Unlawful Entry (1992)

Mr. nice guy turns narcissistic and violent. That's the core of the movie. But how would you handle somebody who introduced himself to everybody as nice and helping but revealed his true face only to you? Surely you would tell that person to back off but the problem is that everybody else will think that you're overreacting; including your wife.Unlawful Entry creates suspense by introducing unpredictable and sinister cop on the one side and a normal husband who somehow has to stop him and convince his wife not to communicate with him on the other. But how do you stop a cop with a good reputation or get along with your wife after being rude to someone who had helped her? Michael Carr (Kurt Russel) found himself cornered by a more powerful man whose power lies in ability to do amoral things.It wasn't psycho officer who made me uncomfortable and angry but Michaels' wife. If she was more ready to appreciate her husbands warnings maybe she would have saved them both from going through hell. But no; Michael is only projecting - officer Pete is way to nice, she thought. I think it's easier to handle a lunatic cop than a wife who doesn't trust you as this movie clearly shows. She gave officer Pete a signal (probably unwillingly) that she might be interested in him and he went nuts! "What's it going to take to convince you? Me in a body bag?", Michael asks his wife. Someone must be crazy: its either officer, Michael or his wife. I propose it was his wife.If you're interested in psychological thrillers where everything turns on the good guy, you're going to appreciate effort put in a movie which makes soft and hard spoken words really count. And a nice soundtrack, too!

Michael (Kurt Russell) and Karen Carr (Madeleine Stowe) live in a Californian suburb. An intruder gets into the house and holds Karen at knife point temporarily before escaping. Officers Pete Davis (Ray Liotta) and Roy Cole (Roger E. Mosley) arrive to check on the incident. Pete is obsessed with Karen as his volatile character becomes increasingly destructive.This is one of those psychological thrillers where the madness can be seen from miles away and the movie plows directly into it refusing to stop until the last frame of film. Ray Liotta always has that great dangerous madness just beneath the surface. Kurt Russell does a perfectly good everyman and Madeleine Stowe is a solid victim. This is a simple thriller with desperate intensity.

It's hard not to find Kurt Russell doing very tense thriller movies. This movie, Breakdown (1997) and The Mean Season (1985) just to name a few. Personally, The Mean Season (1985) was his best because it was well rounded in every aspect of the story. This movie too, has a lot of tense moments, if not unpleasant but I can't help but feel that there were parts that could have been improved.The film itself actually displayed a comparison between its plot line and the one of The Cable Guy (1996). But there are key moments that make this thriller better than Jim Carrey's dark comedy. After having their house broken into, Michael Carr (Kurt Russell) and his wife (Madeleine Stowe) decide to have a security system put into their home. Fortunately, they have Peter Davis (Ray Liotta), a local cop who's generous enough to have it done for them with no charge. Or so they think.Turns out, it'll charge them more than they'll be able to handle. The personality of Mr. Davis is almost identical to the character of "The Cable Guy". They're both lonely individuals who just want attention, but go about it in the creepiest and most dangerous ways possible. Davis has some serious mental problems that need to be addressed. Of course, this never is taken care of otherwise, this "thriller" movie would not be as tense as it's claimed to be. Soon things start heading downhill when Davis tries getting close to Mrs. Carr. Carr's credit cards start maxing out, he gets a fine for something he never did, and then ends up being jailed for a crime he was set up on. Sound familiar?The differences in this comparison are that Carrey is just an obnoxious maniac who just likes screwing up everyone's day. Liotta is a deadly killer, trained in the art of killing. The other contrast is that either situation could happen in real life, but, it's more likely that a case like this occurs involving a violent killer, and not some loony cable installer. So in a sense, the plot hits closer to home because it involves the home directly. A place where everyone lives in the real world.The acting is good too. Russell is believable as usual as is Stowe. Liotta looks like he prepared for his role in this film. His eyes reveal on screen very quickly that his character practically has no soul or conscious. He's that serious. But I am a bit puzzled on a specific detail. Davis had a partner, Roy Cole (Roger E. Mosely), which specifically stated by him for being with him for 7 years. What made Davis crack now? Was he that good at hiding his sick nature for all those years? Or was Cole just extremely oblivious? My other complaint personally is that I really enjoyed the theme composer James Horner hadfor the film, but there wasn't enough in beginning of the first coupleacts. It wasn't until about halfway through I actually heard creepy tunes being played. And Horner is a guy I like too. After producing other soundtracks with such iconic tones like Glory (1989) and The Rocketeer (1991), I thought I would also find it in this film too. Well my ears didn't totally get what they wanted to hear. Come on Horner!The main plot is a Xerox copy to that of The Cable Guy (1996), except Liotta's character for being so unforgiving and creating very tense scenes. Besides some minor drawbacks, this thriller is plausible.

After a break-in at their house, a couple gets help from one of the cops that answered their call.He helps them install the security system, and begins dropping by on short notice and unofficial patrol, and spends a lot of time discussing the couple's problems with the wife.The husband begins wondering if they're getting too much help...Lets face it, when this film was released, anyone who was offered help from Ray Liotta was asking for trouble.It's a great entry into the sub-genre of nice strangers who turn psycho, and one of the last good ones. Fear in 1996 was a good addition, but since then we haven't had a decent one (The resident was the pits).It's a slice of early nineties cheese, especially because it's round about that time when the nineties was still trying to be the eighties, so the yuppie context coming from Russell is rife throughout.But him and Liotta are on fire here, and there is a little homophobic subtext between the two when they are bonding.The Ray gets a little out of hand and starts acting a bit freaky and Kurt blows a fuse. He gets framed for something he didn't do and due to him having all his cards cancelled cannot get bail to be with his wife.This is where the film goes a bit silly. Liotta kills his partner for the reason being that he's probably done this before (we never get to find out) and he's going to tell his boss.Then he cooks dinner for Stowe (who is excellent in this), knowing that she is freaked out beyond her mind. the man may be crazy, but i'm sure he' not stupid.The film then does the classic 'is he dead?' thing and before the payoff happens, Liotta has time to say something cool.The build up is fantastic, it's expertly made and looks like a lot of money has been thrown at it. The actors are all great and it's one of Hollywoods best Adult Psycho Thrillers, along with Pacific Heights, Single white Female, and anything Michael Douglas starred in circa 1987-1994.