The Intruder

After receiving a dream promotion at work, Scott Russell (Michael Ealy) and his wife Annie (Megan Good) decide to buy a new home and start a family. The search doesn’t last long as Annie promptly falls in love with a sprawling Napa property that’s rich in both history and charm. The owner Charlie (Dennis Quaid) initially seems excited to sell, however, his amiable nature soon gives way to a sinister obsession that threatens to ruin the couple’s lives.

The Intruder has a slow start and certainly takes awhile to ramp up the action, but to its credit, it is pretty entertaining once things get going. Quaid in particular really sells his character and gives whole new meaning to the word creepy. As the unhinged Charlie, he is one of the more memorable aspects of the movie. Even though I couldn’t shake the sinking suspicion that I had already seen The Intruder before, I still enjoyed all of the drama.

Ealy and Good are well cast and share an obvious chemistry with one another. I liked their portrayal of an *imperfect* couple and gratuitous sex scenes aside, they’re very believable onscreen.

I thought that the sound effects were a little overkill in some places. Even still, there were a couple of times I jumped in my seat because I was actually surprised. When I expected a character to suddenly appear in the kitchen let’s say, they would actually pop up in another room entirely. There’s also a frightening discovery towards the beginning of the final act that still gives me goose bumps. 

Don’t expect to be terrified, but you’ll definitely think twice about buying homes from creepy old men in the future.

I think it’s worth mentioning (for the movie buffs like me anyway) that The Intruder is distributed by Screen Gems. I haven’t shown them a lot of love in the past, simply because they aren’t doing anything terribly original in the thriller department. They know how to hire talented (and gorgeous) actors, yet keep marrying them with uninspired scripts. Not sure what I’m referring to? Obsessed, No Good Deed, When the Bough Breaks, and The Perfect Guy have all featured similar casts with fairly similar story lines.

At any rate, The Intruder is definitely the best of the bunch. Don’t just take my word for it, check out the movie in theaters this weekend!

 

I grew up knowing Dennis Quaid as the dad in the Parent Trap remake and then the dad in Yours, Mine & Ours lol What Quaid movies should I watch? Let me know in the comments down below!