Chyna Shepherd is a twenty-six-year-old psychology student who survived an extremely troubled past. While visiting Laura Templeton's house, a farm in the Napa Valley. A serial killer named Edgler Foreman Vess breaks into the house, killing Laura and her parents. Chyna survives, but she learns of Vess's captive: a girl, just as innocent as Chyna, trapped in Vess's home far from the Napa Valley.
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A 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.
If I asked you guys, what movie is about a girl going to a remote home of a friend to visit, and a killer comes in, kills all the family, doesn't find her hiding under the bed. Then the killer loads the body of the girl's friend in his vehicle, and she gets in there too and they stop at a gas station, and the killer kills the people at the gas station while the girl hides, and then when the killer takes off, she gets in a car and chases him and they have a confrontation, I'll bet the majority of you would all guess the same movie, and it wouldn't be "Intensity", unless you all ready knew about this TV movie based on the Dean R. Koontz's novel. So, I am thoroughly convinced "Haute Tension" was taken pretty much directly from "Intensity". This 3-hour TV movie is absolutely sensational, with amazing performances by Molly Parker as the girl and John C. McGinley as the killer. Why this has not been released properly on DVD is a total disgrace. This movie never lets up, and like it's title, it is as intense as any movie you are likely to see. Full bore all the way, and Molly's character stays with, and then chases down the killer, when she finds out he is hiding a missing little girl in his cellar at his home. This is where it breaks quite a bit from "Haute Tension" with a different plot line after the initial stuff I mentioned. Made over ten years ago, this movie holds up today very very well, and is a real thrill ride of a movie. I got it from a cable broadcast, and the copy was very good, and if you liked "Haute Tension", which most of us did, then you will absolutely love this television version of "Intensity". No, it does not have the gore of course, but it doesn't need gore, you'll be on the edge of your seat all the way.
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!
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?
