Unlawful Entry is a 1992 thriller film directed by Jonathan Kaplan starring Kurt Russell, Ray Liotta and Madeleine Stowe. Involving a couple who befriend a lonely policeman, only for him to develop a fixation on the wife (only she doesn't feel the same way, leading to chilling consequences). Ray Liotta was nominated for an MTV Movie Awards in 1993 for his portrayal of the psychopathic cop.
Plot
In Los Angeles, Michael Carr (Kurt Russell) and Karen Carr (Madeleine Stowe) are a yuppie couple living in an upscale part of town, and their peace of mind is upset by an intruder coming in through their skylight one night.
The intruder doesn't take anything except Karen, briefly, as a hostage, before dumping her in the swimming pool and making his escape. The Carrs call in the police, one of whom, Pete Davis (Ray Liotta), takes an interest in the couple's case. He cuts through department red tape and expedites speedy installation of a security system in the Carrs' house.
When Michael expresses an interest in getting revenge on the intruder, Pete invites him on a "ridealong" with his partner, Roy Cole (Roger E. Mosley).
After dropping Cole off, Pete takes Michael out to arrest the man who broke into the Carrs' house, offering Michael a chance to take some revenge, using Pete's nightstick.
Michael declines, but Pete administers a vicious beating to the intruder, leaving Michael deeply suspicious of Pete's mental stability. He suggests that Pete should get some professional help and, especially, stay far away from him and Karen in the future.
But Pete takes neither suggestion, instead beginning to prey on the couple, and in particular, on Karen, with whom he's obsessed. Pete even appears in the couple's bedroom one night while they are making love, just to "check that everything's O.K."
When Michael files a complaint against Pete's unwanted attentions, Pete uses his police connections to destroy Michael's business reputation. Encountering bemused apathy from Pete's superiors in the LAPD, Michael turns to Cole, (who orders his partner to cease his obsessing, see a shrink or face suspension) -- whom Pete then murders (blaming it on a known criminal). And then Pete frames Michael on drug charges by planting a high supply of cocaine in Michael's and Karen's house, leaving the way clear for Pete to move in on Karen.
In doing so, it meant Pete had to kill a fellow police officer, a close friend who knew about his obsession with Karen. Later on he disposes of a nosy neighbor friend of Karen (by suffocation), who Karen finds stuffed in a closet to further implicate either Mike or her.
Putting his attorney's finances on the line, Michael gets out on bail and takes matters into his own hands. Back at the Carr house, Karen rejects a now distraught Pete, who (on branding her a tease for leading him on and kissing him) goes beserk and tries to rape her. A confrontation with Mike returning home ends in Michael shooting Pete dead (with his own side arm) in (contrived) self defense.
Main cast
Reception
The movie was released in the USA on June 26, 1992, opening at #2 in 1,511 theaters, an average of $6,662 per theater. Grossing $10,067,609 in the opening weekend, it went on to gross $57,138,719 in the domestic market.[2]
References
See also
External links
