Intrusos

A supernatural creature terrorizes a child, and the adults in that child's life either dismiss the child's fears as nightmarish, or assume the child has some sort of psychosis. This plot line has been done so many times that it's amazing that adults in present-day movies don't second guess themselves more often.

"Intruders" has a bit more of a clever twist to this tired horror movie story line in that the terrorized child, 12-year-old Mia (Ella Purnell), at least has an ally in her father John (Clive Owen), who has actually seen the being trying to harm his daughter.

The being, known to Mia as Hollowman, wears a dark hood and cloak that moves mysteriously in the air like something out of "The Matrix" (1999). The mysterious spirit has the shape of a man, but its face is completely obscured by its hood, making it look a lot like Bruce Willis in the underrated "Invincible" (2000).

The unwelcome visitor does not speak, but Mia somehow knows it does not have a face, and is willing to steal one from a child. Also, despite the plurality of the movie's title, there is only one intruder: this one.

Mia is apparently not the only child haunted by this creature. A much younger Spanish boy named Juan (Izan Corchero) also receives visits from it. The film intersects between the nightly terrors of Mia and Juan, and it makes you wonder what the connection is between these two children. Why did this spirit choose to haunt these two children in two different European countries (Great Britain and Spain), when there are millions of other children in this world whose face (or faces) he could steal? The way these two children's stories intersect is revealed late in the film in a twist I honestly did not see coming. Because it was so clever, I can't ruin it for you, the reader, either.

Unfortunately, it being a horror movie and a suspense thriller, the moments that were supposed to be shocking, and scary, weren't either. The film made the fatal mistake of making the music, which gradually got louder as a scary moment or a "gotcha!" part was approaching, ruin the overall suspense. By the time the mysterious hooded person appeared from out of the dark closet, the score felt more like a great opening act for a weak headliner.

The shock value of this film, or lack thereof, is even more unfortunate when you consider the superb cinematography and great acting from just about everyone involved. Clive Owen rarely fails to disappoint, and fortunately plays a parent who actually believes his petrified daughter.

I especially liked Ella Purnell, who is the kind of child actress who guys in their 20's look at and say, "In five years, she's going to be really hot!" Besides being strikingly beautiful, Purnell looks genuinely scared during the scenes with the creature in the hood, and she is very convincing as Owen's daughter in other less-intense scenes.

I also thought every scene with Corchero, as Juan, and his mother Luisa (Pilar Lopez de Ayala), scary or not, was done incredibly well. They played in good contrast to scenes involving John and Mia. Whereas John believes his daughter's problems are more than nightmares, Luisa believes her son, but uses words of comfort almost in vain. She tries to tell her boy it's only a bad dream, when she's really trying to convince herself. It's a fascinating paradox.

Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo is best known to American audiences as the writer & director of "28 Weeks Later" (2007), the well-received sequel to Danny Boyle's acclaimed "28 Days Later" (2003). He definitely knows his horror films, which is why it's so disappointing that "Intruders" didn't live up to his previous effort. While great acting and a dark, eerie atmosphere strengthened this movie, it wasn't enough to scare me.

Putting it another way, I consider a great horror film one where my hands are covering my entire face except one eye, and two of my fingers are on standby to affix over that eye should a scary moment present itself. With "Intruders", throughout the scary parts, my hands remained at my sides.

People are too uneducated these days about scary movies, they think they should all be 'horror' movies. You'll see this 'disappointment' in a lot of reviews for this movie: Oh it was the worst horror movie ever, not scary enough, blah blah. But see,.. it's a Psycho Thriller.

It's about the mind. Not blood and gore, not melting flesh. It's about how horror comes to life around us - when it is real, when it is imagined, and when it's real because it has been imagined.

Good movie. Enjoy.

This sentence is here just because IMDb thinks reviews have to be longer than they need to be, and most reviewers agree, so they spend a lot of time telling you the same thing you just read in the movie description and how pleased they were to catch it at some film festival.

This film seems to have a very low key marketing and I haven't even seen many critics reviews for it despite it already opening.

I found this to be a pretty decent supernatural bogeyman type thriller with some intriguing psychological twists and turns. The scares are sparsely spread but are effective when they do come. The storyline is quite compelling and is told in two completely separate strands whose only apparent connection is the bogeyman. It had me very engaged and a very creepy atmosphere is maintained.

The performance from all the actors including the children were good, nothing outstanding, just played to realistic levels. There isn't a lot of emotional weight to the characters but I cared about the child protagonists, who are victimised by the "Freddie Nightmare" style dream monster.

