Intruders (1992) starring Richard Crenna, Mare Winningham, Susan Blakely, Daphne Ashbrook directed by Dan Curtis Movie Review

Intruders (1992)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Mare Winningham in Intruders (1992)

Probing

When Mary Wilkes (Mare Winningham) wanders down a motorway and into a little cafe in the middle of the night she has no idea how she has got there and ends up being taken to her home in Nebraska by police. Meanwhile somewhere in California Lesley Hahn (Daphne Ashbrook) has a strange encounter at 3 in the morning when bright lights outside her home wakes her up and she sees these faceless repair men in her room. Lesley's events lead her to psychiatrist Dr Neil Chase (Richard Crenna) who finds everything which Lesley says seem a little far fetched that is until he meets Mary who having gone to California to spend time with her sister is persuaded to go and speak to Chase who is surprised to find similarities in their cases. When something Mary draws reminds him of what a third patient has drawn Dr. Chase becomes intrigued by what is going on and makes contact with an expert when it comes to alien abductions. But as he delves further in to alien encounters and abduction what he discovers may horrify him.

The chances are you may have read some reviews on "Intruders" which proclaim it as a great movie; I know that I did before giving up my time to watch it. But I noticed one thing as I browsed through the reviews most of the really positive ones mentioned that this was inspired by a book written by ufologist Budd Hopkins and it was clear that those who wrote the reviews had not only read the book but had a keen interest in alien encounters and alien abductions. And that to me appears to be of a huge importance as watching "Intruders" as simply a movie fan or with a fondness for a cast member it is not the great movie everyone else seems to be going on about just a good one.

Daphne Ashbrook in Intruders (1992)

Now as you may have guessed I haven't read Budd Hopkins' book and so don't know how loyal "Intruders" remains to it but how this comes across is a manufactured drama to show as many aspects of alien encounters as possible which is why we have multiple characters to spread across the aspects whilst also providing motive for a psychiatrist to see strange connections. It is a nice technique because for those like me who watch out of a simple love of entertainment there were things I recognized such as when Mary gets a nosebleed out of nowhere to the psychological effects such as when she becomes freaked out when she sees a bright light in the sky coming towards her. It makes for a surprisingly informative drama and it even manages to draw in some conspiracy theory aspects as well with the introduction of ufologist Addison Leach played by a larger than life Steven Berkoff.

The thing is that whilst "Intruders" is interesting and entertaining purely from a movie lover's point of view it does go on and on. Maybe that isn't such an issue for those who watch with a greater interest in alien encounters. Despite this the acting is solid all round with Richard Crenna doing a good job of turning on his inquisitive mode as he brings a touch of the investigator to his character. But for me it is Mare Winningham who grabs the attention because she allows her character to come across as unhinged during her troubles rather than hysterical which is what Daphne Ashbrook brings to her character.

What this all boils down to is that "Intruders" certainly has its good points even for those who watch just to be entertained. But at almost three hours I would say this is really for those who have an interest in alien encounters and alien abductions more than those seeking just to be entertained.


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