Suspense thriller films have been around for many decades--Hitchcock being the master of suspense, so when I saw my first trailer of "The Intruder", I thought this definitely had potential as a real nail-biter, and a nail-biter it was. This isn't Hitchcock, but it certainly keeps one on the edge of their seats.
When a young married couple, Scott and Annie (Michael Ealy and Meagan Good) respectively, buys their dream house in the Napa Valley area, they think they have found the perfect home to take their next steps as a family. But when the strangely attached seller, Charlie Peck (Dennis Quaid) continues to infiltrate their lives, they begin to suspect that he has hidden motivations beyond a quick sale.
It seems that Scott and his best buddy and work associate Mike (Joseph Sikora) first start noticing odd things and certain things that Charlie says that tip off the two that this guy isn't up and up. Scott then approaches his wife, Annie with this information and because she usually attempts to see the best in everyone, simply believes that Charlie is just lonely, especially after losing his wife to cancer. So as one after another event happens, even Annie starts questioning what's going on, and what starts out as innocent ,begins unraveling slowly before their eyes.
Others to round out the cast are Lee Shorten as Brian, Lili Sepe as Charlie Peck's daughter, Alvina August as Rachel, Connor MacKay Randall and Carolyn Anderson as Ellen.
This was truly directed well with grit and intensity by Deon Taylor ("Dead Tone" '07, "The Hustle" '08, "Nite Tales: The Movie" '08, "Chain Letter" '09, "Tony Roberts: I'm Different" '13, "Supremacy" '14, "Meet the Blacks" '16, "Traffik" '18) plus TV and a short. This filmmaker certainly has the ability to extract the appropriate emotions out of his actors in which to make these characters so real, especially with the case of Quaid. His character went from seemingly friendly to complete psychotic in such subtle ways that it was amazing. Surely Quaid is a seasoned, quality actor, however this is also talented directing as well. If you like his brand of filmmaking, his "Fatale", Black and Blue", "The House Next Door" and "Akuma" are all in post production. This man is incredibly busy! It was adequately written by David Loughery ("Dreamscape" '84, "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" '89, "Flashback" '90, "The Three Musketeers" '93, "Money Train" '95, "Tom and Huck" '95, "Lakeview Terrace" '08, "Obsessed" '09, "Blindsided" '13, "Nurse 3D" '13) plus TV. Being the seasoned, veteran writer as Loughery is, this is certainly familiar territory as screenplays go, and with this, this story is suspenseful, thrilling and creepy as the character of Charlie's starts to unfold before the audience's very eyes. Where this storyline has some issues is the element of some choppiness in script along with some questions that are not answered and a couple of situations that just couldn't happen. But if some of these issues weren't there, it would be difficult to make the story work, so a certain amount of the issues are forgivable. What makes this film work is Quaid's meaty, evil, psychotic role along with the incredible element of suspense. It surely was a plot that delivered the grit, intensity and thrill of a young couple slowly having to encounter a terrifying man as he slowly unravels before this couple's eyes, and Loughery's script certainly delivers this in spades. As I'm writing this, his "Fatale" is in post production. The selling slogan of this says it all: "don't let him in".
On a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being the most suspenseful, this certainly is at a definitive 8 on that scale. Some small issues, but considering the rollercoaster ride with this, this is clearly the quintessential thriller. What can I say but hit the multiplex, grab the popcorn and enjoy.
Out of 4 Stars: 3 Rated: PG-13 101mins.
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