Spiritual Warfare Is Theme of Peretti Film
by Randall Murphree
January 17, 2006
(AgapePress) - - Frank Peretti's The Visitation is not one of those "great-for-the-whole-family" movies, but the new film is a gripping, suspense/thriller. It is based on Peretti's novel of the same title. On the printed page or on screen, the gifted writer's vivid pictures paint new images of the concept of spiritual warfare, and thus raise awareness of its reality. With his 1986 best-selling novel, This Present Darkness, Peretti hit a nerve with his imaginative portrayals of demonic and heavenly forces battling it out for the souls of mankind. Now, 20 years later, Peretti is still producing masterful narratives that make us take seriously the presence of good and evil embodied in real beings.
The Visitation tells the compelling story of Brandon Nichols, a mysterious stranger who wreaks spiritual havoc in the little town of Antioch. Nichols begins performing miracles and is quickly hailed by many as the Messiah returned to earth.
The movie is also the story of Travis Jordan, a former minister whose wife had been murdered three years earlier. The case had never been solved and his wife's murder drove Jordan from the ministry. He and other Antioch residents are suspect of Nichols, and their investigation provides the perfect context to deal with themes of spiritual warfare, truth and redemption.
Stars include Randy Travis of country music fame, Kelly Lynch (Charlie's Angels) and Edward Furlong (Terminator 2, Judgment Day). Award-winning producer Ralph Winter (Fantastic Four, X-Men) is on the creative team. The DVD release is scheduled for February 28 following a limited theatrical release in January.
The R-rated version reviewed by AFA Journal has already been edited to delete graphic violence and make it conform to a PG-13 rating. There is no objectionable language. While it doesn't fit the mold of Hollywood's true horror film genre, its intensity makes it a questionable choice for young children. Fans of the supernatural in fiction will find The Visitation intense, scary and exciting, yet insightful, satisfying and entertaining.
Randall Murphree, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is editor of AFA Journal, a monthly publication of the American Family Association. This article, reprinted with permission, appears in the January 2006 issue.
