‘Intruder’ is a Brutal and Claustrophobic Slasher [Watch]
Welcome to The Overlooked Motel, a place where under-seen and unappreciated films are given their moment in the spotlight. I hope you enjoy your stay here and find the accommodations to be suitable. Now, please take a seat and make yourself comfortable, I have some misbehaving guests to ‘correct’.
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I am so pleased to be shining the spotlight on an overlooked effort from the tail end of the ‘80s slasher boom on this edition of The Overlooked Motel. Scott Spiegel’s Intruder (1989) is an inventive effort that delivers an impressive cast of familiar faces and buckets of blood, in a claustrophobic setting.
Intruder follows the crew of the Walnut Lake Market. After receiving word that the store is being sold to the city and will be closed by the following month, the employees are tasked with hanging around to mark down merchandise in an attempt to liquidate the remaining inventory. The night eventually takes a violent turn that sees staffers killed off in gruesome and inventive ways. Could the killer be the creepy parolee that’s been lurking around the premises or maybe a disgruntled employee? The overnight crew can’t be sure. But they can all be certain this will be the most brutal shift they’ve ever worked.
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Intruder is truly a diamond in the rough. It so frequently gets overlooked amongst its contemporaries but the flick is a lot of fun and rather inventive. Spiegel tells the story through a variety of innovative and unexpected shots. He frames the action via a shopping cart, through the floor of the store, from inside a rotary telephone, via the bottom of a trash bin, and more. The playful use of unexpected angles and clever camerawork makes Intruder stand out as memorable amongst the output of the era.
In addition to crazy camerawork, the film also boasts an impressive cast. A lot of the primary players aren’t as well-known. But the flick features Sam Raimi, Ted Raimi, and Bruce Campbell in supporting roles. It’s worth watching the film for the cameos alone. But Intruder has far more to offer than just a star-studded supporting cast.
This picture also manages to serve up a surprisingly effective setting. A supermarket seems like a peculiar locale for a horror movie. But it works to remarkable effect here. The location is used to invoke a sense of claustrophobia, with the cast confined to the store. That combined with a disquieting score and tightly framed shots really amp up the tension before the killing spree even kicks off.
Additionally, Spiegel foreshadows the violence to come with plenty of lingering shots of sharp objects. In one memorable sequence, he spotlights a razor-sharp spindle (for anyone not familiar, a spindle is basically a long, pointy needle-like desk adornment for storing paper tickets, memos, and the like). The foreshadowing, however, isn’t just a tease. The spindle makes a return appearance that would make Lucio Fulci proud. And some of the other tools depicted early on also make a return visit in the service of sending off cast members in brutal and inventive ways. The talented team at KNB EFX Group makes certain of that.
Most of the performances are a little on the cheesy side. But, they’re just cheesy enough to give the flick a certain goofy charm. Certainly not cheesy to the point of rendering the picture difficult to watch. Intruder also serves up some memorable dialogue that pairs nicely with the sometimes-hammy performances. Case in point: “I swear to god if my brother hadn’t hit him in the head repeatedly with a blender, he would’ve killed me.”
Silliness aside, the narrative does an effective job of presenting multiple possible suspects. Could it be Jennifer’s possessive, creepy, stalker-esque mullet-wearing, ex? Or perhaps one of the crew is taking out their angst over being laid off on their peers? The big reveal isn’t especially shocking but it nonetheless serves as a fitting conclusion to this brutal and quirky tale.
I consider Intruder to be shockingly underrated, considering how many talented names are attached to this underseen effort. Sure, it’s a little hokey at times but Intruder is still a scary good time that boasts innovative camerawork, plenty of familiar faces, and some absolutely epic kill sequences. If you haven’t yet seen this overlooked effort, you’re in luck, it’s streaming on Pluto and Tubi for free (with ads) as of the publication of this post.
That’s all for this installment of The Overlooked Motel. If you want to chat more about under-seen and underrated films, feel free to hit me up with your thoughts on Twitter @FunWithHorror!
Categorized:Editorials The Overlook Motel
