INTRUDER
Amusing, even though it's cut to shit
Sam Raimi's in this movie somewhere. I had my eye out for a short guy. I thought Sam Raimi was short. But there are no short people in this movie. What the hell? He plays Randy. Which one's Randy?
A bunch of supermarket employees are about to close for the night when the violent ex-boyfriend of the cashier (a very charming and underemployed Elizabeth Cox) shows up and gets all rowdy. They toss him out, but soon, somebody starts knocking them off one by one...
Exactly who the killer is isn't too hard to figure out. (hint: it's probably not the ex-boyfriend, since the film makes so much trouble to hide the killer's face, and makes so much trouble to cast suspicion on the guy. hint: it probably IS the guy on the cover, because he looks all menacing there and isn't shown as being the slightest bit menacing in the film itself)
This movie basically tosses up every single slasher-movie cliche you can think of, except for the False Scare By Cat and post-coital impalement. It all seems to be done with a wink, so you don't mind too much.
Director Scott Spiegel is obviously trying for some Raimi- like directorial inventiveness and energy, although he more often ends up just giving us images that are just plain weird. (such as the camera placed inside a phone, inside a bucket of water, and for a couple of very strange shots, on a turning doorknob) (yes, the picture actually rotates back and forth as the knob is twisted). It may not always work, but it's kinda neat.
I loved the sort-of twist ending, too.
However, the violence and gore in this one is horribly cut - I understand that there aren't any legitimately available uncut copies, alas. This one could probably squeak by with a PG-13. In fact, even the music at times cuts out unexpectedly, for no apparent reason. Talk about a hackjob, eh?
Not bad overall, with enough laughs to justify a viewing. Too bad it's cut to shit.