Unlawful Entry Poster

Unlawful Entry (1992)

Crime | Thriller 
Rayting:   6.3/10 14.9K votes
Country: Japan | USA
Language: English | Spanish
Release date: 1 October 1992

After a break in at their house, a couple gets help from one of the cops that answered their call. He helps them install the security system, and begins dropping by on short notice and ...

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User Reviews

mdefranc 11 August 2004

A gifted Liotta surprised me once again in the sinister role of schizo-cop he carries out. I must say that his demeanor, his voice, his insanity are the backbone of the whole movie. With that said, I feel comfortable enough stating that Kurt Russel and Madeleine Stowe struck me only as ancillary characters, in other words they were only the frame and not the picture.

Unlike the young mafioso he played in Good Fellas, where his conscience gets in the way all the time, Liotta shows a rather dark and unstable himself in Unlawful Entry, willing to go any distance to "win" Russell's wife. Although some may say that a better photography job could have been done, the director concentrated himself on the main subject (Liotta), his face, his voice, his movements, his (I dare to say) needy behavior.

A rather similar ending to Internal Affair, 1990, starring Richard Gere and Andy Garcia, where the bad cop dies at the end, although Gere's interest was not the attractive colleague's wife. Another intriguing and sickening L.A. story..sick city of angels.

amesmonde 19 May 2011

Fmovies: 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.

bkoganbing 5 August 2009

Unlawful Entry casts Kurt Russell and Madeline Stowe as a typical Los Angeles Yuppie couple who get a very big jolt in their lives when a junkie breaks in looking for what to rob and messes with both Kurt and Madeline physically and emotionally.

But the cure is far worse than the disease when Officers Ray Liotta and Roger E. Mosley respond to the scene. Liotta gradually insinuates himself in their lives because he thinks that Stowe is sending up signals that she wants him. This of course sets up the conflict between Liotta and Russell for the rest of the film. With Liotta having a badge and gun, he's at a decided advantage to say the least.

The film does belong to Liotta who seems like a normal middle class guy who went into law enforcement at first. It's a subtle piece of acting on Liotta's part as we see his true nature gradually revealed. The man does have issues which are revealed in his encounter with working girl Rosa Salazar and later as he commits some Unlawful Entry and watches Russell and Stowe getting it on. Of course since he's a cop it can't be Unlawful Entry.

Ken Lerner has a nice part in this film as Russell's lawyer, the kind you make jokes about, but also the kind it's good to have on your side when you're in trouble.

Unlawful Entry is a good, if a tad unrealistic film. One thing I will say though at the end it's absolutely anyone's guess as to what will happen with the survivors.

NateWatchesCoolMovies 8 August 2015

Unlawful Entry fmovies. 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.

The_Void 15 October 2006

Unlawful Entry is by no means a great film; not even by genre standards, but it still stands out as a more than adequate example of the genre, and aptly portrays the basic thriller tradition. Next to thrillers from the same period; films like Basic Instinct, Unlawful Entry may seem a little tame, but as it puts the focus on its trio of central characters, the film becomes more interesting than it would have if experienced director Jonathan Kaplan had tried for more action and sex scenes. The film portrays the frightening idea of someone 'above the law' abusing their power for their own means, and does this through police officer Pete Davis. The action centres on married couple Michael and Karen Carr, who call the police one night after a thief breaks in and holds the wife to knife point. However, it turns out that they've actually made things worse for themselves as the officer sent to the house takes a liking to Karen, and thus makes it his business to infiltrate their relationship and try to take Michael's wife for himself...

It has to be said that the film doesn't offer much in the way of surprises, as the plot is purely formulaic and can be likened to any number of similar films, but somehow the familiarity of the plot gives it something of a relaxed feel, and while experienced movie watchers will feel that they've seen it all before, the film is carried off with enough panache to see it through. Unlawful Entry relies a lot on its actors, and the three at the centre of the story manage to deliver worthwhile performances. Kurt Russell gets toned down in his role as the unlucky husband, while Madeleine Stowe doesn't get to do any heavyweight acting, but at least looks nice. The pair doesn't really have any chemistry together, which is a shame and brings the piece down - but this is offset by a conniving Ray Liotta, who manages to get under the skin despite looking a bit like David Hasselhoff. The film is always interested, but never really intriguing; although the plot does work well and the ending is fitting in context. Overall, this is not great or a must see film; but its decent enough and I don't regret watching it.

refinedsugar 17 February 2000

I've heard people who took in a viewing of this movie say it was slow. I didn't feel it was slow. There was scenes that didn't directly deal with the main plot, but I liked that because we get to know what kind of people these are and just not some vaguely sketched characters. It's here the movie works because it lines you up and scares you in real world fashion. The reality to the proceeding give it the urban horror feel and not something made up that we could never identify with or seeing happening in our real lives.

The cast carries this out efficiently while if I had any complaint about the movie it would be Kurt Russell in the smaller role as the husband. I really like Kurt Russell and unfortunately there isn't a lot for him to bite into as the real star of this movie is Ray Liotta. Who I feel bad for lately since he hasn't been able to escape this sort of psycho role, but there's no denying that he's good at it and he is largely what makes Unlawful Entry rank amongst the best of the urban psycho dramas. The story might be predictable in spots, but good performances and great atmosphere go a long way.

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