MovieChat Forums > Communion (1989) Discussion > How convenient...

How convenient...

posted 18 years ago by griffmailz
16 replies | jump to latest

Interesting scenario:

A talented creative writer of vampire/warewolf fiction whose latest works have met with subpar success, suddenly realizes he's been abducted by aliens throughout the span of his life. The writer then markets these interstellar memoirs as NON FICTION. Almost instantly his new work is catapulted on the best sellers list. A movie deal follows, plus a subsequent franchise of alien experience related books, all of which have made said writer a multimillionaire.

How convenient...

I mean who would believe THAT A SEASONED HORROR FICTION AUTHOR would have the capacity to fabricate such a story...

Anyway with that being said, Communion is still one of my favorite movies, it is delightfully bizzare and surreal... In fact, even though I am staunchly oppsed to remakes, this is one movie I would like to see get re-visited (no-pun intended. I don't even know if it was released theatrically, but for whatever reason it's not a well known film, and I think that's a shame because it is such an awesome story.

Can you imagine if they pumped a hundred mill into it.. how insane they could make it?

"Communion, Directed by David Lynch" <=== OMFG I would sh*t myself.

[–] KtHyla 18 years ago

I'd recommend that you read the book before jumping to that conclusion. If one takes it as something that's fabricated, then it's a story well below Strieber's talents, and makes no sense. I've found that his fictional works actually make more sense after taking in his 'visitation' experiences into account. Basically, the experiences appear to be what made him a successful horror writer, rather than the other way around.

It also did not make him rich, the books ruined his career and sunk him financially, to the point where he lost the cabin seen in the movie. If he made it up, then why continue to maintain a fabrication for two decades that hinders your career?

I have to aggree that the movie needs a remake, I felt it was made too soon after his experiences, it seemed to muddle the scenes a bit.

[–] griffmailz 18 years ago

I read the book, the book gives WAY more background and includes somce crucial scenes not included in the movie, like the "train flashback"... Weird, I didn't know he went bankrupt, communion was a number one best seller, and the subsequent books sold well also... Plus don't forget the millions of UFO buffs that regard him as ufo royalty. If he was ruined financially it's most likely because of his own monetary mismanagement...

But yeah.. A remake is definately in order, and I would love to see what David Lynch would do with it?

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] KtHyla 17 years ago

Remember, the artist only gets a percentage of what the publisher makes, notice that he switched publishers despite the supposed success of the book. "#1 Bestseller!" is usually slapped on the cover by the publisher whether or not the book is actually popular or not, since the label itself can fool consumers into buying the book, thinking it's popular.

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] BertramWilberforceWooster 13 years ago

Whether he made money or not is irrelevant. How the game works for The Times and other suchs lists (it's how a book that is published on Tuesday can appear on at the top of list, by the way) is by reported sales and/or orders in store. The stores don't actually have to move the reported number of books, or to even sell them. Look up how the numbers were inflated for Battlefield Earth and Mission Earth by L. Ron Hubbard on Wikipedia to get a better understanding.

--
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
jonbkennedy.wordpress.com

[–] saint_pat 17 years ago

Strieber did not fabricate this story. The two polygraphs he took testify to his sincerity. Regardless of whether one believes Strieber's story, the fact remains that HE believes it, as do thousands of other alleged abductees. Whether the events described actually happened is anyone's guess.

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] saint_pat 17 years ago

On the contrary, it's extraordinarily difficult to keep your breathing and heartbeat completely steady while lying. Polygraphs are about 97 percent accurate.

[–] adam-670 17 years ago

Fooling a polygraph isn't about what you do when you're lying, it's about what you do when you're NOT lying. There are several tricks to throw off the initial baseline measurements, after which the physiological reactions when lying are much less noticeable.

Polygraph is highly inaccurate and easy to fool if you know how. I'd love to know where you got your 97% figure from.

There is no question about whether Streiber's story is fabricated. The only real question is whether he actually believes it himself, or if he knowingly made it up.

[–] saint_pat 17 years ago

Polygraphs are not at all easy to fool, let alone fool twice. A sociopath might be able to fool a polygraph, and of course someone who is hallucinating could pass. However, Strieber has yet to test positive for any mental illness and I highly doubt all abductees are sociopaths.

From what I recall from reading Streiber's polygraph results, Strieber deliberately lied on two questions to see if the machine would catch it. It did. For what its worth, Strieber clearly believes in the reality of his experiences.

[–] Kram99 17 years ago

Well that settles it he took a polygrath it cant be a HOAX it must a coincidence. I mean come on, it's pretty darn suss.

[–] neodog 17 years ago

Are you sure he even took the polygraph. I remember hearing about the horror being debunked because a supposed police report was never actually filed.

[–] graveXrob 15 years ago

Sweet mother I hate remakes...but when you said David Lynch...as if the film wasn't surreal enough. If Lynch remake it probably never sleep again...ever.

I really thought Mora did a great job directing though & Walken was at his prime. Communion is so underrated. The movie is well layered & everytime I watch it I can just tell they weren't slapping something together quick to make some bucks off a popular selling book.

[–] dnnyrz 13 years ago

The only reason I'd be against a remake is cuz the aliens would be CGI. While CGI is useful I think its highly over used. What was so great about this movie was the grays! They were the only thing I remembered about the movie, until I watched it again today. Even though they look fake in a lot of scenes, they at least look TANGIBLE, which makes them seem more "real." A CGI gray I don't think would be as effective. If they did a remake and the grays were puppets, or puppets with some CGI, then it would probably look good. Maybe its the era I grew up in, but CGI monsters do NOTHING for me. They just aren't scary at all. Sure they look cool, but not scary. But when ever I watch an old movie with puppets, or whatever they're called, since they look like you can actually touch them, they seem more scary.

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]