If there’s a fear that’s universal, it’s the fear of someone breaking into your home while you’re all alone. Even the toughest people can still be frightening by the thought of having their home invaded by some terrible people. Over the years, there have been numerous movies involving ordinary people having their homes broken into and trying to survive. Some notable examples include 1965’s Wait Until Dark, 1971’s Straw Dogs, and even 1968’s Night of the Living Dead. Whether it’s a serial killer, angry villagers, or zombies, it’s scary to think of what you’d do in that situation. Given how universal the fear is, we tend to see at least one home invasion movie released every few years. In this case, we have writer David Loughery (Lakeview Terrace) and director (Meet the Blacks) Deon Taylor up to bat. Together, they’ve brought us the latest home invasion thriller, The Intruder.
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A young married couple, Scott and Annie Howard (Michael Ealy and Meagan Good) want to buy their dream home. It’s a quaint little lodge located in Napa Valley that’s very rustic and has a nice feel to it. They meet the owner, Charlie Peck (Dennis Quaid), who’s more than eager to sell them the house and befriends them. However, Charlie has an odd fixation with the house, namely with the way it’s treated and wanting to maintain it. Even after selling the house, Charlie keeps dropping by to mow the lawn, do various chores, and see the house. While Annie seems more understanding, Scott is more hesitant and insists that Charlie not tread on their property. Before too long, Charlie starts taking an interest to Annie, and we soon learn just what Charlie’s deal is. Soon, Scott has to man up and protect his home and wife from Charlie.
Going into this, I didn’t necessarily have low expectations, but I wasn’t expecting some great new groundbreaking cinematic masterpiece. Honestly, what I ended up getting was a fairly by-the-numbers and predictable home invasion thriller that has nothing to it. Even if you haven’t seen tons of home invasion movies, you can pretty much guess where the plot is going. The couple gets a new house, the owner is charming but off, things start getting weird, you know the rest. Deon Taylor’s direction isn’t terrible, as there are some decent shots here and there, but there’s nothing special about it. The weakest aspect is the writing, as David Loughery’s script feels cobbled together from other, better home invasion movies. It doesn’t help that the rap soundtrack tends to make the tone really confusing, right from the opening sequence. There’s also tons of cheap jump scares you’ll see coming a mile away.
Honestly, this movie would be pretty forgettable, except for one thing that makes it mildly entertaining, but only slightly. While most of the acting is just average, Dennis Quaid’s performance almost makes the movie worth it. He goes from being charming and likeable, to being absolutely insane and even terrifying in several sequences. Quaid is giving a much better performance than this movie truly deserves, and I think that’s what’s most disappointing. It almost reminds me of Nicolas Cage’s performance in Deadfall, another equally forgettable movie, save for his wild performance. Granted, this movie is at least better made than Deadfall, as this one at least has Quaid all throughout. Frankly, Quaid’s scenes are gold, but the scenes he’s not in are pretty dull and don’t offer much. There’s some drama between Scott and Annie’s marriage, but that’s quickly dropped. Overall, The Intruder is pretty forgettable save for Dennis Quaid.
