Customer Reviews

Night Crew: The Final Checkout

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I ordered mine from the Synapse Films website,for the work-print exclusive. Got it a whole month early. YAY!! This was a good blind buy for me, as I just discovered it when it was announced a month or two back. And when I saw it was made by Sam Raimi's old crew from Evil Dead, and Sam Raimi in a starring role, with a cameo by the Great Bruce Campbell, it was immediately an instant blind-buy.

A group of employees in a grocery store/supermarket works their final shift overnight,as the store is closing permanently. The main protagonist has a borderline ex-boyfriend obsessed with her. In a little while, people start dying in violent and graphic ways. The kills in this film are top-notch. Not all of them are creative, but the best ones, CAUTION:POSSIBLE SPOILERS!!!,like an employee getting crushed by a trash compactor,and another getting his head sawed in half,are the stuff of a horror and gorehound fanatic's wildest dreams,or uhh,nightmares. The movie moves along at an adequate pace, the kills start shortly after the half-hour mark, and does not let up soon after. Both Sam and Ted Raimi of EVIL DEAD fame have roles, and Bruce Campbell makes a cameo at the end.

By the time this movie was made, the MPAA was already on their crusade against horror, esp. slasher movies, and were very strict, demanding severe cuts for so much as a few drops of red blood, at the risk of the old dreaded X-rating(now NC-17,same thing). And this movie was no exception. About 4-5 minutes were sliced out of this movie, rendering it neutered. It wasn't until many years later, that Wizard Video/Full Moon released this uncut in the U.S. on DVD, some more recent years back. I've never owned that, so I can't speak for the quality of that release.

Anyway, as always, Synapse Films has pulled out all the stops on this baby. The DTS-HD 2.0 Mono is clear, and about as sharp as any of the knives and gadgets in the flick. High volume is not needed to hear this well. The 1.78:1 Anamorphic picture is sprinkled with natural film grain throughout, but nothing that would deter enjoyment. In fact, it looks better than it probably ever has. Detail is accurate and on the mark, revealing a little more than seen before. Colors are vivid without being too bright or dark, just right. In other words, this may not be the best-looking blu-ray, but for a low-budget movie made in the 1980s, this is impressive. Very well done.

The extras are equally astounding. First, we got a fun audio commentary with writer/director Scott Spiegel and producer Lawrence Bender. It's not overly informative, but it's a good listen, as they recall their memories and enjoy and laugh with each other and the movie. They comment on little details in the movie, such as POV shots, how times have changed(price of cigarettes etc),filming etc. A good fun listen. Next, is a half-hour retrospective featurette, interviews with Bruce Campbell, Ted Raimi, Scott Spiegel, Lawrence Bender, Elizabeth Cox, Danny Hicks and some others. Sam Raimi,is sadly,MIA. Some cool behind the scenes photos in between. The Outtakes from the lost short-film, Night Crew are def. worth a look. Then there's a brief interview with filmmaker and fan Vincent Pereira, it's brief but informative chat about how he discovered the movie through GOREZINE mag, and was let down by the censorship. And cast audition footage, worth a look.

Now the work-print footage comes from the bonus work-print DVD-R that I got with this set. Some slightly extended kills, that is very interesting and some other scenes and dialogue not in the final director's cut. The work-print version as a whole is very much worth a watch, as some other scenes and dialogue bits cannot be discovered in any other version. But for those who didn't get the bonus disc, the extended work-print kills are on on the BD and DVD as an extra.

Another slam-dunk release from Synapse. They are on a roll, and I hope they keep up the great work. Recommended to all horror/slasher/gorehound and Sam Raimi/Bruce Campbell fans. Cheers!

