Intruder (film)
Encyclopedia
Intruder is a 1989 American horror film
. It was written and directed by Scott Spiegel
, the co-writer of Evil Dead 2.
is shutting up and the night shift are starting to restock the shelves ready for the next day.
Just as the store is about to close Craig (David Byrnes), the former boyfriend of cashier Jennifer (Elizabeth Cox), appears and the two have an argument. Worried for her friend, Linda (Renee Estevez
) presses her panic button and calls for help. Co owner Bill (Dan Hicks
) appears and a fight ensues. Craig escapes onto the shop floor and the night crew set out to track him down whilst Jennifer calls the police. On discovering him there is another scuffle before they manage to eject Craig from the store, after which he disappears into the night.
While the night crew are gathered the owners announce they are selling the store and the staff will soon be out of a job. The staff are assigned the task of marking down all the stock in preparation for the close.
Craig makes telephone calls to the store, unnerving Jennifer. The police arrive but do little to help and just tell the group to be careful.
Linda finishes her shift and takes some shopping out to her car but is stabbed by an unseen attacker. Bill spots someone trying the back door and goes out to investigate. He finds Craig watching Jennifer through the bathroom window. Craig clubs Bill over the head with a hammer.
Back in the store an unseen assailant begins to stalk the workers and the storeowner and kills them one by one. The killer dismembers his victims, leaving body parts around the store.
Realising that everyone seems to have vanished, Jennifer goes to investigate and discovers bodies in the storerooms. Terrified, she is attacked by the killer but manages to escape back onto the shop floor. Hearing someone at the door she attempts to attract their attention but they have gone when she gets there.
Craig appears and grabs her but she stabs him with a meat hook. Craig slumps to the floor. Bill staggers in and says Craig had attacked him outside the store. He calls the police.
Jennifer notices that Bill's hands are covered in blood and realizes he is the killer. Bill tells her that he could not let his partner sell the store so he killed him, and then just got carried away killing the others. Bill attacks Jennifer and chases her around the store. Jennifer is locked inside the building. A delivery man appears outside. Jennifer tries to get his attention but he is killed by Bill who had slipped outside.
Bill reenters the building and stalks Jennifer again. Jennifer is grabbed by Craig who tells her he saw Bill killing Linda and climbed into the building through the bathroom window to save her. Bill appears and clubs Craig to the ground with a severed head whilst Jennifer flees.
Crawling out the bathroom window Jennifer attempts to escape in her car but finds the body of Linda in there. Bill grabs her legs and pulls Jennifer under the car but she stabs him with the knife she had pulled from Linda. Jennifer heads to a phone booth to call the police where Bill reappears again and starts to smash the booth to get at her. Tipping the phone booth over he has Jennifer trapped when Craig appears and hacks him with a meat cleaver.
Jennifer and Craig are standing in the car park over Bill's body when the police arrive and arrest them. Bill regains consciousness and shouts to the police that the pair had gone mad and killed everyone. The two are taken away protesting their innocence.
Director Scott Spiegel attended high school in Detroit with director Sam Raimi and actor Bruce Campbell. Spiegel often makes cameo appearances in Raimi's films.
Bruce Campbell and producer Lawrence Bender play the two cops at the end of the film. Scott Speigel makes a brief appearance as the delivery man who is disembowelled by Dan Hicks.
. The film was partially based around Scott Spiegel's experiences working at the real Walnut Lake Market in Michigan. It was also something of a remake of an earlier Super-8 short film by Spiegel. The short was a slasher story called 'Night Crew' and featured a more Halloween
inspired killer.
It was filmed in an actual store in Bell, California
in 1987, shooting at night when the store was closed.
Randy's (Sam Raimi) original death was to be gutted with a meathook. It was his brother Ted Raimi who came up the death seen in the film (eye impalement).
The Paramount VHS video cover (along with various other video and DVD releases) and the films trailers all reveal the identity of the killer, thus spoiling the films dramatic tension.
