We have all experienced some unwelcome visitors at one stage or another.

Relatives, friends, bad timing of the boss. The list just goes on.

These are all physical and real visitors, however Georgia Perry has some more unwelcome visitors on board. She is only days away from arriving home after a 140-day voyage sailing solo around the world and the wind dies halfway across the Indian Ocean, stranding her in utter isolation with her cat, Taco. But then strange things start happening. It begins with some noises. Footsteps. But who do you expect as a visitor when you’re out in the middle of nowhere? On one level, there is this intense horror-type storyline, with visits from ghosts, spiders and pirates, and then simultaneously on another level lies a deep relationship story between Georgia, her father, her mother and her fiancé.

I asked for baked clam, not a Lego Land spider!

This is quite an intelligent film requiring quite a bit of piecing-together and is quite clearly open for multiple interpretations. Are their people on her boat? Is she seeing ghosts? Are these spiders responsible for more than just being really ugly? It’s a thought provoking piece if you’re open for a bit of wacky cinema and don’t mind a warped, unique and well-crafted film. Mitchell strides brilliantly as Georgia Perry, with Susannah York stunning as her mother and Australian actor Ray Barrett pleasing in the role of Georgia’s father. The film deals with suicide, depression, relationships and trust on the dramatic side and the supernatural element is obviously the source of the suspense, all executed with intellectual class combining, in this reviewer’s opinion, to create a unique cinematic experience. It's definitely not for everyone, but if you like that piece of oddball cinema that challenges the norm, venture aboard this wacky shack. It’s always looking for one more visitor.

Does she come standard with this vessel?

The video transfer is presented in a glorious anamorphically enhanced aspect of 2.35:1, Visitors’ original theatrical aspect, with an impressive transfer very similar to that seen recently on Japanese Story, another 20th Century Fox Australian release. Generally things look great, with really one minor flaw stopping this video transfer from being perfect. Colours are healthily saturated, capturing the mysterious, luminescent and somewhat creepy tones that Georgia encounters on her stationary voyage over the Indian Ocean with exquisite precision. Blacks are solidly mastered, showing no sign of low-level noise and boasting well-defined shadows. While we’re talking about dark colours, this is where the problem comes in. At times, the exterior shots of the vessel at night appear a tad murky and messy, with a shimmering of the colours. This niggle is seen only two or three times at best, however is quite obvious and a little disturbing. Fitting snugly onto a single layer, compression related artefacts are absent, as is a layer change, and film grain and artefacts too have been courteous enough not to grace us with their presence. A bummer for the hearing impaired is the lack of subtitles, but at least our anamorphic widescreen transfer beats the US Region 1 pan and scan effort hands down.

Audio-wise, we have been offered two Dolby Digital English tracks, one in a rich 5.1 soundstage, the other in a simple two channel stereo format. For this genre of film it’s quite obvious that the 5.1 soundtrack is going to be superior, and I’m not here to disappoint anyone. Effects come discretely and subtly from each and every speaker, including a healthy woofwoof channel, that create a richly enveloping sound that is great at setting the mood. The sound has a high fidelity in both the 5.1 and 2.0 formats, however the 2.0 format just loses so much of the enveloping impact that a surround soundstage can offer. There are slight synch issues at times throughout the film, quite obviously noticeable at the café scene about 20 minutes into the film. This illustrates a rather large synch issue, however at other times during the film things seem fine. It’s also interesting to note that this problem is, for some reason, exacerbated in the stereo format. More wacky things from the wacky shack... The score, composed by Nerida Tyson-Chew, is well themed for the mood of the film, and is at times very reminiscent of Danny Elfman’s work in Tim Burton’s retelling of Planet of the Apes, the main title theme which was coincidentally used in the trailer for the film. The end credits feature a recent pop song, I’m Just A Girl performed by Bachelor Girl, quite fitting for the film and a great conclusion.

Ah the joys of make-up chemicals

Even for a rental release, 20th Century Fox have included some extra features to keep you occupied. OK, it’s pretty much just advertising material but still it’s the thought that counts, right? Anyway, menus are not anamorphically enhanced, however the main menu does feature audio and an animated background. The extra features page branches out to let us look at some biographies and a fairly standard photo gallery, as well as a heap of trailers. The biographies have a few sentences about each of the members, and there are a few filmographies in there too. Biographies have been included for Radha Mitchell, Susannah York, Ray Barrett, Dominic Purcell, Tottie Goldsmith, Richard Franklin and Jennifer Hadden. The photo gallery contains 19 stills, some promotional shots and others captures from the film. The first of the trailer selections lets us see the trailer for Visitors, running for 1:58 in a letterboxed widescreen format with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio. The second trailer selection takes us to More from Palace showing us trailer selections for Alexandra’s Project, The Rage in Placid Lake, Erskineville Kings and Japanese Story. All of these are presented in a variety of letterboxed widescreen aspects, obviously not anamorphically enhanced.

This isn’t a terribly easy film to watch, nor entirely clear, but still a great way to pass an evening and does give you something to think about if you’re willing to experience it. It drags you in, shows you a new world and leaves interpretations up to the audience, requiring intelligence and thinking, something that is rarely seen these days. Radha Mitchell shines on screen as the strong-willed sailor and deals with the complex themes well, making her performance entirely believable, credible and reputable. As said before, this film definitely isn’t for everyone, but it’s great to see alternative cinema out there that is prepared to be different. Escaping the norm is what keeps this reviewer amused, and Visitors was a welcome guest to this reviewer’s DVD player.