robert Fraser book, can't remember which - but one of those deeply 60s countercultural persons, basically. Looking at his Wiki page confirms it.

So many 60s/70s 'exploitation' directors went from the avant-garde to ultra-commercial film-making, it's an interesting journey.

most of mora's projects in interest me not at all, per their capsule summaries (i mean i shd probably check them out to see if they too go in interesting quasi-painterly directions but i'm p sure at this stage this is not happening, on the whole werewolves and superhero parodies can bug-off): this one worked bcz he joined forces w.lindsay crouse and frances sternhagen and of course most of all with walken unleashed

when my ears prick up (from the interview lol): "new DVD release of Communion that’s loaded with extras" uh oh

for the early editions of the book iirc the title and author weren't on the front cover at all, just that image of the alien (also i feel it coincided in the popular imaginary w/aliens turning from green to grey) (blue never really caught on); i'll have to dig it out and reread, i remember my response at the time being "if this is guy making this stuff, he's a writer with superb anti-hack instincts" -- would i still think this? have to find out… )

ffs "if this guy is making this stuff up, he's a writer with superb anti-hack instincts"

I might argue that Walken : Communion :: Cage : Vampire's Kiss

a good review of the book here...

I agree with the reactions to the film in this thread. Fun movie, with Walken's Walkenisms dialed up to the max. The Vampire's Kiss comparison is interesting -- Cage would be perfect in a re-make of Communion.

this is on YouTube but I'd kill for a boutique bluray release. haven't read the book but Whitley Streiber's collaboration with Jeff Kripal The Super Natural is incredible

I never saw this back in the day, but because of this thread, I found it on Tubi (https://tubitv.com/movies/595080/communion ) and skipped around to just see the alien bits. Man, those scenes deliver. The original poster mentioned the dancing but there's also mambo music and "gimme five" hand slapping with aliens! Start watching at 1:32:25 for that. Abduction begins at 1:13:35, they strip him down, he kisses an alien for some reason, then there's the, uh, probing. (I guess they didn't find the gold watch up there?)

Oh man, Howling 3 is bonkers. I saw that when I was a kid and it threw me for a loop. I’m not saying it was good in the slightest, but totally “how did this get made?!?”

Oh man, Howling 3 is bonkers. I saw that when I was a kid and it threw me for a loop. I’m not saying it was good in the slightest, but totally “how did this get made?!?”

Strieber (who wrote the script) apparently asked him why he was making him look so weird and Walken replied by saying “Well, if the shoe fits….”

Strieber wanted Dan Aykroyd for the role.

https://i.imgur.com/lwGAs65.png

https://hardtickettohomevideo.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/tumblr_pv0p9gnzvz1qj6sk2o1_400.gif