Unlawful Entry (B or 3/4 stars)
Kurt Russell & Madeleine Stowe star as Michael & Karen Carr, a white, upper middle-class married couple who call the cops when a robber breaks into their Los Angeles home in 'Unlawful Entry' (directed by Jonathan Kaplan). The clad-in-black robber climbs in through a skylight; eventually holding a knife to Karen's neck. Thankfully the robber escapes, and when wild-eyed, lonely, but street-tough veteran Officer Pete Davis (Ray Liotta) arrives - and helps arrange the installation of a brand new security system - the grateful Carrs have him over to dinner & strike-up a friendship.
Pete seems to think that nightclub developer Michael doesn't have what it takes to protect his wife. And so, Pete - who by now, has developed an intense fixation with the Carrs, particularly a clueless Karen - invites Michael to ride alongside him in his cop car during a night's patrol & even affords him the chance to beat-up the burglar {nice, huh?}. Highly alarmed by this, Michael refuses & tells the disturbed policeman to stay away from him & Karen ... but an obsessed Pete begins stalking the now-frightened couple until he gets what he wants. Domestic terror ensues.
As a 12 yr. old who first saw this thriller, I remember being wholly entertained & terrified by Ray Liotta, who brilliantly portrays the psychotic 'Cop from Hell'. This film has all the usual trappings of a thriller, but unlike most lesser movies of its genre, director Kaplan does well to keep the story relatively grounded & plausible. 'Unlawful Entry' contains some very tense moments, scary images & chilling twists. The performances are quite good from all; even if Madeleine Stowe has a harder job trying to convince us viewers just how dumb her character is with regards to the deranged policeman. Kurt Russell is very good as the threatened husband who is desperate to keep his wife safe & get this nutty cop out of their lives for good.
And for Liotta, Pete is a dream role; a true psychopath who buries his nuttiness under the veneer of the dutiful policeman who is just trying to keep everyone safe from the 'bad guys'. Also in the cast as Roger E. Mosley, Ken Lerner & Deborah Offner. James Horner provides a nerve-rattling music score. This movie doesn't re-invent the wheel of the 1990s-stalker/thriller genre, but it has something to say about people's worries about law-&-order and police brutality. It is more intelligent than most movies of its ilk and, the realism of the portrayals by the up-to-task cast makes this a must see watch.
Pete seems to think that nightclub developer Michael doesn't have what it takes to protect his wife. And so, Pete - who by now, has developed an intense fixation with the Carrs, particularly a clueless Karen - invites Michael to ride alongside him in his cop car during a night's patrol & even affords him the chance to beat-up the burglar {nice, huh?}. Highly alarmed by this, Michael refuses & tells the disturbed policeman to stay away from him & Karen ... but an obsessed Pete begins stalking the now-frightened couple until he gets what he wants. Domestic terror ensues.
As a 12 yr. old who first saw this thriller, I remember being wholly entertained & terrified by Ray Liotta, who brilliantly portrays the psychotic 'Cop from Hell'. This film has all the usual trappings of a thriller, but unlike most lesser movies of its genre, director Kaplan does well to keep the story relatively grounded & plausible. 'Unlawful Entry' contains some very tense moments, scary images & chilling twists. The performances are quite good from all; even if Madeleine Stowe has a harder job trying to convince us viewers just how dumb her character is with regards to the deranged policeman. Kurt Russell is very good as the threatened husband who is desperate to keep his wife safe & get this nutty cop out of their lives for good.
And for Liotta, Pete is a dream role; a true psychopath who buries his nuttiness under the veneer of the dutiful policeman who is just trying to keep everyone safe from the 'bad guys'. Also in the cast as Roger E. Mosley, Ken Lerner & Deborah Offner. James Horner provides a nerve-rattling music score. This movie doesn't re-invent the wheel of the 1990s-stalker/thriller genre, but it has something to say about people's worries about law-&-order and police brutality. It is more intelligent than most movies of its ilk and, the realism of the portrayals by the up-to-task cast makes this a must see watch.