The Intruder 2019 * * Stars

Director: Deon Taylor
Year: 2019
Rated PG-13
Rating: * * Stars
Cast: Dennis Quaid, Meagan Good, Michael Ealy

"Lights out!" So says the weirdo, ex-homeowner Charlie Peck in The Intruder (my latest review). "Intruder" the movie, well it sure seems "light" in terror compared to some of the kindred vehicles that came before it.

The Intruder while mildly involving, still has that been there, done that feel to it. It's about a married couple who buy a home in Napa Valley only to have its previous owner being unable to let go of said home's nostalgic remembrance. Borderline camp, weak in persona development, and weak in overall buildup, "Intruder" is disposable, B movie schlock that features its dreamy abode as a bona fide, architectural star. My final thought after the closing credits came up was, "hey, this flick was almost worth $6.50 at the matinee ticket booth".

So yeah, The Intruder is like 1992's Unlawful Entry without you know, the law. It's also like Obsessed without goofball Jerry O'Connell or 2015's The Perfect Guy without any investigative po-po showing up. The sad thing however, is that "Intruder" isn't quite as frantic, horror-struck, or scary as the pics just mentioned. Yup, I needed more than just a few noisy jump scares and one axed kill to get my pulse racing.

Directed by Deon Taylor (Traffik, Meet the Blacks), featuring a loud, pouncing musical score by Geoff Zanelli, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, The Intruder gives us its strongest performances in the married couple (mentioned earlier) played by Meagan Good and Michael Ealy. Their realistic portrayals as troubled spouses (and unsure newlyweds) rise above the otherwise formulaic material.

As for "Intruder's" lead in Dennis Quaid (Charlie Peck), well Quaid has never been a real villain in anything he's ever done via a 40-year screen career. He comes off here as uncomfortable, forced, and sort of overreaching. It's like he's doing "Intruder" as a prolonged, acting checklist. I wanted to see the bad guy but all I could get was well, Dennis Quaid (he's much too famous for this swipe). Oh and check out how Quaid's Peck seems to savagely attack everyone in the house as if he was beamed from place to place. It's as if Denny boy was a faux character in any Star Trek endeavor (oh brother).

Bottom line: The Intruder will probably be in theaters for a very short time (it's gonna get the heave-ho courtesy of Avengers: Endgame). With its side characters appearing as if they were from another movie, its Jack Nicholson-esque way in which a heavy enters through a door (you'll see), and its sundry references to foreboding cigarette inhaling, you might be "interloped" by Hollywood if you view "Intruder" more than once. Rating: 2 stars.

Written by Jesse Burleson