‘Intruder’: Film Review
A woman is stalked by a home invader in Travis Z’s horror-thriller.
If you’re a really hot, sexy woman, there’s a good way to figure out whether there’s a home invader in your apartment. If you find yourself feeling the urge to take lots of showers, call 911 immediately.
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The new Travis Zariwny (also known as Travis Z, and can he please make up his mind?) horror film Intruder delivers exactly what its title promises. It’s the story of a beautiful concert cellist, Elizabeth (Louise Linton), who makes the mistake of cocooning at home during a long rainy weekend while a hooded stranger, resembling a malevolent monk, has set up camp there as well. She somehow remains oblivious to his presence, despite his following her at every turn, observing her in said shower and engaging in such activities as caressing her hair and kissing her while she’s asleep and, less lovingly, taking a whiz in her sink (to be fair, it’s not like he can flush the toilet). Observing the interloper throughout is the feline that Elizabeth’s been cat-sitting, who utters nary a hiss.
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The glacier-paced proceedings also include Elizabeth’s interactions with various people in her life as she ponders her decision to move to London for a prominent orchestra gig. They include her commitment-phobic boyfriend (Zach Myers), who implores her to stay; a shy blogger (John Robinson), whom she befriends after they meet in the laundromat; a creepy neighbor (is there any other kind?); her concerned mother, seen via Skype; and her possessive music teacher (played by the musician Moby, of all people), who browbeats her when she tells him she’s thinking of turning down the new job. If you think you know who the intruder turns out to be, you’re probably right.
It’s all about as dreary as the constant rainfall featured as part of the Portland, Ore., setting, and the director, when he’s not leeringly photographing his leading lady’s naked body in the shower, vainly tries to up the scare ante by periodically raising the soundtrack volume to intolerable levels. The clichéd stylistic device does at least have the benefit of keeping viewers awake.
Distributor: IFC Midnight
Production company: Stormchaser Films
Cast: Louise Linton, John Robinson, Moby, Zach Myers, Mary MacDonald-Lewis, Susannah Mars
Director-screenwriter: Travis Z
Producers: Michael D. Jones, Tina Sutakanat, Louise Linton
Executive producers: Cassian Elwes, Ike Suri, Jaclyn Ann Suri, Bernard Azer, Peter Winther, Kyle Tekiela, Emerson Moore, Nicolas Chartier, Jonathan Deckter, Andrew Korus, Bret Leonard, Scott Mauro
Director of photography: Bradley Sellers
Production designer: Melainie Rein
Editor: Ryan Folsey
Composer: Nathaniel Levisay
Casting: Scott David, Eryn Goodman