MovieChat Forums > Intruder (1989) Discussion > Wait- Are some of you ringers?!

Wait- Are some of you ringers?!

posted 15 years ago by JBoze313
19 replies | jump to latest

I'm so very confused. I see many messages here praising this film as one of the best slashers in horror history.

I have to respectfully ask, how much are you guys getting paid to peddle that nonsense?

This movie is horrid in every aspect. The "fun" camera shots are lame- they are the shots that need to be left with high school mass media classes. Do you insert a star wipe just because it's available? No, you skip it, because it's a dumb transition. So too you should skip the ridiculous angles and camera shots here. What purpose does a POV shot from a rotary dial phone serve? It didn't create tension, it didn't move the story along...in fact, all it did was make me laugh.

The acting is horrendous on every level. The dialogue is over the top and unfunny. The kills aren't put together well- this guy has super human strength (ugh) apparently, and nothing can kill him on top of that. The victims are unbelievably stupid, and please, how do you get stuck in a grocery store with literally 30 exits?! Yeah, Jim, we've fashioned the windows here to be unbreakable, not even massive fire extinguishers will bust 'em!

There's no tension built up here, there's no real storyline, no development in story or characters, no arc, no real climax...it's simply, a kill here, a kill there, some head sawing here, some killing there. There's not a moment of fear to be found in any of the 87 mins. So, what's the point? Inventive kills? Yeah, I have to hand it to the filmmakers there- they thought of some interesting ways to murder rubber heads that only vaguely resembled the characters!

I'm just befuddled with all of this. The glowing reviews, the numerous "forgotten gems" lists this film appears on. This one is a stinker through and through, and I've no explanation of the praise here and elsewhere.

[–] zachanscom 13 years ago

some common sense points that will fly right over the film school drop out's heads

[–] GrimeyRickGrimes 13 years ago

I didn't like the movie all that much, but in fairness I saw the heavily edited version. I am also a big fan of Rami and Campbell, but this movie was kind of lame. The main acctress though was hell-a-hot though.

[–] spazzztic 13 years ago

It's a terrible movie, but it's a GREAT slasher movie. (Does that make sense?) Very few great slashers even qualify as GOOD movies. Slashers rarely work without SOME degree of cheese. If I had to rank all the '80s slashers I've seen, this would definitely be in the Top 50 Percent.

(And if this post qualifies me for some remuneration, please let me know how to collect.)

[–] plutomani 9 years ago

I have to respectfully ask, how much are you guys getting paid to peddle that nonsense?

Weeell, I won't give you the exact price, but I did get quite some $$$$ to give Intruder a positive rating, only 26 years after release. I'm impressed how generous the filmmakers were.

[–] TragicBloom 9 years ago

The first couple times I tried to watch Intruder I fell asleep. I guess I was just feeling low energy, Intruder is not a movie to pick you up if you're feeling slow. I was watching it again today and experienced that same initial feeling of boredom until around the 20 min mark when something started to materialize.

It started with a sudden recognition of the unique camera angles this guy was using. Really refreshing and energizing. Then out of nowhere these incredibly gruesome and semi-realistic deaths started piling up. I mean they are shocking in their originality and rawness - each just realistic enough to pull off the intended reaction.

So yeah, out of nowhere there was a vibe happening. The awful acting from the lead blond started working for me, and the setting felt like cardboard, hard to explain, but the campiness of the cardboard joined with the other before mentioned aspects of the movie became something of an American equivalent to early Dario Argento for me.

You've got to tune into its vibe, but once you do its an enjoyable ride.

[–] samoanjoes (57071) 2 years ago

My response to all of your criticisms is: who cares?