The Intruder (2019)

The Intruder (2019) see below for trailer and preview images

Directed by
Deon Taylor

Written by
David Loughery
 
Starring: Michael Ealy, Meagan Good, Joseph Sikora, Dennis Quaid
 
IMDb 5.5/10               Rotten Tomatoes 32%            Metacritic 39/100
 
Budget $5-8M                         Box Office $36.6M

Let’s take a little trip down imaginary lane.  I want you to pretend that you’re newly married.  And you and your new spouse are wanting to start a family.  But not just in any regular old cookie cutter home in the suburbs.  You guys decide to buy a house outside of town, like in the country type kind of place.  The kind of place that is surrounded by big, beautiful trees and scores of flowers and foliage everywhere you turn.  It’s quiet, away from neighbors and the hustle and bustle of the city.  More importantly, it got acreage, lots of room for kids to run and play and grow up.  And you find this house on the outskirts of town and man is it perfect.  It’s everything you are looking for.  You talk to the seller; he seems to be a nice guy.  He gets what you might consider to be somewhat personal but hey, he’s just being friendly like most country folk, just small talkin’.  After a little dealing and signing some papers this dream house you’ve picked out is ALL YOURS.
 
Or is it?
 
Imagine, no sooner do you get moved into your new home and the previous owner starts popping up.  First with housewarming gifts and such and he DOES seem like he misses the house so why not invite him to the housewarming party, right?  Have some dinner with friends, maybe some wine and talk about what you want to do to the house to make it more “YOU”.  Isn’t that what people do?
 
Little do you know that your previous owner has a hard time letting go of things.  He doesn’t like being cast aside or slighted, he doesn’t like having to have sold his home and he sure as hell doesn’t want you changing everything in HIS HOUSE.  Imagine you start putting up, say, security cameras and the old owner comes up and tells the workers to halt working and starts yelling about holes being put in HIS house.  HIS house? Remember, you just bought this house.  Don’t forget that.  This is your property.  Then the previous owner starts showing up unannounced and at inconvenient times.  
 
What’s worse is that as a man in this situation, you also realize old owner dude has fixated on your wife.  And I mean like stalker, gets inside your house and watches you shower and sleep, kind of fixated.  Imagine what it would be like to be terrorized like that and not being able to really do anything about it.  The law is slow and skeptical when it comes to matters like stalking and harassment.
 
We all know that this is going to come down to which man wins the fight defending his castle.  So, who will it be?
 
THE END
 
I really liked this movie.  I thought Dennis Quaid was great.  I don’t normally picture him in a role like this but, I think he really did pull it off quite well.  There is definitely a true on the edge of your seat kind of suspense factor.  The kind where you want to yell at the actors to do something or not to do something, tell them to turn around, not to answer that door…etc.  That ambiance is well kept throughout the whole movie.  
 
I also didn’t feel like there were really any holes in the plot line.  It’s something I often look for, especially in stories involving crime, the legal system, etc.  There is a point where you start to kind of feel for the previous owner, I suppose some people would anyways, but then, as it always goes, the true colors come out and you see who you are REALLY dealing with.
 
I don’t quite know if this movie centers around the married couple or if it centers around the previous whacko owner.  It really seems to focus on the owner quite a bit.  It’s almost as if he’s running the roller coaster and the married couple, and whoever else gets in the way, are just along for the wild, twisted ride.
 
This film is also kind of an eye opener about what people can be like when it comes to being forced out of their homes…and their lives.  Sometimes people can’t take the stress.  Sometimes they take up oil painting or wood carving.  And sometimes, they go attack people they feel have wronged them and helped put them in their current position.  (Hey, I’m not saying that’s right, I’m just saying it happens.)
 
So, other than entertainment value, if you take anything away from this film, it should be this:
 
Don’t become friendly with the previous owner of your new house.  
 
Happy house hunting my ghoulish friends!
 
RATINGS
5/5 Stars