I come from the Uk and this film was shown a few weeks ago on TV and when I started watching it I was immediately hooked and watching it in suspense. This is one of the most scary films I have ever seen, the killer Vess is great in this film and played brilliantly, the heroine Chyna is also greatly played and believable. The storyline itself is really well done and it all makes sense and greatly acted in this TV series. Chyna Shepard is an insecure woman who when her friend gets murdered by a killer (Vess) decides it is her job to rescue on of his captives, a little girl called Ariel. After this film I have bought 2 Dean Koontz books and hope to read more....
Add a Review
-
a-veselova23 February 2005
-
pepekwa4 August 2008This is probably the best TV suspense/horror movie you'll ever see. John Mcginley who's always struck me as a very underrated but talented character actor plays a chilling cold hearted psychopath with such aplomb it rivalled jack nicholson's performance in the Shining. The 3 hours flew by and you just never knew what Mcginley's character would do next and if/how he would kill his next victim. Some people didn't like the plot holes that enabled Chyna (ably played by Molly Parker) to escape from Edgler's clutches but she was on a determined mission to save the little girl and had the foresight in the end to outwit Edgler. Incidentally, McGinley was also excellent in another Dean Koontz adaptation "sole survivor" as a maniacal FBI agent. For me he's wasted on scrubs and should have more leading man roles.
-
MackRosmanNet7 March 2004This film may give assumption that it's a corny thriller but people thinking this would be easily mistaken!. This film is INTENSE!!!!. I know thrillers that capture you for the most part of action scenes, but this film captures you throughout the entire ordeal. And it is an ordeal. Even the ordeals each character experiences... it's suspenseful, extremely thrilling, 110% capturing, and when it comes down to it... just INTENSE. It fit's it's name to a T.
Not ever have I seen a thriller that is a TV movie ever be so intense. This is a trillion times worse than your American Psycho... this murderer is a mass slaughterer with the most insanity I've ever seen a human have in a thriller film. You sometimes wonder if this person is human. A glazed insane gloom look inside the eyes of this murderer is enough to make your hair stick up off of your arm. John does a BRILLIANT job!.
A brilliant thriller... check it out if you haven't already. -
duerden601 March 2005I saw 'Intensity'on TV. Of course it was cut to ribbons*.That is, if the IMDb run time of 186 minutes is correct.(*Why do they insist on doing that?) It was still excellent. Molly Parker, one of the most adventurous actresses working today, was terrific. John C. McGinley usually an actor who does a fine job in a lesser part, was mesmerising. Suspense builds up all the way. I went out and got the book, great read that made me realise what a good job the screenwriters had done. Wanted to buy the full length movie, according to IMDb it's unavailable!! This is a great movie, only made in 1997, so where is it? Somebody put the uncut version on DVD, PLEASE!!
-
mudhoney44420 December 2020Great Acting all around. Great Direction Excellent TV Movie
-
NewKYDwtnBoy13 November 2004This show is one of the few TV Mini-Series that I have yet to grow tired of watching (since I first saw it aired on Fox in 1997). It is beyond the typical slash & dash, "gore fest", but instead it centers on the psychological redemption of an abused innocent who finally receives her opportunity to fight back years later. Molly Parker was selected & courted for this role after her critically acclaimed role in "Kissed". It is her portrayal of the character Chyna Sheppard that makes this movie above the other "TV Movie of the Week". She is absolutely riveting in her performance, & whenever I am having a bad or perhaps sad day/week...I just replay this movie & it reminds me that "you are not alone". If you want a psychological thriller on the level of Silence of the Lambs, this is one for you. It very closely follows the Dean R. Koontz novel, with a slight twist at the end that helps keep it fresh for even those like myself who had read the book before seeing the mini-series (as there was a twist with the screen version of Silence of the Lambs that helped it remain "fresh" as the end neared). This TV mini-series has never been released on home video, but it is sometimes replayed on "The Mystery Channel" if your cable network carries it. Tune in. You will never be disappointed or alone.