Intruder is a "love story" about one cashier at a po-dunk supermarket and her ex-boyfriend/ex-con that still loves her. Sadly, she doesn't love him anymore. Maybe it has to do with the fact that she broke up with him a year ago and he just can't say goodbye? Its possible. That doesn't matter to him though. He goes to such lengths to prove he still loves her that he calls her repeatedly and gets in a brutal fight with her boss and co-workers while she is working...but not before socking her across the face. Ahh, young love.

On top of all of this she and her fellow employees find out their much loved place of employment is being sold to another company and the store will be shut down indefinitely within a month. While nowadays this would be met with as much concern by a supermarket employee as finding out your much hated enemy has contracted syphilis apparently jobs were so scare in 1988 that the girl's boss offers to give her a "recommendation for a job at another supermarket". As if this idea wasn't scary enough...somebody is stalking around the inside of the store killing each one of them off. Is it the ex-boyfriend???

Intruder is far from a masterpiece but is a good enough slasher flick to elicit shocks and laughs in abundance. While the "plot" isn't all that original there is a lot in Intruder that is. It is obvious that the director (Scott Spiegel, good friend of Sam Raimi and co-writer of Evil Dead II) was heavily influenced by Raimi. Some of the shots that he uses are totally bizarre (including the first ever shot up through the dial of a rotary phone!) and absolutely does not skimp with the gore. At least in this uncut version that is.

In many ways though this film is also a spoof of the slasher subgenre itself. 90% of the victims in this movie are male and I challenge anybody not to laugh as the "Mystery Killer" slowly drags off the screaming, writhing men to their ghastly fates. It also illustrates how nobody in slasher movies ever seems to attempt to defend themselves (except of course, for the heroine) even though their life is quite obviously about to be snuffed out in the grisliest way possible (a trash compactor and infamously, a band saw to name a few). If the movie played in total seriousness it would be funny enough as it is and just plain sad...but due to the over-the-top quality of the movie it all comes out as just plain funny. It is obvious the filmmakers just want to have a bloody good time and you can't help but be infected by it about halfway through the film.

The stand-out performance in this film belongs to Dan Hicks (and on a smaller scale The Brothers Raimi). Many of you will probably remember him for his role as Jake the redneck tow-truck driver in Evil Dead 2 ("BOBBY JOEEEEEEEE!!!"). After watching his totally goofy/fun performance it is an honest to god crime that he hasn't had bigger parts in more movies.

If you like absolutely ridiculous slasher films (and you can make it through some initial bloodless corniness) then Intruder shouldn't disappoint.

(NOTE: The back of the DVD refers to an "Ex-cop trying to figure out why these killings are going on" or something along those lines. This is totally false and I have no clue why this is there. The whole movie takes place in its entirety within the confines and surrounding areas of the supermarket and there is no ex-cop subplot. Also, on the back of the DVD there is a "still" of Bruce Campbell in one scene that is an obvious facsimile to make you think he is in the movie for more than 60 seconds. If you buy this movie because of any of the previous two misnomers you will be a tad ticked off. Other than that however...watch it.)

Since this is a slasher movie, I'll keep this short. Suffice to say, this film is utterly generic in all ways except that which I'm about to mention: Odd camerawork, and particularly gruesome violence. This isn't a great film, or even a great slasher film, but it's worth seeing.

This was directed by Scott Spiegel, famed for his connection to Evil Dead II. Clearly, some of Raimi's directorial tendencies have rubbed off on Spiegel, as he inserts lots of senseless, unusual camera-angles. He's not as kinetic, or as big on moving it around, but he actually tops Raimi in terms of sheer gratuity, as exemplified by the stangest shot of the film, which is within a telephone, looking up at someone through the holes in the mechanism.

This movie is most famed for it's gore, and not with out good reason. Though it's got a fairly low-body count, it's makes almost all of them matter, including a horrific eye-skewering, head crushing by trash compactor, a gruesome hook the the face, and a truly brutal scene of one character having their head sawed in half. The gore isn't up to modern, mainstream standards of realism, but it's really quite impressive for a very low-budget film from the 80's. Sadly, the kills are clustered together too closely, as they often are in slasher movies. Still, they deliver, even if they could be spread out a bit more.

