Intruder

Or it could've been called "Market Massacre," "Clean Up on Aisle Dead," "Thank You for Chopping with Us," "Slay-Offs" or "Wal-Mart." Anything but the generic "Intruder."

This movie has many flaws, including said highly generic and actually false title. It's goes from intentional humor to unintentional humor on a dime, but gosh darn it, it's a fun ride with incredible practical gore and inventive props. This should go without saying since it stars Sam and Ted Raimi.

Ah-hem, the "Intruder" is about a night crew paid to clean and stock a soon-to-be-sold and closed down grocery store when a blood-red herring is stalking some of the employees and not all will live to clock out.

There are so many flaws, it's incredibly silly at times and it has some laugh-out-loud props, like shelves of blank tin cans for sale. It's actually hard to take this seriously. That is, until some genuine scares and kills brings you back to the reason you're watching an 80s slasher in the first place. So, I kept flip-flopping on what rating I needed to give this.

It is fitting for a dead-even 3/5 stars as for every amateur mistake and missed opportunity, it is also a great time capsule for that decade of horror. I am shocked though, as a life-long slasher fan, I've never even heard of it. I thought this as the movie opened and the FULL MOON logo appeared.

I literally said out loud: "Well, that explains it."

***

Final Thoughts: I came up with some additional superior titles than the actual one: "Inconvenience Store," "A Mom and Drop Dead Store," "Five-and-Died," "You'll Flee Market" and "Slashed Prices." Okay, fine, I'll work on my comedy bits.

INTRUDER is a fun, gory movie set in a grocery store. A crew of workers is marking down prices on the eve of their big "Going out of business" sale. A thuggish customer gets tossed out, and soon the murders begin.

The obvious suspect becomes less so as the ordeal unfolds.

This movie is inventive, making great use of its single location. There are several clever camera angles and shots (i.e.: looking up through a telephone, a bucket of water, etc.) that help to break up the static and keep things moving.

The characters are humorous, two of whom are played by the Raimi brothers (Sam and Ted). There are also cool cameos by none other than Bruce Campbell and two members of the old Green Acres cast!

The gore factor starts out mild, then accelerates at an alarming rate until body parts are really gushing! There are a couple of jaw-droppers that any true gorehound will appreciate!

Two bloody stumps way up!...

Prices aren't the only things being slashed at the local supermarket! Some heads are gonna roll when they see these amazing deals! Clean up on Aisle 9! Okay, that'll do.

In Scott Spiegel's somewhat unassuming directorial debut, "Intruder," the night crew at a supermarket find themselves locked in with a mysterious madman on the prowl. Is it a jilted ex- boyfriend of one of the cashiers? A disgruntled customer who waited too long in line behind the old lady who paid in pocket change? The guy from the opening scene in "Cobra"?

"Intruder" offers a little mystery to the proceedings, which can often feel like a paint-by-numbers slasher. Spiegel, who spent a considerable amount of time working with the "Evil Dead" crew of Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell, et al brings some familiar faces along, as well as a few tricks up his sleeve. What "Intruder" may lack in originality, it delivers in physical humor, creative camera angles and some unbelievably over-the-top death scenes. Its cast is mostly unknown (featuring a few cameos here and there you may recognize) and yet perfectly capable. Really, the cast is likable and they add to the underdog charm of the film which, let's face it, was never meant for "classic" status.

Fans of the genre will find many things to like about "Intruder" (which originally went by the much superior and much less generic title of "The Night Crew") and if you've seen enough slashers, you'll forgive its shortcomings for the amount of ingenuity the film works into its limited means. Just an all around pleasant stroll through the aisles of yesterday's slasher oeuvre, be sure to throw "Intruder" in the cart if you haven't already.

Okay, one more: Tonight, the stock-boy will be the one being stalked! No? Okay, I'll leave

Creative camera work and over the top gore effects fill Intruder's fairly short run time with enough ingenuity and kinetic energy to power the less than exciting script and characters that frequently fall short of the mark. Evil Dead fans will like knowing Bruce Campbell has a charming cameo towards the end.

'Intruder (1989)' is a slasher set inside a grocery store that sees the late-night crew come under threat from a mysterious manic intent on mutilating every last one of them. The flick isn't a parody, or even a comedy really, but it is well aware of what it is and isn't afraid to be as ridiculous as it wants to be. It's often funny, purposefully so, but it also works as a horror because the kills are grisly, the characters are likable and the flick is generally suspenseful. It's incredibly well made despite its obviously low budget, with some insanely creative shots keeping you engaged even during its duller segments. The killer's face is kept off screen for most of the movie, but it's when their identity is revealed that they really come into their own. They're suitably relentless and equally as deranged, spewing off-kilter commentary in a wonderfully over-the-top way. It's a pitch-perfect performance for what the piece is trying to achieve. The story is simple but effective, essentially acting as an excuse for the plot's carnage. Sadly, the version I watched was heavily cut (for some reason the cut version is the only one that's available through Shudder in the UK). This isn't too detrimental to the picture, as a couple of the more intense kills still genuinely work when they're shown in a more implicit way, but several sequences are heavily diluted and, especially towards the end, it's sometimes difficult to understand what's happening (or, rather, has just happened off screen). The most unforgivable part of the cut version is that it robs you of a moment in which the killer beats someone unconscious with a severed head. Ultimately, though, the piece is still entertaining in its cut form. It knows what it is and relishes it, providing fun rather than scares. Having said that, it also does a great job at building suspense and has several seriously inventive sequences. 7/10.