Dir. Dru Pfeiffer (2015)
After playing the Wrong Number Game and accidentally reaching a murderous psychopath, a woman finds out that her new suitor doesn’t like to be pranked.
CAUTION: MAY BE SPOILERS AHEAD
Despite releasing in 2015, Intrusion looks very much like the SOV films of the 80’s, with teeny production values and limited locations. However, unlike most of those earlier films, this one is actually a pretty decent watch. The acting is better than in most films of this size, the story is killer (pun intended), and it’s got a lot more gore than I expected. Two friends, Holly (Katie Stewart) and Kali (Teresa Lawrence), are hanging out and trying to find something to alleviate their boredom. They decide to play a game called the Wrong Number Game, in which they dial a random number from the phone book and pretend to be flirting with whoever picks up before announcing that they called the wrong number. It goes well at first, reaching some poor sap who is let down when he doesn’t really know the girl on the other end. Unfortunately, the next call reaches a man who has just killed his girlfriend, and he’s done fucking around with the fairer sex.
What follows is a cat-and-mouse game where Holly’s friends and neighbors are killed indiscriminately and brutally, with the knife-wielding Raymond (Lee Haycraft) going on a rampage with his chosen weapon of destruction. Holly knows from the beginning that she’s being stalked, but her new undesired beau is too tech-savvy to be traced. She tries to take her mind off of the danger that she may be in by throwing a party with friends, where she runs into her old boyfriend (Kyle Cates) with whom she has a very complicated relationship. This all leads to the third act of the film, where Holly comes face to face with the unhinged Raymond.
The most shocking thing about Intrusion is that it’s actually a pretty decent movie. Stewart and Cates are more than adequate actors, Haycraft is legitimately creepy, and even though a lot of the other actors aren’t great, they’re good enough so that it doesn’t completely take you out of the movie. The direction is solid enough, though it definitely isn’t top-tier, and the writing is actually legit. The score is fantastic, delivering some unexpected creepiness to most of the film. The kills are great, and while not particularly gory, they’re real enough to work really well in the film. The relationships between the characters feel real, the violence, while not always proceeding logically, is brutal, and I never felt bored throughout the runtime, which is a crime that most indie films struggle to avoid. The one thing that I feel could’ve been done better with this one is that there are certain mistakes in the dialogue that could’ve been rectified with another take, something that the director seemed to want to avoid. It doesn’t hugely take away from the film, but it is noticeable at times in a way that most other mistakes in the film aren’t.
It’s a decent effort, and I watched this film because the writer/producer sent me the sequel, and I honestly didn’t quite know what to expect going in because I had never heard of either film before. I was pleasantly surprised by the original, and he tells me that the sequel is a much better film, so I’m looking forward to checking it out. This one is streaming free on Tubi, and if you’re down for low-budget horror movies with some legitimate creepiness, I highly recommend checking it out. It’s much better than a lot of indies that I’ve found on the platform, and is definitely worth a watch.
Who this movie is for: Indie horror fans, SOV lovers, Nerdy stalkers
Bottom line: Much better than I expected and absolutely worth a watch. The acting is decent, the writing is actually pretty good, and it’s a surprisingly watchable film. The score is actually really good and foreboding, helping to add to the genuine creepiness of the film. Give this one a watch and be on the lookout for the sequel, this one is definitely one that should be checked out. Watch it for free on Tubi.
