Unlawful Entry

Unlawful Entry is a tense, uncomfortable home invasion thriller where the intruder is the one person who should protect you from that sort of thing: a police officer. It's a perfect concept for a thriller and here its executed to spine tingling effect, through great performances and an intimately hair raising atmosphere. Kurt Russell and Madeleine Stowe play a well to do yuppie couple whose house is broken into by a petty thief one night. The officer who answers their call the next day (Ray Liotta) is friendly, helpful and goes out of his way to ensure that a security system is installed and that they feel safe. His kindness takes a creepy turn though, when he sets his sights on beautiful Stowe, Russell's wife. He gets scarier and scarier, eventually becoming totally unhinged and zoning right in on her with volatile lust and unhealthy sociopathic obsession that tears all three lives apart. Liotta is scary good, and his eerie transformation from likable upstanding guy to violent stalker madman is something from a nightmare. Some scenes are downright nasty to keep your eyes on, and you really feel sick watching Stowe get exposed to this cruelty. She's darkly radiant as always though, and Russell shows fear and fury in an awesome role that isn't an easy one to play. Domestic thrillers are a dime a dozen, and often can descend into seedy melodrama, but this one takes the high road and uses genuine skill and well orchestrated tension to glue us in our seats.

I remember seeing this film in theaters in 1992 at the tender age of 12, and I can recall now how frightened I was. That just goes to show the professionalism involved in this first-rate thriller. When a cop is on your back, what are you gonna do? Call the cops? Hmmmm....Kurt Russell and Madeleine Stowe struggle to find that answer here. Ray Liotta has never been creepier. Kurt Russell shines yet again in a role balancing the everyman we can relate to and the hero we cheer for in the end. One of the best thrillers of the 1990s.

I consider myself a big film buff, but before I'd seen it recently, I'd never even heard of Unlawful Entry. The story is pretty simple: a couple in love (Kurt Russell and Madeline Stowe) make friends with a cop (Ray Liotta) who turns out to be possessive and to make their lives a living hell (see also: The Cable Guy, which follows the same lines). But, with a simple story, this low-key film deserves recognition for being a clever and original thriller. Throughout the film, you feel all the emotions that Kurt Russell is feeling as his life is slowly taken away from him by the ever-menacing Ray Liotta. In brief, this is a fabulous film, which was under-appreciated and a missed hit.

A couple are befriended by a police officer who answers their burglary call, but his attentions increase to a point of obsession and he beings to make their lives uncomfortably difficult pushing them both to breaking point.

Released the same year as spate of 1992 thrillers including Single White Female, Basic Instinct, Traces of Red, Consenting Adults and Final Analysis name a few Unlawful Entry is a tighter than the aforementioned. It's easy to knock a film in retrospect, as it's been done so many times since but at the time while not totally original it encompassed the best of the genre. Jonathan Kaplan delivers a very entertaining obsession flick and while borrowing elements from Pacific Heights (1990),Cape Fear (1991) & (1962) Lewis Colick's screenplay plays out interesting character developments and arcs especially as Kurt Russell's Michael Carr unravels and Ray Liotta's Pete Davis unveils.

Liotta is perfect as Davis an unbalanced police officer and Russell hams it up, debatably a little too much, as the aggravated husband. There's an overlooked supporting cast, including Ken Lerner and Madeleine Stowe in her heyday. James Horner's score is strong and of its time and it all adds up to an engaging thriller that would later be emulated in Lakeview Terrace (2008) and The Fan (1996).

Worth viewing if only for the underrated Liotta in one of his better roles.

When I first watched this film, I could not help but marvel at how brilliant Ray Liotta was at his role. Even though Kurt Russell and Madeleine Stowe both gave very good performances, it is Ray Liotta that stands out the most. I found that the transition that Liotta made between playing a nice guy to an obsessed and jealous psycho was absolutely outstanding.I believe he deserved an award for his exceptional performance. Not many actors could pull off a performance like Liotta did. Overall I felt that this film was a well thought out thriller, and was well cast. It definitely deserves the credit it gets. I would thoroughly recommend this film to anyone who enjoys a good thriller.