The first, tiny hints of autumn are in the air in South Carolina.  Temperatures have been down the past few days, and I can just make out the tiniest bits of golden-brown in the leaves.  I announced the home varsity football this past Friday, and driving back up to campus with the windows down (my car’s A/C is still not working) gave me that sensation that only fall can give.

Naturally, this weather brings to my mind the best autumn holiday:  Halloween.  And Halloween means (among other things) horror movies.

Now, I’ve never been big on slashers, but one I re-watched recently on Shudder is a good example of the genre:  Intruder (1989).  Its unique setting—it takes place in a grocery store—and colorful cast of characters makes it really enjoyable.  It’s also strangely wholesome for a slasher; as I recall, there aren’t the usual lurid displays of teenage sexuality, just lots of grocery kills.

The film opens with a cashier’s abusive ex-boyfriend showing up and berating her for not returning his calls.  He gets unusually and unnecessarily aggressive, and it takes the entire team to hunt him down and evict him from the grocery store.  Initially, it seems like this jaded ex is going to be the killer, but it’s also pretty obvious he’s the red herring—it’s just too obvious (spoiler:  he’s not the killer).

Then the co-owners of the store call together all the employees and inform them that, sadly, they are selling the store and that everyone will be out of their jobs at the end of the month.  The kicker is that the employees need to work late to mark everything down half-price.

I’ve never been in a supermarket after closing, but it would have to be an eerie experience (kind of like being in a church at night when the lights are off—there is something creepy about that, for some reason).  The film plays up the location for maximum scares and kills.  The aisles create massive blind spots.  A conveyor belt in the basement plays a role in one of the deaths.  There’s even a spooky attic!

The film also nods and winks at the slasher genre with plenty of humorous moments.  When the real killer is revealed, the cashier asks him why, and he says, “I’m just crazy about this store!”  It’s such a ludicrous, insane motive—and that’s the point!  It’s sheer insanity.

Intruder isn’t high art, but it’s a fun slasher.  Again, slasher flicks are not my favorites, but Intruder really infuses the genre with charm and humor, while still delivering some devilishly clever kills.