Very well executed

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

This film was alright but it certainly wasn't groundbreaking or anything. Intruder was a fairly typical slasher, and the fact that it was released in 1989, about the time the entire slasher craze was over, is pretty telling; this movie sort of sums up the entire reason that the slasher subgenre was falling out of fashion- it had gotten boring. Intruder isn't exactly a BAD film, but it's extremely unoriginal. The plot is very basic and straightforward, there's really nothing going for it, and the only reason it exists is to serve as a backdrop for the killings. And the killings aren't all that spectacular either. They're mostly rehashes of scenes from earlier slashers and special effects, while adequate, do nothing to save them. Everything that happens plot-wise is more than obvious and the writers rely heavily on the whole 'final girl' thing, which doesn't really work out that well. Despite all of this, Intruder is still pretty fun and while I wouldn't re-watch it, it's not a bad way to waste an hour and a half. Just make sure you have a beer or five close at hand.

I thought I'd seen every relevant slasher worth a damn and I'd quite comfortably ruled out years '87 and upwards (mostly) as the genre had it's creative period between 1978-1984. Anyways; most likely I still have a few undiscovered gems to look forward to if "Intruder" is anything to go by. Plot wise it's as simple as it comes. An especially gruesome maniac is dispatching a few people at work after hours in a grocery store. Most seasoned genre fans will spot the twist a mile away but no matter; "Intruder" has everything a slasher fan could possibly want and the humor works especially well; really dark humor mind you! You have to get through a little rough spot in the very beginning as it starts out rather clumsily but it soon finds it's ground and climaxes with some incredibly gory (and quite inventive) murder sequences. Very methodical build-up (first half hour is ho-hum introductions and false scares, the second is gore galore and the third is a final girl showdown) but the flick's sense of humor and outright nastiness ensure it a special place in a slasher lover's heart. Casting in fun too with the Raimi brothers (Sam in particular) getting ample screen time and a Bruce Campbell cameo is always a good thing. Highly recommended.

If you're expecting anything out of this movie beforehand, don't. Don't watch it for Bruce Campbell (he's hardly in it at all), or because you think it might be something like Evil Dead, or because you think it might be another typical 80's slasher. Intruder exceeds all expectations.Aside from a plot with an unforeseen twist, there are some really great, original camera angles, lots of gore, quirky, weird characters, and hilarious moments that will leave you laughing for days. You'll love the purposely terrible acting, the great one-liners (Don't you see?! I'm just craaaazy about this store!), and the fact that someone gets beat up with a severed head! This movie is definitely recommended to anyone who loves corny 80's slasher movies with a lot of dark humor. You can't go wrong with it.

Intruder (1989) * (out of 4) Scott Spiegel's cult classic slasher has a group of third shift workers at a supermarket coming under attack from a mysterious person who is slicing them up in a variety of ways. INTRUDER comes as a major disappointment and especially after hearing so many great things about the uncut version of the film. I sat down to watch this movie with high expectations but by the thirty-minute mark I was ready to turn the film off and viewing it didn't get any easier. After watching the film I went back and read some other reviews and it seems even the most positive ones said for people to just overlook the fact that nothing really happens for the first thirty-minutes or so. How do you overlook the first thirty-minutes when they're nothing but boredom? For a slasher movie this one here much hold the record for the amount of worthless dialogue that we're given. The film sets up a female cashier's ex-boyfriend as the psychopath and we get countless bits of dialogue about their relationship and countless other things that really don't add up to anything. The film painfully and slowly drags along until we finally get to the murders. These murders all take place in about a twenty-minute period and then we get to the climax where the killer stalks the last survivor. This entire chase sequence is as boring and poorly directed as the first half of the picture. Everything you've heard about INTRUDER in regards to its gore level is true. The gore effects are the only reason to sit through this thing and they're quite graphic in their uncut form and all the credit much go to Gregory Nicotero, Sean Rodgers, Robert Kurtzman and Howard Berger for their work. The saw through the side of a head is certainly the highlight. Performances are pretty much what you'd expect from a film like this but I'd say they're slightly better than normal. There are some "fun" roles given to the likes of Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell but these really never pay off in any way. INTRUDER was released at a time when the slasher genre was pretty much dead but I can see how gore-hounds kept this one alive due to the special effects. However, I'd recommend just fast forwarding through the rest of the flick as it's incredibly hard to sit through. There's no suspense, no laughs, nothing at all.