Walken’s ‘Communion’ Remains Riveting and Ridiculous

Phillippe Mora’s “Communion” (1989) is, alongside the notorious failure of “Wired,” the most peculiar film of its movie year.

The former is the infamous John Belushi biopic, doomed for failure in the lead-up to a release that bordered on witness protection. The latter, a far more prestigious, if off-the-wall project, is the adaptation of Whitley Strieber’s #1 bestselling 1987 book in which he recounted being abducted by extraterrestrials.

Strieber’s prior published works include “Wolfen” in 1978 and “The Hunger” in 1981, both gripping horror novels which became solid film versions (in 1981 and 1983, respectively). The angle on “Communion” that Streiber stuck to, in the book and in the press, was that his story wasn’t fabricated.

The full title of the book is “Communion: A True Story.”

For those who remember the late 20th century, the unsettling book jacket of “Communion” was omnipresent in every bookstore and airport newsstand for what felt like ages. The belief, fascination and history of UFOs and extraterrestrials had always been in pop culture, but Strieber’s asserting that his account was the real deal elevated the topic.

No matter where one stands on the issue, hearing a reputable writer take a controversial stance like this was akin to Stephen King claiming “The Shining” was non-fiction.

No less odd was the announcement that a film version was being directed by Mora, the French Australian director of “Howling III: The Marsupials” (1987) and, playing Streiber, the entertaining, often brilliant and always unpredictable Christopher Walken.

Mora, who burst into the spotlight with the wonderful Dennis Hopper-starring western, “Mad Dog Morgan” (1976), is a daring and talented filmmaker. His approach to the material, which alternates between straight forward and wildly surreal, never gels.

Walken plays Strieber as a truly odd novelist who often films himself while working. That makes his creative process akin to goofing around and finding nuggets of inspiration amongst a lot of one-man clowning. Strieber takes his wife, Anne (Lindsey Crouse) and son, Andrew (Joel Carlson) out for a mountain retreat, in which weird things occur every night.

Upon returning, the Striebers realize they all had similar experiences and can’t dismiss them as merely dreams. When the Striebers visit a doctor (the reliably plucky Frances Sternhagen) who places them under hypnosis, they conclude that they were visited and abused by aliens.

“Communion” is fascinating but simply does not work. Somehow, the film manages to be riveting and ridiculous at the same time. Strieber’s screenplay and some heavy-handed edits render the tale vague and disjointed, with many scenes feeling like disconnected outtakes.

Walken’s wildly eccentric performance is undisciplined, with every scene feeling like a let’s-try-this improvisation. The actor may be known for this kind of goofy playfulness today, in the post-“Cowbell” stage of his long career.

When “Communion” was released, Walken’s then-recent milestones included an Oscar-winning performance in “The Deer Hunter” (1978), as well as other highlights like “The Dead Zone” (1983) and “At Close Range” (1985).

It’s debatable if this was the first time Walken gave a performance that could be deemed (either as an insult or a compliment) as “self-parody.” Yet, even his prior “over the top” turn as a Bond villain in the underestimated “A View to a Kill” (1985) has a sustained intensity and discipline that isn’t present here.

It’s hard to say how serious Walken or anyone present takes Strieber’s story, though the screenplay at least commits to the suggestions that extraterrestrials are real; no matter how one feels about the issue, committing to the notion that what we’re seeing actually happened is arguably the most interesting choice the film could take.

Mora, a fine B-movie director attempting a serious-minded mainstream material, waffles as much as Walken in his commitment to tone.

The true story of one man’s terrifying journey into the unknown.

On this day in 1989: COMMUNION, starring Christopher Walken, was released. pic.twitter.com/2Ki4njV5pn

— FANGORIA (@FANGORIA) November 10, 2023

 

Crouse’s performance is a little bit better than her co-star’s, though she’s mostly following Walken’s wild lead. To be clear – I like watching great actors having fun, especially Walken, Here, the actor actually overshadows the aliens, which is both a testament to how impressive he can be and also a problem.

At times, I found Walken truly exploring the mindset of a writer struggling to make sense of reality, but there are also times where I wondered if Walken had contempt for the material and just decided to amuse himself.

The visual effects, particularly the aliens, are best shown in quick doses and not in plain view. Eric Clapton’s grim guitar solos on the “Lethal Weapon” soundtracks were a good fit, while his similar approach to scoring this film is out of place.

RELATED: Audiences rejected “Communion” en masse in 1989. The film generated just $1.9 million at the U.S. box office.

There are some scary moments, but a lack of explanation makes this stubbornly surreal and little else. Similarly themed sci-fi dramas, like the far richer and more dynamic “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977) and even “Fire in the Sky” (1993) provided some balance by presenting skepticism and possible alternatives to what we were seeing.

Here, it is never considered that the supernatural events we’re seeing are the results of hypnotism, psychological trauma or anything other than exactly what we’re witnessing at face value.

There aren’t enough skeptics on screen, though it feels like a movie about believing made by skeptics.

Mora’s film unavoidably inspires cynicism or, at least, some reasonable doubt, but still maintains that the tale we’re watching really happened. This is likely why “Communion” has a small but considerable cult following in sci-fi circles.

I’d be interested in seeing this remade, though a filmmaker less daring than Mora would likely deny us the spectacle of Walken conversing with aliens while sitting naked in a smoky spaceship. Here’s a movie Fox Mulder would likely have loved, laughed at, or both.

The post Walken’s ‘Communion’ Remains Riveting and Ridiculous appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.