Intruder

"I'm just crazy about this store!" -  Bill

Way back in August of 2008 I picked up my latest copy of Horror Hound magazine, which had an article of some of the best slashers of all time. Of course they had my favorites such as My Bloody Valentine, Stagefright, and the Burning. It was here I first read about the lost 1989 Scott Spiegel Intruder.

I have always been a Sam Raimi fan. It all started when I was eight years old and for Christmas I asked my mother to order me an original Day Of The Dead poster. Getting her movies mixed up she ordered me two gorgeous Evil Dead prints, and from that my curiously got struck. One day I bought Last House On The Left along with The Evil Dead on VHS. That night I witnessed by far one of the greatest low budget films of all time. Quickly my love of this movie grew and before I knew it I was the only kid in middle school with an Evil Dead lunch box. I was blown away by the raw violence, and how such a simple idea was turned into something truly terrifying.

If the first Evil Dead wasn't enough, Evil Dead II Dead By Dawn completely rocked my world. In my opinion this is one of the best sequels ever made and has by far the greatest horror movie ending ever. Sam Rami, who started off as just this kid from Detroit that began making Super 8 films with his friends, brought the world of horror to an entirely new level and raised the bar when he made the sequel. Over the years I've followed his career and have loved his range in making over the top adventures, and dramas with characters you truly care about. His return to horror with Drag Me To Hell had me very impressed so I was right away interested to see that Mr. Raimi had a small stint in acting. I think we all remember him as that guy in the mini series The Stand as the guy with the machine gun who blows Ossie Davis' face off, or as Stick Cody, who stares at a moose for the entire credits of Indian Summer.

Sam stared in Intruder as Randy the Butcher, a young twenty-something who works the night shift along side his friends at Wallnut Lake Market. A typical closing starts off rocky when one of the cashiers' ex boyfriends causes a disturbance while harassing and attacking the staff. Running into the store to hide, the employees all split up to find him before the police are called. After wards, the managers have some pretty bad news to add onto everything else. It seems that the market will be closing it's doors for good within the month and everyone goes about the rest of their work uncertain about their futures. It's there an unseen stalker begins to pick off the night crew one by one in some of the most grizzly brutal ways seen on screen.

It wasn't until this past fall that I picked up Intruder on DVD and then received the special edition on Blu Ray.

Intruder hands down goes in the book as one of my all time favorite slashers. In fact I would go so far to say it ranks up there with classics such as My Bloody Valentine and The Burning.

Who doesn't love a movie that has every possible P.O.V shot. (Carriage, floor, telephone, doorknob, ect). Amazing early effects work from KNB. A very likeable cast, Bruce Cambell in a cameo role, and a very clever ending and awesome ending shot.

What really makes Intruder stand out from so many other slashers that were overflowing the decade is two things. The gore, and the cast. There are such scenes so unbearable, they will make your head ache and your stomach turn. Sadly the reason why this film became lost was the fact that it was released when the slasher boom was slowly beginning to nose dive, and that most of the hardcore gore got left on the cutting room floor. Luckly due to a very large fan base via video, the legend of Intruder grew Finally due to a bare bones DVD release, and finally the kick ass blu ray DVD SE, Intruder has finally seen the light of day it deserved.

Intruder is now one of my all time favorite movies of all time. This was back when slashers were slashers and started the career of producer Lawrence Bender (Pulp Fiction, Inglorious Bastards, ect) along with many other young talents.

This spring I even hope to get my next tattoo which will be good old Sam Raimi hanging from that meat hook to honor of the last slasher of a decade of complete blood, gore, and insane mind blowing scenes.

I can only hope someday we'll get a sequel and hear Bill the manager give his Parker speech again.

Intruder = 5 stars.