The Next One (1984)

good back-story, and good acting

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The acting in this movie is really good.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

I don't want to do any spoliers- some folks who've reviewed here have come close to doing so, but not to any harm to the new viewer's experience, imho.I will say for sure, this movie was decades ahead of it's time in both concept and story. The acting is well done for the standard of the day.It could be viewed as sci-fi, it could be viewed as religious. Either way, it brings an enlightening idea that will offend many, confuse some, but will appeal to others- seeking to understand our world, lives, universe and existence. Check it out if you ever get a chance to watch. Peace

This movie was released in 1984 starring Keir Dullea as Glenn, Adrienne Barbeau as Andrea and Peter Hobbs as Barnaby. In this standard sci-fi romance, the widow Andrea lives on a Greek island with her son Timmy and, like the other islanders, is amazed when a stranger Keir Dullea washes up on shore during a magnetic storm. She brings the apparently injured man home to help him recuperate his health, and a relationship develops between the two of them. At first seeming to suffer from amnesia, the stranger has a mysterious quality that comes more into focus when he performs certain miracles. As he demonstrates his powers, it is slowly revealed that he is a time-traveler, and his brother, in fact, once traveled back 2,000 years further in time. Again, another Adrienne Barbeau picture that was disappointing. Outside of the scenery from the Greek Islands there wasn't much else exciting in this movie that's why I'm giving this picture just 4 weasel stars.

Widowed Andrea and her young son live on a remote Greek Island. One day, walking on the beach, they come across a strange man washed up, who cannot remember anything. Who is he, where did he come from, and why is he here ?This is an odd movie, a quirky Christ allegory with some time travelling thrown in. I guess it's not very good - it looks cheap, it lacks passion, it has too many travelogue shots to pad its running time and it doesn't really make any sense. Despite all that, I really like it, for several reasons. It was shot in the south-eastern Greek island of Mykonos in the Aegean Sea, and the location is original and incredibly beautiful. The cast give strange stilted but hypnotic performances; Dullea is brilliantly iconic, the perfect actor to play a messianic failure, Barbeau is achingly melancholy, Licht (the scary kid from Joe Dante's segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie) is goofy fun and Hobbs is great as the drunken idealistic doctor. Hobbs has impressive cult-movie credentials; check him out in The Andromeda Strain, Sleeper, Wizards, John Carpenter's Elvis TV-movie and The Man With Two Brains. Mastorakis may be a bit of a hack, but the movie keeps coming up with offbeat and interesting ideas and shots, like the moment when Dullea walks into a library and hears the books talking to him in his head. There's also a nice mellow score by the underrated Stanley Myers (Nicolas Roeg's composer of choice). Mastorakis is an unusual, marginal filmmaker, but he made some curios, notably the techno-mystery Blind Date and survival thriller The Zero Boys. I guess I'm maybe overrating this movie a little but it's something different and that always counts for a lot in my book. In her enjoyable autobiography, There Are Worse Things I Could Do, Barbeau doesn't even mention it despite making it at the height of her fame, so I guess she slept through it, but it's really rather good. The Greek title is O Taxidiotis Tou Hronou / The Traveller In Time.

You've had the AntiChrist in films, now it's raining Christs in this ridiculous picture. Like the AntiChrist, this Christ arrives with a helpful number for identification to avoid confusion with any other Christ working as a barman somewhere. Perhaps 'The Next One 2001' will come with a useful barcode or Dot.com address. Since his last visit resulted in crucifixion, Christ decides to play it safe and call himself 'Glenn' and behaves enigmatically. Single mom Andrea finds him washed up on her beach and takes him home presumably because she may find him useful at parties. Turning water into wine and feeding thousands from one loaf definitely saves on grocery bills, but she's not to know that as 'Glenn' is giving nothing away. He leaves speaking in tongues to his disciples who seem in short supply this time around. What is his mysterious mission and will Andrea's son be able to relate to this icon now he's a surfer dude? Does he prefer a heavier or lighter board? At the end of the film another Christ washes up on the beach leaving us with the uncomfortable impression that the son of the almighty might be more of a hazard than driving on Greek roads. A short sighted elderly person might trip over whatever this one's called. Probably Glenda.