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Film: The Intruder
Year: 2019
Director: Deon Taylor
Writer: David Loughery
Starring: Meagan Good, Dennis Quaid and Michael Ealy
Review:
This was a film I decided to check out when I had a free night and it showing at a nearby theater. The trailers looked intriguing, but it also looked like a retread of some things that have come out in recent years. The synopsis is a young married couple buys a beautiful house on several acres of land only to find out that the man they bought it from refuses to let go of the property.
We start off with a couple of guys in a car. The one driving is Mike (Joseph Skora) and he is being a bit reckless. His passenger is Scott Russell (Michael Ealy) who is his best friend. The reason they are driving so fast is there is a surprise party and they are running a bit late. Mike spills the beans and makes Scott promise he will be surprised. The party is thrown by Scott’s wife, Annie (Meagan Good). This is a celebration of the recent sale that Scott closed on.
The two of them go up to Napa to look at a house. They are spooked when they get there though. It is owned by Charlie Peck (Dennis Quaid). Their introduction is to him shooting a deer. They are shown the house and it is a little bit dated, but it is a really nice aside from that. Charlie is pushy and really wants them to buy it, but the price is a bit steep. Scott relents though as Annie really wants it.
We are then shown that their marriage isn’t the most perfect. Scott really doesn’t seem to like the house, but likes that Annie loves it. There are some trust issues between them. There is also the issue that Annie is too nice. This is really seen through Charlie as he keeps showing up. Scott is forced to play the villain in telling him that he doesn’t live here anymore and needs to move on. Charlie’s wife died in the house and he has issues letting it go. He is supposed to be moving to Florida to live his daughter, but that keeps getting delayed.
Things take an even darker turn though when Scott learns the stories he’s been told might not be completely factual and as viewers, we see Charlie as he lets his mask down. Much to the anger of Charlie, Scott puts up security cameras and he thinks he is hearing movement in the house at night. Charlie claims it is just kids, but we keep seeing that Charlie has no issues getting into the house. He is also quite violent as well.
Before the film started, I was commenting back and forth on social media with a guy who was stating that the film was very similar to things like No Good Deeds. I definitely after seeing the film have to agree, we are just switching up some of the aspects to the story. It is interesting though in that we have to black people, moving out of the city to an area that is more predominately white. The issue of race doesn’t really ever come up, but there is the issue of different generations. They are equals when it comes to money, but there is the issue with Charlie. He is attracted to Annie, but he doesn’t want them to update his house in any way. He loves it so much and doesn’t feel they are doing the things the way he would be. This is one thing that really grinds his gears.
The film introduces the issue of being unfaithful as well. We learn that Scott cheated some time ago. Once that trust is broken, Annie is worried when patterns emerge. This causes fights, but there is also the interesting dynamic that when he is neglecting her, she turns to the aid of Charlie. I don’t want to go as far to say she is bringing this upon herself, but she definitely is not helping the situation. She is a bit too nice and that is something that Charlie is feeding on. He is a psychopath though, so he is really out for the façade of being with someone.
I really debated writing as a review as I wasn’t sure it was horror. Now we do have a psychopath who is capable of murder. That is very close to horror, but at first this felt like a dark thriller. It wasn’t until the third act though that I really decided this falls into the genre for me to write the review. The realization of their fears is good and the true depths of Charlie’s madness are the deciding factor.
Despite what I really liked about the story, this film really didn’t do anything new for me. I found it to be enjoyable in the ending, but I have to admit, I was pretty bored throughout it. I will touch on the acting in a minute, but I just feel like the film might run a bit long for the subject matter. I think they kept revisiting the same things and I wanted the story to progress a little bit faster. I like the ending though and the decision that is made as it really shows what people will do when pushed as far as they are.
As I was saying, I don’t think the acting is bad at all. Good I thought was solid in her role. She really feels like someone that really wants to make a good life for her, her husband and her future family. I’ve seen someone get as happy as she did over the house and it really was a bit heartwarming. She is also very easy on the eyes. Quaid did a great job as well. He always seems like he is teetering on the edge and the littlest things set him off. When we see him in his room though, that was what really chilled me about his character. It was very well done. Ealy was also solid in my book. I like that came off very similar to my generation and really gets annoyed about things I could see me getting annoyed at, rightly so. He is a good guy and I like that the film went that route with him. Shout out as well to Sikora, I liked him and I thought the rest of the cast rounded out the film for what was needed.
On to the effects of the film, which I thought were fine. The film has a PG-13 rating, so they really don’t show anything. I’m glad they didn’t go CGI though. I thought where Charlie was staying was really interesting as well. The film was also shot very well in my opinion there. They do a really good job at taking advantage of the depth of shot for us viewers to build tension.
Now with that said, this film did some good things, but I think it is just lacking a bit in originality. There are some solid issues that are underlying in this one, which if you know me, I do quite enjoy. I thought the acting was good. The film did have a bit of a pacing issue for me. It was light on the effects, but it was shot very well. The soundtrack of the film really didn’t stand out to me, but it also didn’t hurt the film either. I do think mainstream fans will probably enjoy this one, but it is a bit light on the horror. I found this to be slightly above average in my opinion.
My Rating: 7 out of 10