I have been a Leslie Nielsen fan ever since I was first ‘acquainted’ with the great actor during The Naked Gun film trilogy and the Police Squad television series. I loved his role as Lieutenant Frank Drebin, as his line delivery and comedic acting style left me in stitches. I also enjoyed his non-comedic roles in Creepshow and Day of the Animals. I later discovered that he had acted in some older pre-1970 classic horror and science fiction films of interest such as the immortal classic Forbidden Planet and a somewhat obscure television movie called Dark Intruder, which deals with the supernatural.
Dark Intruder takes place in San Francisco in the year 1890 where occult specialist Brett Kingsford (Nielsen) is brought in to solve a series of hideous murders by someone or something. All roads point to Kingsford’s friend Robert Vandenburg (Mark Richman, Agent for HARM) being the demon. Robert, who is about to be married to Evelyn Lang (Judi Meredith, Jack the Giant Killer), for some reason has been acting strangely, as if he were in a trance. At the same time, Kingsford has a tussle with the killer, and discovers the killer is a demon that growls, has a repulsive face and some long, sharp claws. Of course, he starts to wonder how that could be Robert or anything human for that matter. As the story of ritualistic murder unfolds, we do learn that this demon is a human being that has been transformed into something evil.
Dark Intruder is an enjoyable, fun supernatural thriller, capturing atmospheric qualities that make classic horror films work well. Leslie Nielsen is perfect as Kingsford a humorous, obnoxious ladies’ man type who has the ability solve the mystery behind the murders taking place underneath all of his charm. The 59-minute film was a pilot for a television series called The Black Cloak but sadly Dark Intruder was not a hit.
Kino presents Dark Intruder on Blu-ray for the first time ever in 1080p. This release was given 2K master provided by Universal Pictures. I was impressed with how polished the widescreen black and white image was. The picture is sharp with fine details and rich black levels throughout. The higher contrast easily contributes to the video looking so rich, and easily surpasses the DVD release from years ago.
The soundtrack for this release, is English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, which tends to be the standard for Kino releases, is rich and clear without any audio issues detected. The dialog, music and screams of the victims come in flawlessly. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for this release.
There are a few supplements for this release. A featurette, How to Make a Monster is a new video interview with Mike Westmore, nephew of makeup artist Bud Westmore, who was the man responsible for the creature and special effects in Dark Intruder.
Dark Intruder features new audio commentary with film historian and screenwriter Gary Gerani who goes into detail about the film, the cast, crew and other bits of interesting information.
Trailers for Dark Intruder, The Undying Monster, The Black Sleep and Donovan’s Brain round out the extras
Something of a mix between a Universal horror film from the fifties and a Val Lewton film from the forties, Dark Intruder is an underrated gem. Now given a surprising Blu-ray release with more extras than other classic films that Kino Lorber releases, this is unquestionably highly recommended!
Dark Intruder
Director- Harvey Hart
Cast- Leslie Nielsen, Peter Mark Richman
Country of Origin- US
Distributor – Kino Lorber
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date- 3/28/21