-
CharltonBoy20 November 1999From what i can gather this must have been a mini series for US tv and if so you would think it would be garbage...Wrong, this film is very good. It is a suspenseful film full of edge of the seat stuff. John MCGinley is superb as the head case murderer , he really makes the movie good. It is rather long, it could be cut by at least half an hour ( especially the sentemental last ten minutes) but apart from that i have seen a lot worse big budget movies of which this is not. 7 out of 10
-
Fella_shibby10 May 2022This miniseries was on my radar for a long time.
Haven't read Dean Koontz's book but this is amazing stuff.
I am generous with a 10 cos this one was made in the 90s n that too for tv but it doesn't look outdated n it is indeed an intense experience to come across such a solid thriller.
The best part is the suspense n tension which is maintained throughout.
John C. McGinley as Edgler Vess, the brutal serial killer, who owns a massive property in the middle of nowhere n his palatial house mostly made up of wood n which consists of a home gym is epic. -
Rumples-212 November 2000I probably watched this in the same network tv viewing as Craig, although I thought more highly of the film. Couple comments - which may be coloured by the medium viewed. 1) The movie was called 'Intensity' but whenever the moment got intense they broke to an ad. My wife and I were so annoyed we complained to the station. Do not watch this movie on tv - I guess having it as a mini-series would have been better but still annoying. 2) Why introduce characters/scenes that were utterly irrelevant? The guy crawling out of the root cellar - just to disappear under a dog attack? The black cop that searches, only to end up dead and totally meaningless to the plot? Even the crazy old woman in the Chevy who called the cops was tacked on - notifying the cops ended up making no difference anyways??? The guy's cruelty was already well established. It's just like the wookie defense, it just doesn't make sense. Lastly, 3)the flashbacks were annoying and stupid, and the whole white wolf imagery was too cliched and corny. Apart from this - although you might not think so - it was actually quite an enjoyable movie with good acting, chilling scenes, reasonable suspense in an interesting plot and reasonable dialogue. My vote 7/10 and worth a watch.
-
XxUnknownxX20 December 2005I read the book Intensity a long time ago and had no idea that there was a TV movie made out of it. I thought I would have no chance of seeing it, being as that it was made in 97' and probably not on DVD. But then today when I was flipping through On Demand I saw it in the free section. Cool beans, right? Maybe not so much.
As the movie started I came close to stopping it and walking away several times. The first 20 minutes or so is just sooooo asinine. The movie makes a very poor attempt at trying to get you to like the characters that you know are going to die in about 5 minutes, and to try and foreshadow, but fails at it miserably. Pretty much through this entire movie I didn't give two cence about any of the characters.
Now, once the killing started happening I was sorely disappointed. The big scene were Vess kills the family that took like a hundred pages in the book is over in about five minutes, and there is no intensity at all. It's pretty much Chyna hides under bed, Vess comes in, annoying music plays, she breaths really hard, he leaves, she runs around the house really loudly and finds all the dead people and freaks out, etc. etc.
After the leave the house Chyna hides in with the killer in his RV and they go barreling down the highway. He stops at the gas station and we finally get to see who he is: it's that funny doctor guy from Scrubs...trying to be a psychotic serial killer...no. Almost all the reviews I've read have praised his performance, but I don't think that there's anyone worse they could have picked to play except for Jim Carrey. I was never once afraid or intimidated by Vess. He did not act like a cool collective serial killer, he acted like a giddy school boy squishing bugs the entire movie. I could have kicked his ass, and I'm a real wimp. Plus how is it that he does not take any precautions while killing people, yet has never been caught? Chyna is also a piece of work, like everyone else has stated she makes some of the most stupid mistakes that anyone has ever made in a movie, ever. The actress playing her did a pretty good job. She was good at being scared, being in pain, being scared and in pain.
