Intensity is a 1997 American television psychological thriller film directed by Yves Simoneau, and starring John C. McGinley, Molly Parker, Piper Laurie, and Tori Paul.

Based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Dean Koontz, it focuses on a young woman who accompanies her friend home for Thanksgiving, only to be met by a violent serial killer.

Upon trying to fall back to sleep, a policeman, Ethan Trevaine, remembers the name Ariel from a missing person's case and begins investigating.

As a captive, Chyna speaks with Vess and has flashbacks to her traumatic childhood: as a little girl, she witnessed her disturbed, abusive mother and her boyfriend kill her neighbors.

When Vess is late returning to work after the Thanksgiving holiday, he lies and tells his boss he had to make a last-minute trip to Portland and got home later than expected.

In the aftermath, Chyna visits Ariel in a psychiatric hospital but is denied custody of her; she is told that the young girl will require extensive therapy to recover from her trauma.

[3] Ron Miller of Knight Ridder News praised the film as a "horror masterpiece, intelligently conceived and brilliantly executed, and the best program of its time television has ever produced.

"[4] Tom Shales of The Washington Post panned the film for its graphic subject matter, writing: "Intensity is certainly not without its shocks and scares.

"[5] Hal Boedeker of The Baltimore Sun criticized the film for its plot holes and cliched elements, writing: "So it pushes the boundaries for made-for-TV thrillers.

"[6] In a 2021 retrospective assessment of the film for Screen Rant, critic Cathal Gunning wrote that Intensity is the best adaptation of a Dean Koontz novel to date.