Bruce Campbell
, Sam Raimi
and Ted Raimi
are all heavily promoted as the stars of the film and their names feature prominently on video and DVD artwork. None of them are actually the stars of the picture. Sam Raimi plays a supporting character. Ted Raimi has a bit part. Bruce Campbell's role amounts to a thirty second cameo. Also on the back of the DVD it says that Renee Estevez
is the main heroine which in the film she is the first character to die. It also markets her as a big character in Lethal Weapon which she played an underage hooker and was not even credited for that movie.
."
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
. It was written and directed by Scott Spiegel
Scott Spiegel
Scott Spiegel is an American screenwriter, film director, producer and actor. He is best known for co-writing the screenplay for the movie Evil Dead II with longtime friend, film director Sam Raimi, with whom he attended Wylie E. Groves High School in Birmingham, Michigan...
, the co-writer of Evil Dead 2.
Plot
A local late night supermarketSupermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
is shutting up and the night shift are starting to restock the shelves ready for the next day.
Just as the store is about to close Craig (David Byrnes), the former boyfriend of cashier Jennifer (Elizabeth Cox), appears and the two have an argument. Worried for her friend, Linda (Renee Estevez
Renée Estevez
-Early years:Estevez was born in New York City, New York, the daughter of artist Janet and actor Martin Sheen. Her father is of Spanish and Irish descent. Her three brothers are also actors: Emilio Estevez, Ramon Estevez and Charlie Sheen. Her husband, Jason Thomas Federico, has been a...
) presses her panic button and calls for help. Co owner Bill (Dan Hicks
Dan Hicks (actor)
Dan Hicks is an American actor. He is best known for starring roles in Evil Dead II and Intruder as well as appearing in various other horror films. He is a close friend of Sam Raimi and often has parts in his movies.-Selected filmography:-External links:...
) appears and a fight ensues. Craig escapes onto the shop floor and the night crew set out to track him down whilst Jennifer calls the police. On discovering him there is another scuffle before they manage to eject Craig from the store, after which he disappears into the night.
While the night crew are gathered the owners announce they are selling the store and the staff will soon be out of a job. The staff are assigned the task of marking down all the stock in preparation for the close.
Craig makes telephone calls to the store, unnerving Jennifer. The police arrive but do little to help and just tell the group to be careful.
Linda finishes her shift and takes some shopping out to her car but is stabbed by an unseen attacker. Bill spots someone trying the back door and goes out to investigate. He finds Craig watching Jennifer through the bathroom window. Craig clubs Bill over the head with a hammer.
Back in the store an unseen assailant begins to stalk the workers and the storeowner and kills them one by one. The killer dismembers his victims, leaving body parts around the store.
Realising that everyone seems to have vanished, Jennifer goes to investigate and discovers bodies in the storerooms. Terrified, she is attacked by the killer but manages to escape back onto the shop floor. Hearing someone at the door she attempts to attract their attention but they have gone when she gets there.
Craig appears and grabs her but she stabs him with a meat hook. Craig slumps to the floor. Bill staggers in and says Craig had attacked him outside the store. He calls the police.
Jennifer notices that Bill's hands are covered in blood and realizes he is the killer. Bill tells her that he could not let his partner sell the store so he killed him, and then just got carried away killing the others. Bill attacks Jennifer and chases her around the store. Jennifer is locked inside the building. A delivery man appears outside. Jennifer tries to get his attention but he is killed by Bill who had slipped outside.
Bill reenters the building and stalks Jennifer again. Jennifer is grabbed by Craig who tells her he saw Bill killing Linda and climbed into the building through the bathroom window to save her. Bill appears and clubs Craig to the ground with a severed head whilst Jennifer flees.
Crawling out the bathroom window Jennifer attempts to escape in her car but finds the body of Linda in there. Bill grabs her legs and pulls Jennifer under the car but she stabs him with the knife she had pulled from Linda. Jennifer heads to a phone booth to call the police where Bill reappears again and starts to smash the booth to get at her. Tipping the phone booth over he has Jennifer trapped when Craig appears and hacks him with a meat cleaver.