This DVD is in fact available now, though I won't say where as this would doubtless be against Amazon.com policy. (It ain't at all tough to find, however. You don't need my help.) It looks more or less like crap, but it is uncut, so it's a vast improvement over any other legitimate American VHS releases.

Definitely a reasonable way to pass 85 or so minutes.

Grade: C+

Although starts off slowly this above average b-movie really packs a gory punch in the last 35 minutes or so.. The acting is what you might expect from an 80's horror flick but, who is watching these movies for the performances? However, I think the girl that was killed should have taken the leading role. Now.. here is a little something that bugs me about alot of companies that produce films to dvd. Bruce Campbell is in this movie for two minutes and for some strange marketing reason he is listed as the star of the film. Why? I really hate that. I love Campbell but, i dont like when I am led to believe that he plays a significant role in a movie and he is in it for a two minute "cop" role at the end of the movie. Anyway.. if you havent seen "Intruder" it takes place in a supermarket while the 3rd shift crew stocks, changes prices and, cleans. They all get more than they "bargain" for when they are told that the store will be closing in a month and their jobs will be lost. On top of the bad news a psychotic killer is picking them off one by one. The deaths are gruesome. Especially two in particular. One involves a butchers electric meat cutter, the other involves a box recycling bin. Over all I give this movie 3 stars and a half.. definitely elevated by it's gory deaths!! Fun Stuff!

Intruder is alot of fun to watch. It has all the ingrediants of what a low budget horror film should have... silly dialogue, pretty girls, scares (well, a few) and lots of humor. The inventive camera angles give the flick additional demension as well. The cherry topper....a cameo from Emil Sitka.

Intruder should have been called Halloween In A Supermarket. It's a scary slasher movie from a time when slashers were fun and gory. The first half hour is kind of slow, not boring just slow. However, after that it's non-stop horror as a killer stalks the employees at a grocery store that is going out of business. The twist ending is clever and sets up a sequel. I don't understand why there hasn't been a sequel to this, considering that it's better than about half of the Friday the 13th series. If the flick had some nudity, it would a perfect slasher movie. As it is, it's an almost perfect slasher movie.

Tom Becker, DVD Verdict --Intruder came along at the tail end of the '80s "golden age" of slashers, but you'd hardly know it. While it includes all the genre tropes (except gratuitous nudity, unfortunately), it presents them in a way that feels fresher and more creative than many of the countless other maniac-on-the-loose films that the decade produced.

While the basic plot--lunatic picking off young people in a confined space--and acting are nothing to write home about, writer/director Scott Spiegel and writer/producer Lawrence Bender keep their tongues planted firmly in their cheeks on this one without ever making Intruder one of those dreadfully self-conscious horror comedies. Of course, this isn't surprising when you consider that Spiegel was a long-time friend of Sam Raimi, the man behind The Evil Dead films (Spiegel shares writing credit on Evil Dead II; Sam's brother, Ted; and actor Bruce Campbell. The Raimis have significant roles in Intruder, playing a butcher and a produce guy, respectively, and Campbell turns up at the end for a brief bit as a cop.

The sensibility here: inventive and really gory kills, ironic dialogue, cleverly cynical ending, and a few unexpected treats. This includes the appearance of Tom Lester and Alvy Moore--that's Eb Dawson and Hank Kimball from Green Acres--as cops who turn up early in the film to check out a complaint about Craig. This bit works so well because it's not overplayed--there's no Green Acres theme music, no mannerisms or catch phrases that recall the previous characters; if you get it, you get it, if you don't...well, that's OK too, no one is spoon feeding you a cultural reference. We get a number of sight gags--some gruesome, some not--and some nicely drawn characters, including a stoner who tells a ridiculous and funny story about a blender.

