So many of us dream of an idyllic life: spouse, kids, a great career and a spectacular place to call home. Yet no one expects that after a house is purchased, the previous owner continues to be a presence. Or in this case, a constant one. All the time, in fact. Directed by Deon Taylor, The Intruder treads into territory that is unfathomable for most of us and may not be the kind of place you want to stay in.
Hunting for a Home
Scott Howard (Michael Ealy) is a big name in advertising whose wife, Annie (Meagan Good), desires to live the typical suburban lifestyle and move from the hustle and bustle of San Francisco to the peaceful and earthy Napa Valley to start their family. In their quest to find their perfect home, they come to an amazingly beautiful abode called Foxglove. As they explore the gorgeous wooded grounds surrounding the property, they stumble upon Charlie Peck (Dennis Quaid), the seemingly affable owner, who is not so affably brandishing a shotgun.
Scott abhors guns, hunting, the whole nine yards. As Charlie shows them around, Scott comments a bit on how some of the décor is just a tad dated, but as Charlie’s a widower (whose wife died from cancer a couple of years before), he’s a bit melancholy over giving up his home. Understandably, Scott finds this a bit unnerving. Skepticism and a wariness towards Charlie’s happy-go-lucky attitude towards firearms, yet desiring to please his wife, Scott agrees to purchase the house.
He Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
We flash forward to Moving Day. As Charlie hands over the keys to the new owners of his home, pleasantries continue between the trio and they learn of Charlie’s plan to head down to Florida to live near his daughter. They wish each other well and Charlie hits the road. You would think that’s the end of that, but you would be wrong.
At this point and throughout the movie, Charlie starts to show up more and more, acting like he still owns the joint and continues to impose himself upon the new owners of his house. You start to see him unravel when Scott decides to wire the outside for security purposes. Charlie doesn’t like that. Charlie doesn’t like anyone disrespecting his house. Scott’s obnoxious best friend, Mike (Joseph Sikora), has the audacity to smoke on the grounds and puts out his cigarette on a garden statue. Later, there were some not-so- mysterious burns on the seat of his car.
Despite his intention to leave for the East Coast, Charlie still keeps coming around, to Scott’s chagrin, and he continues to imposes his opinions on a house he doesn’t own anymore. Charlie just won’t go away. That’s how the rest of the action proceeds throughout the rest of the film. Charlie has a sick attachment to the house, Annie insists on helping a lonely man that she pities, and Scott’s getting perturbed by the constant harassment. In essence, Charlie is stalking the couple, full throttle.
Naturally, Scott’s suspicions gnaw at him as strange coincidences and accidents keep occurring. He recruits Mike to help him search into the past of the mysterious Charlie Peck, and once they learn just who Charlie is and what he has done, it may be too late for everyone.
What? The Killer is Inside the House?
While this film tried extremely hard to be a psychological thriller, the predictability of the action and the groan-inducing dialogue were reminiscent of one of those low-budget cable movies rather than a legitimate studio production. The delivery of lines by Ealy and Quaid in an attempt to sound menacing just catapulted this further into the stratosphere of schlock.
When he isn’t mugging for the camera, there is one particular moment when Quaid’s character really comes out as diabolically sleazy. He succeeds in making your skin crawl, but you know that the inevitable showdown is coming. I’ve seen enough of these types of movies throughout my life where all I could do was laugh and roll my eyes at the dialogue and action up until the last half hour, when predictably, Quaid‘s character gets what’s coming to him.
Considering there are only four actors comprising the main cast, they have a lot riding on their performances. Dennis Quaid was one of Hollywood’s top leading men throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s, with continued success in the 2000s. While his rugged looks have remained, his portrayal of a deranged maniac who won’t let go of his house, family, and all that it represents, was overdone. Meagan Good’s Annie was sweet and genuinely wanted to help a poor soul, but found herself as the true target for Quaid’s sick and twisted lust. She did display some strength and gumption, fighting back as much as she could when things really got freaky.
Sikora’s character committed the cardinal sin against Charlie and his house and he does pay for it. However, as that character really become loathsome and annoying as the film progressed, I didn’t really miss him once he was gone. As for Ealy, his character was trying to protect his wife and property against a truly dangerous man, but while Quaid went for broke and overextended his performance, Ealy, to me, underplayed his. The character’s icy countenance and demeanor wasn’t that great of a match against Quaid’s, but it got the job done, if only succeeding at the end.
The lone bright spot in this film is the house itself. If this structure is, in fact, real, someone needs to tell me where it is located. The architecture is so unbelievable, fingers crossed it isn’t just a set.
Conclusion: The Intruder
The takeaway from this movie is that no matter how hard Annie and Scott tried to shake Charlie off, he just wouldn’t let them. Have a party, Charlie’s lurking in the woods. Come home from the grocery store, he wasn’t that far away. He sees that you replaced some of the decor he left behind, he shows you that he’s not too happy about that. He cut their grass, he tried to bring them foxglove plants (even though they’re poisonous), and he was seemingly pleasant, all the while showing the audience that he was an unbalanced lunatic.
Yes, Scott and Annie did finish what was started and the ending was abrupt and expected, but satisfactory. Yet, they should have moved when they had the chance.
In films like this, would you rather root for the villain or the hero? Do you think Dennis Quaid could play a convincing psychopath? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
The Intruder was released in theaters in the US on May 3, 2019 and the UK on July 12, 2019. For all international release dates, see here.
Does content like this matter to you?
Become a Member and support film journalism. Unlock access to all of Film Inquiry`s great articles. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about cinema - get access to our private members Network, give back to independent filmmakers, and more.