Jennifer and Craig are standing in the car park over Bill's body when the police arrive and arrest them. Bill regains consciousness and shouts to the police that the pair had gone mad and killed everyone. The two are taken away protesting their innocence.
Cast
- Elizabeth Cox as Jennifer Ross
- Renée EstevezRenée Estevez-Early years:Estevez was born in New York City, New York, the daughter of artist Janet and actor Martin Sheen. Her father is of Spanish and Irish descent. Her three brothers are also actors: Emilio Estevez, Ramon Estevez and Charlie Sheen. Her husband, Jason Thomas Federico, has been a...
as Linda - Dan HicksDan Hicks (actor)Dan Hicks is an American actor. He is best known for starring roles in Evil Dead II and Intruder as well as appearing in various other horror films. He is a close friend of Sam Raimi and often has parts in his movies.-Selected filmography:-External links:...
as Bill Roberts - David Byrnes as Craig Peterson
- Sam RaimiSam RaimiSamuel Marshall "Sam" Raimi is an American film director, producer, actor and writer. He is best known for directing cult horror films like the Evil Dead series, Darkman and Drag Me to Hell, as well as the blockbuster Spider-Man films and the producer of the successful TV series Hercules: The...
as Randy - Eugene Robert GlazerEugene Robert GlazerEugene Robert Glazer is an American actor best known for his portrayal of "Operations" on the TV show La Femme Nikita. Glazer was raised in Brooklyn, New York, and worked at a variety of jobs before moving to Los Angeles in the 1970s to pursue his acting career...
as Danny - Billy Marti as Dave
- Burr SteersBurr SteersBurr Gore Steers is an American actor, screenwriter and director.-Personal life:Steers was born in Washington, D.C. His father, Newton Ivan Steers, Jr. , was a Republican congressman from Maryland. His mother, Nina Gore Auchincloss , was the daughter of stockbroker and lawyer Hugh D...
as Bub - Craig Stark as Tim
- Ted RaimiTed RaimiTheodore "Ted"/"Half Ted" Raimi is an American actor, perhaps best known for his roles as Lieutenant Tim O'Neill in seaQuest DSV and Joxer the Mighty in Xena: Warrior Princess/Hercules: The Legendary Journeys...
as Produce Joe - Alvy MooreAlvy MooreJack Alvin "Alvy" Moore was an American light comic actor best known for his role as scatterbrained county agricultural agent "Hank Kimball" on the television series Green Acres....
as Officer Dalton - Tom LesterTom LesterThomas William "Tom" Lester is an American actor and evangelist. He may be best remembered for his role as Oliver & Lisa Douglas's farmhand, Eb Dawson, in the television series Green Acres, and appeared in the movies Gordy and Benji.-Biography:Lester was born in Laurel, Mississippi...
as Officer Mathews - Emil SitkaEmil SitkaEmil Sitka was a veteran American actor who appeared in hundreds of movies, short films, and television shows, and is best known for his numerous appearances with the Three Stooges—nearly 40...
as Mr. Abernathy - Bruce CampbellBruce CampbellBruce Lorne Campbell is an American film and television actor. As a cult movie actor, Campbell starred as Ashley J. "Ash" Williams in Sam Raimi's Evil Dead series of films and he has starred in many low-budget cult films such as Crimewave, Maniac Cop, Bubba Ho-tep, Escape From L.A. and Sundown:...
as Officer Howard - Lawrence BenderLawrence BenderLawrence Bender is an American film producer. He rose to fame by producing Reservoir Dogs in 1992 and has since produced all of Quentin Tarantino's films with the exception of Death Proof....
as Officer Adams - Scott SpiegelScott SpiegelScott Spiegel is an American screenwriter, film director, producer and actor. He is best known for co-writing the screenplay for the movie Evil Dead II with longtime friend, film director Sam Raimi, with whom he attended Wylie E. Groves High School in Birmingham, Michigan...
as Bread Man
Director Scott Spiegel attended high school in Detroit with director Sam Raimi and actor Bruce Campbell. Spiegel often makes cameo appearances in Raimi's films.
