Intruder (DVD) : Review

Film

During one of Oregon’s most violent storms (it rains the entire movie, virtually, but there isn’t much wind, or storm damage), a young cellist, Elizabeth (Louise Linton), seeks solitude and comfort in the safety of her large apartment, but soon realises she might not be home alone. Yes, as the title says, she has an intruder.

Elizabeth isn’t the only “common” name used for a character in this movie, there is also John, Vincent, Justin, Grace, David, and an Emily. Common names, that go with shallow characters. There is no depth to any of these, meaning you pretty much don’t care who lives, or dies. As for the plot, it’s not about twists, as eventually you just want them all dead and buried so the torture can end.

The film takes far too long, using way too many cliched musical cues for fear, while this intruder stalks about Elizabeth’s apartment. Contrary to the films tag line “in the shadows he waits”, said intruder pretty much strolls around as he sees fit, leaving small clues, deliberately, that Elizabeth fails to spot, increasing the anguish to the viewer.

Intruder is slow torture, and how it was ever made is perhaps the biggest mystery here, leaving the viewer with at least one thing to try guess the answer to, as they are dragged unceremoniously through the plot of the film.

Best avoided. Betters still, run, outside, and into the rain even.

Disc

Overall, the disc is of a decent technical quality. It’s just a pity it’s for a feature that is sorely lacking.

Intruder is available now, to purchase on disc, in South Africa.

Video

Main feature video is compressed at a high average bitrate. There are no visible artefacts here, once you are in the main feature. There are a few inconsequential ones during the transition from main menu to the feature.

In the main feature, there is no visible colour bleed, and in some of the darker scenes, there is a fair amount of detail still.

Viewers with larger or higher resolution screens could scale up, should they wish, although menus will look terrible.

Audio

Audio for the main feature is compressed at a high average bitrate, presented in a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack.

Dialogue is clear via the centre channel, with the rest carried via the front channels. There is not too much use of surrounds.

Navigation

The main menu is a static one, with background music. There are two text choices allowing one to play the main feature, or access a scenes sub-menu. Navigation is easy to read, but some guesswork to follow (black means selected on this menu).

The menu video page is highly compressed on the disc, leaving several artefacts, and some colour bleed. This isn’t too big an issue, as it looks deliberate, as part of some creative choice. It will also save space on the disc, leaving room for less compression of the main feature.

The two text items on the main menu can cause some confusion as to which is selected, as this is inconsistent to the colours used on the scenes sub-menu.

The scenes sub-menus consist of four small, colour, motion thumbnails. While there are numbered, they are not labelled, and so again, some guesswork is needed when wanting to navigate to a particular chapter on the disc.

Bonus Features

There are no bonus features on the disc, except for trailers for Max Steel, Indignation, and The 9th Life of Louis Drax. These auto-play at the beginning of the disc, and can not be accessed via the main menu. They can be skipped, or fast-forward.

By Andrew Germishuys

Founder of SAMDB | Actor | Armourer | Tech Enthusiast With over two decades in the film industry, I'm a seasoned actor and skilled armourer. I hold numerous certifications in acting and filmmaking, complemented by degrees and diplomas in IT and technology, giving me a unique blend of creative and technical expertise. When I'm not on set or in the workshop, you'll find me immersed in the world of gaming and VR, fuelling my passion for cutting-edge technology. Connect with me: X / Twitter Facebook Instagram Mastodon Threads Explore my work on SAMDB IMDb