While there was a couple of mildly intense scenes, most of the movie was just dull. If you have 3 hours to kill or are a fan of the book or thrillers check it out, if not don't bother. -
katenalliesmom17 April 2010This was a great movie and followed the book very closely. Since I have read the book the movie was spoiled a bit for me given that I knew what was going to happen all the way through. If you haven't read the book, however, sit back and enjoy a very intense suspenseful thriller. John C. McGinley was excellent at playing the creepy and insane Vess while Molly Parker did a great job as the troubled heroine. I found my copy of the movie at ioffer.com for $6 plus $2 shipping. Just wanted to let you know since this movie is hard to find. It came in DVD form and was excellent quality. Apparently I haven't wrote enough for this to be posted so I'm just going to blabber on a bit to get my 10 lines written. I don't know why this is a requirement as I prefer to read shorter reviews!
-
ctomvelu115 July 2012A troubled young woman agrees to stay with a girlfriend at the girlfriend's parents' home in a remote location. A maniac breaks into the house and kills the girlfriend and her parents. The troubled young woman escapes from the house but finds a captive girl in the killer's van. She decides to do something about it, and this leads to a confrontation between the woman and killer. Sound vaguely familiar? It should. A few years later, the basic plot was reworked for the French fright flick, HIGH INTENSITY. John C. McGinley is the deranged killer, and he's quite persuasive as a homicidal maniac. The rest of the cast is pretty much unknown, as this was shot on the cheap in Canada for TV consumption. It is intense, indeed, and I would not recommend it for anyone under the age of 14 or thereabouts.
-
dave-holst28 November 2005(SPOILER WARNING!) I really love Dean Koontz' books, yet I somehow must've missed this book because I don't remember reading it. But I was excited to see the movie available via Comcast OnDemand.
The movie was frustrating and disappointing. Typical horror movie plot where the lead character is a complete moron and does everything a sane person wouldn't. And of course every possible thing that could go wrong DOES.
Hmmm... some psycho just killed everyone in the house. Instead of hiding somewhere, let me follow the guy around and peer through windows and bushes at him. Then I'll sneak on the RV and go along for the ride. She has plenty of opportunities to escape, call the authorities, get away and yet she doesn't. A few more annoyances: -Typical clueless police and innocent bystanders, typical lead character who can't just SPIT OUT what the problem is and get the authorities involved. -I love how the kindly old detective pulls up at the scene of the "accident" and finds the lady dead behind the wheel. He just nods softly and says "Poor old (Missus so-and-so) and her beat-up ol' Chevy" and then gets in the police sedan and DRIVES OFF! LEAVES A DEAD BODY HANGING OUT OF A CAR! (and then gets a "slap on the wrist" later) Oh, and the reason this lady died in the first place is because her car stalled in front of the killer and couldn't be restarted. Darn the luck. (How original) -I also love how the detective told the lead character they probably couldn't get information on the RV because that would have to come from Portland?? and what with the holiday and all.. Because you KNOW law enforcement shuts down for weekends and holidays. Gonna have to wait on that partial VIN until next Monday, I reckon' -The leading lady is already severely emotionally disturbed from her own childhood and gets constant flashbacks, but thinks that she can take on this killer with no prior experience and no weapons, no cell phone, no tools. She spends half of the movie ducking in and out of the killers RV. -There's about 45 minutes of footage JUST of her struggling and moaning while restrained with chains and handcuffs in two different scenes.
I could go on for hours. I was just really disappointed. Instead of being a scary movie and taking you by surprise, it was an endless parade of typical horror movie scenes that all consisted of the lead character being an idiot and trying to single-handedly save the day since law enforcement is no help, there are no phones anywhere, no civilization.... You spend the whole movie yelling at the screen "NO! What are you DOING!! Get the heck OUT OF THERE and RUN!!" ugh... -
MayhapsItWasGoodBackThen15 March 1999I just watched this mini TV-series a few days ago. A friend of mine recommended seeing it. So I did. And I wasn't disappointed.
The story was pretty ok, but what really caught my eyes were the two main characters: Chyna (the heroine) and Mr. Vess (the bad guy). Chyna is insecure but determined young woman who has been neglected as a child and thus she suffers from recurring nightmares and repeating flash backs from her miserable past. Mr. Vess on the other hand comes from a good loving family or so he states when Chyna tries to use inversed psychology with him (with no obvious luck) when she's being held captive at his house of horrors, aiming to save a missing girl named Ariel.