As noted, the kills here are especially gruesome; Spiegel uses his supermarket like a kid in a candy store, with every all that dangerous stuff you'd normally find in a market--you know, butcher knives, meat hooks, things like that--getting extensive play. This was one of the first major jobs for the KNB Efx Group, and Robert Kurtzman, Gregory Nicotero, and Howard Berger turn up in the supplements to talk about this early break.

The film also doesn't skimp on suspense. The first kill doesn't actually take place until nearly 40 minutes in, but Spiegel uses that time to establish the characters and build suspense, with the night crew searching the store for the deranged Craig. Spiegel offers up some very creepy extended moments here, rare for a slasher of the time.

Then there's the ending, which might be an affront to scream queens everywhere, but does answer some questions I've always had about how police deal with scenes of outrageous carnage.

Synapse is having a banner year in Blu, with top-flight releases of titles like Vampire Circus, The Dorm that Dripped Blood, Frankenhooker, and The Exterminator. This company clearly respects consumer appreciation for these off-the-beaten-path films, offering not just a high-def bump, but meaningful supplements as well. This release of Intruder (Blu-ray) is no exception.

The 1080p transfer isn't exactly a marvel of technology, but it's better than decent. There's a fair amount of grain, and the picture is soft in spots, but colors are good, and contrast and clarity are, overall, excellent. The audio is a simple DTS-HD mono track, which is clean, clear, and perfectly serviceable.

The slate of extras is impressive.

Commentary: Siegel and Bender--who went on to produce for Quentin Tarantino--have a great time reminiscing; a fun listen, informative and entertaining.

"Slashed Prices: The Making of Intruder": Most of the cast members get together for this 20-plus-year retrospective; again, a highly entertaining piece.

Extended Murder Sequences from the Original Workprint: More gore.

Outtakes from the now-lost short film, Night Crew: Intruder actually began its life as a short film Spiegel made when he was a teenager; that film--Night Crew--featured Sam Raimi in a leading role. It was shot in 8mm, and Spiegel gave his only copy to someone and never got it back, but here are some scenes he had laying around.

"The Slashing of Intruder" with Filmmaker Vincent Pereira: Like me, Pereira rented this on VHS in the late '80s, only to discover that the wondrous gore scenes he'd seen stilled in Fangoria had been cut for the home release; Pereira wrote a letter of outrage to the magazine, a move that had a very cool ending.

In addition there's a Behind-the-Scenes Stills Gallery, Original Cast Audition Footage, a DVD copy, as well as trailers.

-Full review at dvdverdict.com

Talk about working the graveyard shift down at the old meat market - and I do mean meat market. Prices aren't the only things being slashed at the Walnut Lake Market tonight. Cleanup on aisle 5 - and 7 - and 10 - and, oh hell, the whole darn place is a bloodbath. (Sorry - I thought it would be best if I went ahead and got some of those corny clichéd lines out of my system right here at the start.) You know, there's nothing like a low-budget horror movie that really steps up and delivers the goods - it doesn't happen often, but it definitely happened back in 1989 with the release of Intruder. If you thought The Mist was the first "panic in a supermarket" film ever made, you're really missing out. Intruders, even the edited version (a pox on censors and the studios that give in to them), is a gory classic. Just look at what you get here: lots of blood and gore delivered by some pretty interesting murder implements, a bit of a mystery as to who the killer really is (even though I had no trouble discerning early on just how it would all play out), a fairly hot heroine (Elizabeth Cox) sporting a classic 80s hairstyle, not one but two Raimis among the cast, and even a very funny (albeit borrowed) decapitation story. You'll notice I left the Bruce Campbell cameo out of this list - it's so short and pedestrian that it really isn't worth mentioning (except to point out how disingenuous it is of the studio to market the film as a Bruce Campbell vehicle) - heck, I didn't even notice The Chinned One my first time through.