The last act is a good one but unfortunately, it was sloppily executed. The finale should have been more dynamic with a bigger impact on its revelations. Given the storyline, its a missed opportunity for the director. Also, there is a big chance you might see some twists coming due to the film's narrative giving too many clues, again a bit sloppy. I did see the revelations coming to an extent but there was still a twist that I didn't expect. I do like the story, its a satisfying one but the execution could have been much better which is a pity. Still the journey was an intriguing one, at times scary and definitely worth a watch.

Intruders is a horror tale of possession in which two children in two different countries are visited by the Hollow Face man who spreads fear across the globe . There's a spooky faceless monster that has been haunting the daughter of John Farrow (Clive Owen). This figure wants to steal her face as she feels he has no identity of his own . John's tried helping his daughter remedy the situation, but each night she still gets a visit from this unwelcomed friend. Things get even spookier once John sees this faceless creature. He's not sure if he's going completely crazy or not, so he installs a security camera . Though no one can see him , Hollow Face lurks in the corners, desperately desiring love but only knowing how to spread fear and hate. He creeps into the life of John Farrow after Farrow's beloved 13-year-old daughter Mia (Ella Purnell) is assaulted in their home . The line between the real and the imaginary blurs as fissures start to open within the family unit . It seems that no security measure can keep Hollow Face out . Furthermore we're initially introduced to Juan (Izán Corchero) a young Spanish boy who, on one rainy night, is attacked by a strange spectre , known as Hollow face , being helped by his mother (Pilar Gomez Ayala) .

The picture displays mystery, suspense, shocks, grisly terror and eerie scenes when the horrific creature appears . From start to finish the terror and spooky scenes are continuous until a striking ending . The film contains horrifying and hair rising images and a sinister, mysterious atmosphere . It has a couple of twists piled on top of one central twist concerning two children in different countries who are visited nightly by a faceless being and menaced by what seems to be a supernatural presence . Good performance by Clive Owen who stars as John Farrow, a father trying to protect his 13-year-old daughter from the evil entity known as Hollow Face . The acting from Clive Owen , Carice van Houten as his wife , Daniel Bruhl as a priest , Kerry Fox as a Doctor , Hector Alterio as an old priest is much better than the script . Nicolás Casariego and Jaime Marques' screenplay does something strange by the end : it actually removes the stakes of everything that came before with its trio of revelations that at first test and then demolish any credulity the movie had built up by that point. Both of whom manage to create some interest with their dual storytelling style . However , the picture is hampered by a partially fleshed out story that is mostly lacking in horror. Director Fresnadillo throws all of that away in exchange for a terror film without scares, originality or a pulse . Colorful cinematography plenty of lights and shades by excellent cameraman Enrique Chediak . Creepy and thrilling music adjusted to the horror film by Roque Baños .

Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (Intacto , 28 Weeks Later) isn't exactly a visionary director like the film bills him as, but he is good at approaching films with style and consistent moods . The director made an editing the film was a big challenge , it was a long, complex process because of the story's dual structure. The film will appeal to terror buffs but gets some decent scares with the apparition of the frightening faceless being who wants to take possession of the children.

'INTRUDERS': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

A Spanish and British horror film starring Clive Owen and directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (who also directed the Spanish/British horror sequel '28 WEEKS LATER'). The film was written by Nicolas Casariego and Jaime Marques and tells the story of two children in different countries who are both haunted by the same demon looking to possess them. It co-stars Carice van Houten, Pilar Lopez de Ayala, Ella Purnell, Izan Corchero and Daniel Bruhl. The movie contains some frightening sequences and some decent acting but for the most part is a bore.

One story is set in Madrid and focuses on a young boy named Juan (Corchero) who is terrorized by a monster called Hollowface. His mother (Ayala) sees the demon as well but is unable to stop it so she calls on a local priest (Bruhl) to help exorcise it. Another story focuses on a young girl named Mia (Purnell), in London, who is haunted by the same ghost. Before seeing the monster she had found a box with the story of it hidden in a tree at her grandparents' house. She had been telling the story of 'Hollowface' to other students at her school before being stalked by it as well. Her father John (Owen) is extremely close to Mia, and protective of her, so when he sees the monster as well he becomes obsessed with stopping it. Unfortunately it's unclear whether the monster is in fact real or just a figment of their imagination and John's wife Susanna (Houten) is starting to believe the latter (as well as the priest in Madrid).

The movie has decent enough production values and looks great (for a low budget horror film); the monster looks cool as well and is pretty frightening. Like I said earlier the acting is all adequate as well, especially another passion filled performance by Owen: he kind of holds the movie together. The directing is decent enough as well but the overall storytelling leaves much to be desired. It's just too slow paced and uninvolving, despite the passionate performance of Mr. Owen. If you're just looking for some cheap monster movie thrills you could do a lot worse but you could also do a lot better.

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