Well coming from a good background or not, Vess is not the man you wanna mess with. But what we also get to know very soon after seeing Mr. Vess for the first time in action, that he is in fact a genuine psychopath who likes to hunt not just game but also people during his morbid little trips on the road with his big bad VR in order to bring home some trophies to 'his' sweet Ariel.
He's handy with his knife and careful with his life... But not enough that his extremely sensitive senses and trained dogs will get him of the hook this time. _Intense_ suspense. Thrilling moments guaranteed and even some mysticism. I especially liked Mr. Vess' performance. Particularly his facial expressions and deep sighing and quiet murmuring when playing with his knives added some chilling effects on the character.
Now it's my time to recommend this great mini TV-series to all you people who haven't seen it. It's based on Koontz novel, but I can't make any comparisons with the book and the TV-series since I have never read any of his books. Maybe I ought to... -
When I read Dean Koontz's "Intensity", I thought it was the most exciting book I'd ever read. I was thrilled to find the movie on TV and delighted to have been able to catch it on tape.
Although there are some holes in the plot, it is so consistently riveting that I barely noticed those indiscretions. I do wish there had been more mention of Chyna's motivation for so boldly risking her life. The book explains (very well, I think) what drives her behavior, but if you see the movie before reading the book, you're left wondering if she's even crazier than her adversary.
Flaws in the plot or screen writing aside, I thought the acting was superb, especially McGinley's chilling portrayal of the ultimate adrenaline junkie. He manages to paint him not as the deranged nutcase that we'd expect, but rather as an evil and sadistic, yet perfectly sane and sensible sociopath. And THAT is the scariest aspect of the movie.
I would highly recommend this movie for anyone who likes a good thriller. It's well worth the 4 or so hours that it runs, if you can find it on TV. You may catch a flub or two, or even not like it at all, but I bet you'll never forget it! -
jamsam-23 January 2002i read some of the other reviews on this mini-series and am convinced some of you folks didn't even watch the damn thing! one person said it was a waste of 2 hours of their time . the reason you didn't like it , my friend , was because you obviously only saw half of it .the mini-series was 4 hours long , and keeps the viewer on a veritable rollercoaster ride of INTENSITY . john c. mcginley is the greatest psycho this side of norman bates . admittedly some of the decisions of the heroine were quite questionable but they help develop the action as the movie progresses. and someone asked what kind of name is chyna? have you never seen the pro wrestler with the great pair of turnbuckles? the great shame is that this movie is not available on video so that more people can enjoy it's creative genius. the end does get a tad bit overly mushy but when a child is involved you have to have a happy ending . if this movie should ever air again , grab a video tape and make a copy . then send me a copy because my copy is just about wore out. goodnite BADGER ,wherever you are .
-
tkalyn215 September 2021Love Dean Koontz novels and this one was done so well!!! One of the most underrated psychological thrillers ever. Great acting, great storyline and the suspense through out the movie was brilliant!
-
denny-3215 November 2000I saw Intensity under the impression it was a feature movie on TV. Knowing now it was a mini series it makes sense why it went for over three hours. I wonder instead whether the version I saw was edited to any extent? Anyway, I thought this 'movie' to be exciting and suspenseful. The two leads were well cast particularly John C. McGinley who was menacing. Basically it is a story of a deranged killer on the loose and by circumstance a young lady with a traumatic past is caught in his web. Instead of escaping when she has the chance, she puts her life on the line when confronted with the fact that there may be someone else with innocence at risk. I haven't read Dean Koontz's novel so I wonder how it compares to this movie. I have read many others and think he is a marvellous author. Needless to say there are surprises along the way. All in all a worthwhile night in.
