One night back when I was in high school, I was hanging out with some friends, and we had to stop at a gas station to get some gas before we went out and did whatever for the evening. This gas station also rented movies, and as I was looking at them, I ran across a copy of Intruder. I thought that it sounded awesome and made a mental note to rent it sometime.
Unfortunately, when I went back to get it, I discovered that it was rented out. I tried for weeks to grab it, but it was never there again for some unknown reason (I assume someone ran off with it or lost it). I didn’t see it in a video store for a long time, so after eight long years and not seeing it and dying to check it out I ordered a copy of it from Amazon.
Long story short, I ended up loving it and thinking that it was awesome after I finally got my hands on it. I dug it out a few years ago and watched it with my wife, hoping that it was just as great as I remembered it being when I initially watched it.
So, was it still awesome or was it one of those movies you love when you are younger and then don’t care for when you watch it again years later?
Keep reading to find out…
Synopsis
An unknown killer stalks the night crew of a grocery store that is going out of business and slaughters them in a variety of brutal and bloody ways.
Intruder stars Elizabeth Cox and features Evil Dead alum Sam and Ted Raimi as well as Danny Hicks.
I’ll cut to the chase here and just let you know that I love this movie dearly and it held up even better than I had hoped it would. In my opinion, Intruder is an underrated treasure and is without a doubt the best slasher flick of the late 80s (and possibly the last really great slasher film in general). It has an awesome premise, tons of some really amazing-and gory-death scenes, and is just a super fun little movie overall. If you are a huge fan of 80s slasher flicks like I am then you are guaranteed to dig this movie as much as I do.
I worked at several little grocery stores like the one in the movie when I was younger (usually at night when there were no customers and only a few other co-workers there with me), so I could totally relate to the characters that appear in the movie. I’ve always thought that using a grocery store after hours for the setting of a horror movie was a brilliant idea and it works on many levels. It’s without a doubt a unique setting that hadn’t been done a whole lot at the time the movie was released, and I can tell you first hand that an almost empty grocery store at night can be an extremely creepy place for a number of reasons (especially if you have a weird imagination like I do, anyway).
I used to creep myself out at times when I was working at these stores late at night back in the day, and I think that this movie does an excellent job of capturing the feelings that I had then, so this film really speaks to me as a result. Believe me when I say you won’t look at your local grocery store the same way ever again after watching this movie.
Another reason I dig this movie so much is because the camera angles that are used are awesome. Scott Spiegel (Spring Break ’83, Hostel: Part III) does an amazing job setting up shots for the movie, and as a result we get some cool stuff like the POV from the floor as it is being swept, a telephone being used, and some other fun angles. You can tell that he had a good time setting up these shots and I have always thought that they were just cool and unique, and I wished more filmmakers would use this sort of technique as they just work for several reasons and have an almost experimental and trippy feel to them.
The best thing about Intruder-in addition to a great premise and a wonderful cast-is definitely the death scenes. We get a ton of fun and bloody death scenes and every one of them rock. We get some fun stuff like a head crushed by a box crusher, meat hooks to the face, eyes being stabbed, and the best one in my opinion that involves someone’s head, and a ban saw. These death scenes are brutal and gory (especially if you watch the uncut version) and a lot of them look like the hurt a lot. If you are a fan of bloody, over-the-top, and just fun death scenes in general then you will be satisfied with this movie.
As you can tell, I love Intruder, and it is definitely on my list of top ten slasher flicks of all time. I love the fact that there is a little mystery involved and you have to figure out who the killer is before it is revealed (though there are some DVDs that spoil the person’s identity as it is plastered all over the cover) as this always adds to horror movies in my opinion. I also dig the ending as well, and even though some viewers don’t enjoy it and have complained about it I think that it works, and I appreciate the fact that the filmmakers try something a little different.
Check it out if you haven’t seen it, and if you are a slasher film nerd like I am I guarantee that you are going to love it.
