The last time I saw Dennis Quaid put on his evil grimaces and psychopathic stare was in "Beneath the Darkness" in 2011. That was a rather weak and derivative B-movie thriller, and to be entirely honest, so is this "The Intruder". But hey, Quaid can surely portray a menacing and downright terrifying psycho! His performance is pretty much the sole reason to check out this otherwise clichéd and predictable thriller. Newlyweds Scott and Annie find their dream house an hour and a half outside of San Francisco, but original owner Charlie Peck obviously has difficulties leaving his previous property behind. You know how this goes further: at first, Charlie popping up every five seconds is just a nuisance, but he gradually becomes more intrusive and scarier. Add to this the typically overused sub plots and stereotype characters, like the young couple themselves going through marital issues, the obnoxious best friend becoming too curious, grim secrets from Charlie's past coming to the surface, etc. It's more than okay to watch once, but it will also be soon forgotten again.

In the new era of streaming it seems that old genres are getting revitalised for new interpretations. This is another recent throwback to the psycho-thriller genre which peaked some twenty years ago, but it's far worse than most movies made at that time. Instead it's a cheap and cheesy effort in which a cardboard cut-out pair of leads move into a new home to discover that the old owner refuses to leave. The characters are badly written and unsympathetic and the actors not much better; the most fun one of the lot is old-timer Dennis Quaid and even he overacts horribly at certain moments. The whole thing smacks of cliche and builds up to the most typical climax you'll ever see coming.

Scott (Michael Ealy) and Annie (Meagan Good) are an upwardly mobile couple in San Francisco. She is excited to buy a lavish home in the country from Charlie Peck (Dennis Quaid). To Scott's frustration, Charlie keeps hanging around and befriending his wife. He starts to suspect that Charlie is unstable with ulterior motives.

Dennis Quaid plays the character very much on the nose. He is never that far away from creepy. It would be better to have less of that since he is supposed to be skilled at keeping appearances. Also the movie could play a bit more "is he or isn't he crazy". It's undeniable from the start and that takes away any chance of a mystery. It becomes nothing more than waiting for him to go fully berserk. That is a little value but mostly it's a tiresome waiting game. There is no real tension to this thriller.