Intensity

A troubled young woman agrees to stay with a girlfriend at the girlfriend's parents' home in a remote location. A maniac breaks into the house and kills the girlfriend and her parents. The troubled young woman escapes from the house but finds a captive girl in the killer's van. She decides to do something about it, and this leads to a confrontation between the woman and killer. Sound vaguely familiar? It should. A few years later, the basic plot was reworked for the French fright flick, HIGH INTENSITY. John C. McGinley is the deranged killer, and he's quite persuasive as a homicidal maniac. The rest of the cast is pretty much unknown, as this was shot on the cheap in Canada for TV consumption. It is intense, indeed, and I would not recommend it for anyone under the age of 14 or thereabouts.

I just watched this mini TV-series a few days ago. A friend of mine recommended seeing it. So I did. And I wasn't disappointed.

The story was pretty ok, but what really caught my eyes were the two main characters: Chyna (the heroine) and Mr. Vess (the bad guy). Chyna is insecure but determined young woman who has been neglected as a child and thus she suffers from recurring nightmares and repeating flash backs from her miserable past. Mr. Vess on the other hand comes from a good loving family or so he states when Chyna tries to use inversed psychology with him (with no obvious luck) when she's being held captive at his house of horrors, aiming to save a missing girl named Ariel.

Well coming from a good background or not, Vess is not the man you wanna mess with. But what we also get to know very soon after seeing Mr. Vess for the first time in action, that he is in fact a genuine psychopath who likes to hunt not just game but also people during his morbid little trips on the road with his big bad VR in order to bring home some trophies to 'his' sweet Ariel.

He's handy with his knife and careful with his life... But not enough that his extremely sensitive senses and trained dogs will get him of the hook this time. _Intense_ suspense. Thrilling moments guaranteed and even some mysticism. I especially liked Mr. Vess' performance. Particularly his facial expressions and deep sighing and quiet murmuring when playing with his knives added some chilling effects on the character.

Now it's my time to recommend this great mini TV-series to all you people who haven't seen it. It's based on Koontz novel, but I can't make any comparisons with the book and the TV-series since I have never read any of his books. Maybe I ought to...

I come from the Uk and this film was shown a few weeks ago on TV and when I started watching it I was immediately hooked and watching it in suspense. This is one of the most scary films I have ever seen, the killer Vess is great in this film and played brilliantly, the heroine Chyna is also greatly played and believable. The storyline itself is really well done and it all makes sense and greatly acted in this TV series. Chyna Shepard is an insecure woman who when her friend gets murdered by a killer (Vess) decides it is her job to rescue on of his captives, a little girl called Ariel. After this film I have bought 2 Dean Koontz books and hope to read more....

This miniseries was on my radar for a long time.

Haven't read Dean Koontz's book but this is amazing stuff.

I am generous with a 10 cos this one was made in the 90s n that too for tv but it doesn't look outdated n it is indeed an intense experience to come across such a solid thriller.

The best part is the suspense n tension which is maintained throughout.

John C. McGinley as Edgler Vess, the brutal serial killer, who owns a massive property in the middle of nowhere n his palatial house mostly made up of wood n which consists of a home gym is epic.

I saw 'Intensity'on TV. Of course it was cut to ribbons*.That is, if the IMDb run time of 186 minutes is correct.(*Why do they insist on doing that?) It was still excellent. Molly Parker, one of the most adventurous actresses working today, was terrific. John C. McGinley usually an actor who does a fine job in a lesser part, was mesmerising. Suspense builds up all the way. I went out and got the book, great read that made me realise what a good job the screenwriters had done. Wanted to buy the full length movie, according to IMDb it's unavailable!! This is a great movie, only made in 1997, so where is it? Somebody put the uncut version on DVD, PLEASE!!