"A new dimension in terror", hardly. What an ill-fitting tagline. It seems to have nothing to do with the movie. Anyway, Intruder is very enjoyable nonetheless. I suppose the tagline above is better than the other tagline which was used- "If this one doesn't scare you... you're already dead". I don't think I could count how many movies that has been the tagline for, if I used all my extremities. Anyway, about the movie...

Intruder was made shortly after Evil Dead II, and was made with a number of people who could be considered part of the Raimi's circle of friends. Let's count it out. The film was directed by Scott Spiegel, who co-wrote Evil Dead 2, as well as the Josh Becker directed drivel Thou Shalt not kill... Except. Spiegel's been a part of Sam Raimi's production crew since the beginning and shows no signs of separating any time soon; however, he has quite a few projects of his own these days. Sam Raimi seems to be taking a break from directing to appear in Intruder. His brother Ted, who's been involved in nearly all of Sam's films, is also here. Also, Dan Hicks of Evil Dead 2, and Darkman. Lastly, what Spiegel/Raimi film would be complete without Bruce Campbell, who makes a very brief appearance with producer Lawrence Bender. Chances are you're not going to pick a film like Intruder up on a whim, and you're likely familiar with most involved.

The acting is surprisingly good, you know, for an eighties slasher film. Everyone holds their own quite well, including Sam Raimi, who's made appearances in a number of his own films, as well as those of the Coen brothers. Everyone involved is quite good, exceeding the acting ability of most slasher film stars. That is with one exception, in particular... David Byrnes, Jennifer's ex boyfriend, who shows up unexpectedly at the beginning of the film to act creepy and cause a ruckus in standard 80's slasher fashion. His acting is terrible, which explains a filmography consisting of three films. However, it definitely sets the mood and certainly doesn't hurt the film at all. It actually adds something which should be mandatory in all generic slasher films, a certain degree of cheesiness.

While the film follows standard horror formula, it far exceeds the level of enjoyment provided by most slasher films of the time. It does this in two particular ways. One, the gore effects are quite good, and in most cases, particularly unique. The effects were provided by Greg Nicotero and KNB Efx, and are good for the time, and while not particularly strong by today's efforts, they certainly add an amount of charm to what is obviously a very low budget production.

The other area, which Intruder attempts to be better than your average slasher film, is in Spiegel's direction. In particular, the shots and camera angles used throughout the film. There are a number of shots taken from the P.O.V. of inanimate objects, such as shopping carts, and garbage cans. These shots, however, are used to the point of excess at the beginning of the film, and start to become repetitive after a while, especially since a number of shots are incredibly similar to those that have come earlier.

The film suffers in the editing department, as there are a number of scenes that are put together in a completely awkward fashion, which takes you away from the picture for a moment to try to figure out what just happened. Some are simply general editing missteps, others occur during the gore scenes, in typical 80's fashion. The version available on North American DVD claims to be the director's cut, so one must assume these cuts were part of the original edit.

Thoroughly recommended for those who have an appreciation for eighties horror and slasher films in particular. I'll also extend a recommendation to those interested in seeing some of the lesser known projects Sam Raimi and Scott Spiegel were involved with. Intruder is a lot of fun, provided you're in the right mood.