Intruder - Director's CutSlasher movies; let’s be honest here folks - they’re an acquired taste. Regardless of how popular they are, to some people the sub-genre sounded the death knoll to originality in horror cinema during the 1980s, where plot and effective chills were sacrificed in the name of splatter at the hands of many a masked psycho. In many ways this is fair comment - while forerunners of the genre, such as Black Christmas and Halloween are great films in their own right, post Friday 13th 1980s American horror cinema, both studio system and low-budget efforts, were quickly overrun with carbon copy stalk-and-slash epics, all scrambling for a piece of the quick-buck, teenage cinema goers horror dollar. While this era was maybe one of the most profitable and created some of the most popular horror icons / franchises in the guise of Michael, Jason and Freddy, it also led to some of the most diluted, uninspiring and generic cinema ever to appear from the genre. This doesn’t however mean that the slasher genre is without its merits or that there weren’t films made that are great fun; The Prowler, Maniac, Slumber Party Massacre, Sleepaway Camp, My Bloody Valentine, The Burning, Pieces and Silent Night, Deadly Night all immediately spring to mind as fun pieces of mindless exploitation from the Golden Age of slasher cinema. The key here is that you firstly have to get into the mindset of slasher films: this frequently isn’t about plotting, acting or any of other aspect of cinema that would ordinarily make for a “good” film, this is instead about body count quota, graphic splatter content and the originality of the death scenes shown. It’s Grand Guignol consumed with popcorn and cold beer, nothing more, nothing less - it’s simply cathartic eye candy for those of us who enjoy the ludicrous, trash and camp aspects of the genre. The best efforts in the slasher cannon manage to mix tension alongside the carnage, but it should be seen that these entries are the exception rather than the rule. The real problem is that after the dramatic rise, popularity growth and overkill of the genre by 1984-‘85, by which time it was shown to be quite a dominant force at the box office, it rapidly went into decline. The slasher genre’s pushing of violent, gory FX-make-up and lack of “good taste” had frequently come under fire from critics, censors and PTA groups, meaning that after the mid-80s, while the studios were still happily pumping out the franchise sequels, they were now often missing those elements that made them fun viewing, so that they didn’t suffer at the hands of the censors. Box office takings went down and the studios moved away from the genre. Much of what remained became lack lustre direct-to-video fare, simply rehashing the basic elements of what had come before, but in a far less effective or entertaining manner. During this barren period of the late 1980s, very few slasher films stand out as being of any merit whatsoever. One of the few that does is Scott Spiegel’s 1989 low-budget directorial debut, Intruder (aka - Night Crew: The Final Checkout). It’s closing time at a small supermarket and the night crew are working late, pricing down stock after having been told they’re soon to lose their jobs due to the store’s imminent closure. Cashier Jennifer Ross’ (Elizabeth Cox of Night of the Creeps) night becomes yet worse when her “psychotic ex-boyfriend”, Craig Peterson (David Byrnes), decides to visit the store after recently being released from prison. After harassing Jennifer and getting into a fight with most of the male members of staff, Peterson is ejected from the store and the police are called. As the night drags on, the workers settle in, unbeknownst that they’re being picked off one-by-one by an unseen psychopath... Okay, so this is all pretty standard slasher fare with a rather slow build-up and the most minimal of storylines, co-written by Spiegel and later Tarantino cohort, Lawrence Bender. What makes Intruder stand out from the majority of the later day slashers is its level of gore and brutality - which thanks to the skills of Greg Nicotero and the KNB FX crew is worth hanging around for. In this Uncut Director’s cut, we see a full five minutes of gore restored that had previously been trimmed for the R-rated release - something that actually makes all the difference to the film. We see death via meat hook, trash compactor and a band saw slicing through a victim’s head, all lovingly shown in gory detail, like a throwback to the slasher films at the start of the decade. Another aspect of the film that always makes fan boys soil themselves is its cast, with appearances from both Sam and Ted Raimi (let’s face facts, Spiegel has spent most of his career riding on Raimi’s coattails), Dan Hicks (Evil Dead II, Maniac Cop, Darkman), Renée Estevez (Sleepaway Camp II, The West Wing - Emilio and Charlie’s kid sister) and a cameo from Bruce Campbell, something the film’s over-zealous marketing campaign always plays upon. Of course, with those involved the marketing very much tries to affiliate the film with the Evil Dead Trilogy, regardless of Campbell’s two minutes on screen. What we have instead is an entertaining slasher in the purest sense; a dumb plot, characters you couldn’t care less about and lots of goofy carnage - it’s everything you could hope for from a low budget gore-fest with a black sense of humour. It even has an incredibly stupid ending that tops the average Scoobie Doo scenario. All in all it’s a great, underrated gem for all of those who love the sub-genre and its countless failings. One word of warning though - if you don’t want to know who the killer is (although easily predictable), I’d advise steering clear of paying too much attention to the DVD packaging or the film’s trailers before watching the film itself.
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