Bruce Campbell and producer Lawrence Bender play the two cops at the end of the film. Scott Speigel makes a brief appearance as the delivery man who is disembowelled by Dan Hicks.
Production
The film marked the feature directorial debut of Scott SpiegelScott Spiegel
Scott Spiegel is an American screenwriter, film director, producer and actor. He is best known for co-writing the screenplay for the movie Evil Dead II with longtime friend, film director Sam Raimi, with whom he attended Wylie E. Groves High School in Birmingham, Michigan...
. The film was partially based around Scott Spiegel's experiences working at the real Walnut Lake Market in Michigan. It was also something of a remake of an earlier Super-8 short film by Spiegel. The short was a slasher story called 'Night Crew' and featured a more Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
inspired killer.
It was filmed in an actual store in Bell, California
Bell, California
Bell is a city in Los Angeles County, California. Its population was 35,477 at the 2010 census, down from 36,664 in the 2000 census. Bell is located on the west bank of the Los Angeles River and is a suburb of the city of Los Angeles...
in 1987, shooting at night when the store was closed.
Randy's (Sam Raimi) original death was to be gutted with a meathook. It was his brother Ted Raimi who came up the death seen in the film (eye impalement).
Marketing
The film was originally entitled "The Night Crew", but distributors felt that the film would be more marketable if it was given a more generic slasher film title. It was released as "Intruder".The Paramount VHS video cover (along with various other video and DVD releases) and the films trailers all reveal the identity of the killer, thus spoiling the films dramatic tension.
Bruce Campbell
Bruce Campbell
Bruce Lorne Campbell is an American film and television actor. As a cult movie actor, Campbell starred as Ashley J. "Ash" Williams in Sam Raimi's Evil Dead series of films and he has starred in many low-budget cult films such as Crimewave, Maniac Cop, Bubba Ho-tep, Escape From L.A. and Sundown:...
, Sam Raimi
Sam Raimi
Samuel Marshall "Sam" Raimi is an American film director, producer, actor and writer. He is best known for directing cult horror films like the Evil Dead series, Darkman and Drag Me to Hell, as well as the blockbuster Spider-Man films and the producer of the successful TV series Hercules: The...
and Ted Raimi
Ted Raimi
Theodore "Ted"/"Half Ted" Raimi is an American actor, perhaps best known for his roles as Lieutenant Tim O'Neill in seaQuest DSV and Joxer the Mighty in Xena: Warrior Princess/Hercules: The Legendary Journeys...
are all heavily promoted as the stars of the film and their names feature prominently on video and DVD artwork. None of them are actually the stars of the picture. Sam Raimi plays a supporting character. Ted Raimi has a bit part. Bruce Campbell's role amounts to a thirty second cameo. Also on the back of the DVD it says that Renee Estevez
Renée Estevez
-Early years:Estevez was born in New York City, New York, the daughter of artist Janet and actor Martin Sheen. Her father is of Spanish and Irish descent. Her three brothers are also actors: Emilio Estevez, Ramon Estevez and Charlie Sheen. Her husband, Jason Thomas Federico, has been a...
is the main heroine which in the film she is the first character to die. It also markets her as a big character in Lethal Weapon which she played an underage hooker and was not even credited for that movie.
Alternate versions
- The original VHS release from Paramount Home Video contained the R-rated version, which was missing five minutes of gore footage. Nearly all of KNB's effects footage was removed.
- The 2005 US DVD release by Wizard Entertainment presents the director's cut, but is considered a subpar transfer.
- In November 2010, Synapse FilmsSynapse FilmsSynapse Films is a DVD/Blu-ray label owned and operated by Don May, Jr. and his business partners Jerry Chandler and Charles Fiedler. The company specializes in cult horror, science fiction, and exploitation films....
announced that they had acquired the original uncut negative and were working on releasing a new high-definition special edition on DVD and Blu-ray Disc.
Reception
The film has received renewed interest from fans of 80s horror, many of whom consider it an "interesting B movieB movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
."