It's almost closing time at the market when Craig Peterson (David Byrnes - not to be confusing with Talking Heads front man and all-around musical genius David Byrne) shows up wanting to talk to his old girlfriend Jennifer (Elizabeth Cox). He's already miffed over the fact that she never even wrote to him during his recent stay in prison, so it's no surprise that her face-to-face rejection of him results in him causing quite a fracas. Being the super-macho man that he is, Craigie runs off and hides somewhere inside the store. The night doesn't get much better after the night crew finally tracks Craig down and throws him out, as that's when co-owners Danny (Eugene R. Glazer) and Bill (Dan Hicks) announce that they are selling the store. Now, as if their normal post-closing duties aren't enough, the crew also has to start marking down all of the prices in lieu of their impending unemployment. They needn't have bothered working too hard, though, because the vast majority of them are about to be picked off one by one by a bloodthirsty killer. It's almost too easy for the murdering fiend; with everyone spread out all over the store, no one realizes what is going on until it's too late, and the killer has all sorts of implements of death at his disposal - meat hooks, butchers' knives, hydraulic garbage disposals, meat slicers, etc. The special effects aren't always that realistic, but there's plenty of blood and gore for the viewer to enjoy (especially if you have the uncut version of the film). When you get five whole minutes of your bloodiest work edited out by the despicable censers, you know you've done something right.

Some may not care for first-time director Scott Speigel's Raimi-inspired use of wacky camera angles here and there, but you have to admire his success at creating a slasher film uniquely his own - Intruder is in no way a by-the-numbers slasher. Having worked with Sam Raimi as well as Bruce Campbell (both of whom he had known since high school) on the first two Evil Dead films, Speigel knew what he was doing in the director's chair, and it couldn't have hurt to have Sam Raimi right there on hand as one of the actors. Inserting humor into a slasher is always an iffy proposition, but Spiegel gets it pretty close to right here. I would also have to give him my vote for most creative use of a decapitated head in a movie (which really should be an Oscar category, if you ask me).

Even if you figure out what is really going on inside this ill-fated supermarket long before the end credits begin to roll, the conclusion still satisfies with a nice little final twist. That is one of many reasons why Intruder is a true classic of the genre.

A slasher movie set entirely inside a supermarket on the night shift. Cool idea and for the obviously low budget this film does pretty good. It's no FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 3 but I've definitely seen worse. NIGHT SCHOOL anyone?

Opening with the store closing one of the cashier's ex-boyfriend comes to visit her fresh out of prison (for murder) and starts a fight. He gets kicked out, but soon the night shift crew starts getting offed in imaginative ways (trash compactor decapitation, head sawed in half, eyeball stabbing). Could it be the ex-boyfriend? Or is it someone else? Who cares as long as the bodies keep piling up. And pile up they do pretty good there for awhile but the Final Girl bit drags out too long.

Worth checking out if you like slasher flicks. I enjoyed it and got a few giggles out of it. Also Bruce Campbell is only in the film for maybe a minute and the last minute at that.

There's only two reasons to see this film - the "meat cutter" scene, and Sam Raimi is in it.

If cheesy 80's slasher flicks, with bad acting, are your thing, this movie is right up your alley. The DVD release of this film is a mixed bag. I'm glad they finally presented it in it's original form with all the gore intact. However the packaging of it is awful. The cover depcts a silouhette of someone with an axe, yet the killer in this movie doesn't even use one. Worse yet; the movie *tries* to keep you guessing as to who the killer is, but if you flip the DVD case over and glance at the pics on the back, it blows it and shows you who is the killer.

That said, there is a GREAT scene where someone gets their head cut apart on a meat cutter. I remember reading about this scene in Fangoria back in the day, where they mentioned how much work went into making it. I was really dissapointed to find out it was edited out of the VHS version that originally came out. However, the dvd has this scene in all it's glory. In addition, there is a lengthier meat cleaver scene towards the end, that was originally toned down in the first release of the film.