-
daggersineyes4 October 2014One of the best thrillers I've ever seen and the fact that it's a lesser budget "made for TV" movie doesn't diminish it's brilliance. It outshines most big budget Hollywood guff out there and provides the viewer with a tense, nail-biting experience mostly powered by two riveting performances from Molly Parker & John C. McGinley. This is what the French film, Haute Tension (High Tension/Switchblade romance) wanted to be but failed dismally. Intensity is the original movie based on Koontz novel - sadly Haute Tension, no matter how vehemently it's makers deny it - was a failed attempt to remake Intensity but not credit Koontz. They threw in a bunch of random "shocking" scenes/gore & a lame twist at the end hoping this would disguise the fact that it's the exact same story & they plagiarized it.
What the directors of the French version didn't understand is why, even with it's low budget & basic production, this version of Intensity works so well and theirs doesn't. The acting, the script, the development of the plot and the fact that it isn't just slash & gore for the sake of it, THAT'S why it works. It's why this movie is a MUST SEE if you are able to find a copy of it anywhere while it's sneaky, absurdly violent, badly acted, slasher rip off - Haute Tension - is a "must avoid at all costs".
And I have to stress how absolutely incredible John McGinley was as the psycho dude. Somehow he managed to come across as chillingly insane AND absurdly normal at the same time. One of THE best villains ever.
I can't recommend this two-part mini-series enough. Please try and get a hold of the full uncut version if you can. It's definitely going to be a repeat viewer for me. -
I thought John C. McGinley was the worst part of this movie! Not sure who did this casting job, but it was horrible. I read the book before watching the movie, which always ruins the movie! Ha, ha. I pictured Edgler Vess as a strong, muscular, big, confident, even handsome and somewhat charming man. He talks about fitting in to his life, not giving away what he enjoys doing (killing). He's obviously crazy, but he is very controlled. He does not appear outwardly crazy. McGinley comes across as crazy in any environment! He is totally annoying. It's like casting a mosquito in the role of a lion. It's not that I don't like McGinley, but this was not a role that fit him. I'm not a big Dean Koontz fan, but I really liked this book and was looking forward to seeing the movie but the movie did not do it justice! Skip the movie, read the book--you'll enjoy it more.
-
If you can suspend your disbelief at the unreal experiences and miraculously close escapes and repeatedly coincidental circumstances, you cannot relax because this film takes you on a most intense ride that leaves you with knuckles bruised from gripping the edge of your seat. This film is non-stop, heart-stopping close shave after close shave, and if you are on heart medication, STAY AWAY FROM IT. John C. McGinley plays this part so perfectly he should be enshrined for it. Only Jack Nicholson plays a crazy man better. I stayed up late to watch this movie to the end, and I am extremely disappointed that it cannot be bought anywhere. If anyone knows where it can be purchased?
-
MASTER7129 October 2001The bad guy is written fairly well. The "heroine" is horrible. How many dumb mistakes can she make? So many that after a while you're cheering for the bad guy because the heroine is so stupid. Don't bother watching. You'll be so frustrated and angry at the end that you'll demand from the writers the lost 2 hours of your life back.
-
Even though this is a low budget b-movie,it still is one of the best thrillers I have ever seen.And it absolutely lives up to it's name "intensity".It's about a psycho serial killer,played by John C. McGinley,which we also remember from the movies as "the rock". The serial killer in this movie is actually far worse than other serial killers from other movies,this one is a completely insane psycho mad man. The movie is completely breath-taking and I didn't relax for one minute when I watched it on tv.It is a mini series in two parts and therefor quit long.Almost 4 hours I think and that is a long time with intensity.
I recommend this movie to everyone that likes a good thriller and I guarantee that after watching the first 5 minutes you have to watch the whole movie.
Intensity is really one of the most terrifying movies you will ever see. -
Agent1017 March 2003In the lush backdrop of this great TV film, John C. McGinley and Molly Parker put together two of the most interesting performances in recent TV history. Not only was this film intense and actually scary, the fact no punches were pulled was rather refreshing. I say, give us more films like Intensity and Vanishing Point and leave the Hallmark garbage for Lifetime. I especially applaud McGinley, who stole the show after relegating much of his career as a chameleon-like character actor. However, I did wish the film followed the book a little more closely, keeping in the spectrum of Shepherd and Vess' point of view rather than trying to get more backdrop into the story. If I eve find this film on DVD, its certainly one for the ol' collection.