Intruder (1989)

Directed by Scott Spiegel [Other horror films: From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (1999), Hostel: Part III (2011)]

I’ve seen Intruder once before, and remembered it being a pretty solid slasher for the late 1980’s. Seeing it again, it is indeed one of the best of the late 80’s, and Intruder really has a lot going for it.

It’s not perfect – the biggest issue is that with all the characters (Jennifer, Linda, Bill, Danny, Joe, Tim, Bub, Dave, Randy, and Craig), only a couple really get much in the way of personality. The average side characters of Friday the 13th had mildly more personality than most of the characters here. Luckily, the gore was good enough to sort of offset this, but it was noticeable.

Elizabeth Cox did decent as the lead character. I mean, she’s no Amy Steel or Heather Langenkamp, but she did well. David Byrnes (Witchcraft 7: Judgement Hour, Witchcraft IX: Bitter Flesh) is a good example of what I’m talking about – okay performance, but very little in the way of character until the finale. Eugene Robert Glazer and Dan Hicks (Elder Island, Evil Dead II) did well as the bosses of the store.

Most of the night crew, though – Ted Raimi (The Attic Expeditions), Renée Estevez (Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers), Billy Marti, Burr Steers, Sam Raimi, and Craig Stark – don’t really add that much. Sure, Marti’s character seems like he’ll be more important, and Burr Steers does have an oddly fun personality, but for the most part, these people are all just here to be victims of a mysterious killer.

Oh, I should probably also mention that Bruce Campbell (The Evil Dead) appears for a minute or so at the end, but he doesn’t do that much, and isn’t relevant to the story in any way, so whateves.

Speaking of the story, I appreciate the idea of a slasher set in a grocery store. I spent five years working a Meijer (a Michigan-based company that operates in six states – think of it as a higher-class Wal-Mart), and I also liked the idea of a killer knocking people off in a large store, where people can go unnoticed for long periods of time. Now, the store in Intruder isn’t some type of supermarket, but it’s still a fun idea, which brings us to the kills.

Naturally, you get your normal kills, such as someone stabbed with a big knife or a butcher knife slamming on someone’s head. Someone gets impaled on a meat hook, while another gets their head crushed in a bailer. Another guy gets their head slammed into one of those pointy receipt holders, and perhaps most well-known, there’s a band saw mishap which looks very much on the painful side. The effects for that scene weren’t necessarily great, but the idea behind that scene worked beautifully.

I do think the final scene, though, with that dramatic scream, was just a bit on the hokey side.

Intruder is a simple slasher with a prime goal of showing off decent kills. While the characters sometimes lack personality, the story is still pretty solid, and there’s plenty of suspenseful scenes and interesting camera angles here to keep things fresh. I enjoyed this one when I first saw it, and I still think it stands out quite well today.

8/10