Intruder

Evil Dead II co-writer (and Sam Raimi BFF) Scott Speigel directs this slasher movie set after hours in a grocery store. The staff is staying over night to do some inventory when one's creepy ex-boyfriend, fresh out of prison, shows up to start some shit. They kick him out, but soon thereafter a mysterious killer shows up, picking off the employees one by one. Could it be the creepy ex-boyfriend? Obviously not, or they wouldn't be keeping his identity a secret. Intruder features a Raimi-tastic cast, in addition to Raimi-regular Dan Hicks, there are small roles for Sam and his brother Ted, as well as a Bruce Campbell cameo.

Intruder has a lot of problems, not the least of which is how much it seems like an early Raimi movie without being nearly as good as an early Raimi movie. It's clear that Spiegel has a similar sensibility to (and has taken much influence from) his buddy Sam, with the goofy sense of humor and overblown, kinetic visuals, but too often the film feels like a failed imitation. There are too many shots that seem like Raimi shots minus the style and wit; a POV shot from a rotary phone isn't clever, it doesn't even make any sense, it's just a meaningless affectation. And not even an amusing one at that. (As I recall, Spiegel also pulled a lot of this kind of bullshit in From Dusk Til Dawn 2.) It's like a kid trying to impress his friends by doing a jump on his bike and he ends up crashing; Spiegel's trying to show-off but he doesn't have the skills to back it up.

That said, I'm giving Intruder a pass. Enough of the film is funny and off-beat, toying with your expectations of the genre, that it can be ranked as a slightly above-average slasher film. I am not recommending it, but if you like this kind of shit then it's not a total waste of your time.