WEIRD STUFF :: Intruder (1989)

Intruder is an ultra low budget Slasher movie from 1989 written and directed by Scott Spiegel and produced by Lawrence Bender (who also received a "story by" credit). It takes places in a supermarket as the overnight crew is stalked and slashed one by one by an unseen assailant.

Based on this synopsis alone I'm not impressed -- the idea of "supermarket" stands out to me as the greatest appeal as I love Horror (or any genre) confined to or even briefly frequenting a retail space (Chopping Mall, Phantom of the Mall, The Initiation, Manhunter, Dawn of the Dead) if only to witness old store names and brand labels. (Dinosaur Dracula did his own very specific analysis of this movie.) But otherwise I've often campaigned publicly about my unrestrained boredom regarding the Slasher genre. Nevertheless, Intruder stays afloat for a long list of reasons. 

Apart from old soda cans and TV Guides, the characters and dialogue are actually kind of engrossing - way higher quality than the hundreds of cheap snoozers that came out that decade (it's got most Friday the 13s beat). And when there actually is violence, it's violent: creative, realistic, disgusting - the things I blindly assume I'll find in this market and usually have to end up getting myself off. Instead, KNB were utilized to the bloody best of their abilities, thus creating imagery we intellectually link to the genre but in reality rarely see. 

So it's one of the better Slasher flicks, that's easy. But what hooked me in and kept me seated was the cast & crew promised to me by the opening credits. Lawrence Bender? Seriously? The Raimi Brothers and Bruce Campbell? I mean, really it's no big deal: an early effort from a young producer and some winky cameos from the Evil Dead dudes; it's cute and gives it flavor and that's fine. What really had me intrigued was a "Special Appearance by Emil Sitka."

Emil Sitka is best known for appearing in dozens of Three Stooges shorts (almost as soon as Shemp replaced Curly). Out of all of them, his most notable appearance alongside the Stooges was in the short Brideless Groom in which he plays a justice of the peace and utters his famous line "Hold hands you lovebirds!" Apparently due to some public domain bureaucracy, this short had more TV airtime over the past 75 years than all the others, making it one of the more popular ones. (It's one of my personal favorites regardless.) Adding to its popularity is its prominent appearance in Pulp Fiction. 

I'd make an educated guess and say that most people know it from that movie, and that's the only part they know; Emil's even credited at the end of Pulp as "Hold Hands You Lovebirds." The clip works with the scene as a frenetic ambient noise underscoring the tense onscreen action; a great piece of filmmaking. But now I question its actual inception; this very specific Stooges clip is actually written into the Pulp Fiction shooting script so it couldn't have been too much of an afterthought. At the same time, it seems too coincidental that Lawrence Bender's incredibly short resume included two Emil Sitka cameos.

In his quick but prominent Intruder scene, he of course is forced into reciting that famous line from that singular role from 1947. Did Quentin and Lawrence just happen to share the same fascination with this particular Shemp short? It's a quirky consistency that delighted me, but the details starting mounting into a perplexing conundrum.

Like I said, the biggest joy of this movie is the endless parade of product labels - it doesn't even require any pausing and probing, they're just a constant environment. And yet as pronounced as these packages are, one of the more purposeful hero shots features a box of Fruit Brute - the lesser known Monster Cereal featuring a werewolf as its mascot. Lesser known because they stopped making it at the beginning of the 80s, long before they shot Intruder, which means there was nothing incidental about its appearance here.

It's also no accident that Officer Freddie Newendyke keeps a box in his apartment in the 1992 Bender-produced Reservoir Dogs. But the real sorta zenith of this sight gag/tribute is Fruit Brute's Pulp Fiction appearance, which can be seen in the reverse shot of Emil Sitka's televised cameo.

In the script, Quentin takes the time to point out that Lance is eating Cap'n Crunch with Crunch Berries - as black and white as every other set dress and wardrobe detail he intentionally includes. I'd always wondered why the change occurred - I thought perhaps Quaker Oates wasn't too keen on such a prominent plug in the new movie from the guy who cuts people's ears off. But after Intruder I'm starting to think Lawrence Bender brings his own box of cereal to each production. 

However it made its way into these movies, I nominate Intruder into the Tarantino-verse for all of these reasons - up to and including (and maybe especially) Lawrence Bender's cameo as a cop that mirrors his equally brief role in Reservoir Dogs.

Even director Scott Spiegel went on to helm From Dusk Till Dawn 2 and Hostel III - both sort of hopscotch connections to Quentin. KNB EFX Group got their start on Intruder and shortly thereafter assisted in cutting off Marvin Nash's previously mentioned ear. I don't know how "weird" any of this is or how much of it is already common knowledge, or maybe even a firsthand explanation is out there from the filmmakers regarding all these fun connections (which I'm sure would be largely unsatisfactory), but I was pleased and proud to connect these dots - on the spot and on my own - and I was excited to share it with you lovebirds. 

- Paul