Intruders

'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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Two children from two different countries are seemingly haunted by the same ghostly apparition. As the actions of this malevolent force begin to intrude more and more on their lives both desperately try to be rid of it once and for all.

The best thing about this movie is that it plays on fears and experiences that we have all had in our childhoods, the monster in the closet, the beast under the bed. Waking up in the night and hearing spooky sounds. It's these parts of the movie that are most effective in the scare stakes. Each time one of the children is cautiously peering over their bed sheets you know exactly how they are feeling.

Clive Owen as the father of the English girl is great. Playing the everyman role of the father fearing for his little girls safety is something he seems to take in his stride. The relationship between the father and daughter is very believable and helps towards the tension created later in the movie.

The other family's story a young boy and his single mother, I found distracted slightly from this story. Not that it's not interesting, it's just that I found the other story more interesting. The two do eventually collide and although you may see the twist coming before it's actually revealed it's still quite satisfying.

The feel and some of the imagery of Intruders brought to mind the 80's movie "paperhouse" which is a film I like and recommend if you enjoyed this movie.

The one real problem I had with the movie was the poor CG effects on the ghostly creature haunting the young boy and his mother. It seemed strange that they went with CG for one thread of the story and a much more convincing and creepier physical version for the other thread.

I did enjoy this film but I felt that it drifted a few times during the mid section. It's definitely one I could watch again.

Ah, the twist! The "surprise ending", the "shocker", or lack there of. There is an art to surprising people at the end of the movie that is the lifeblood of films like this. This one, unfortunately, is dry. They do a good job of setting up the scenes, making you thoroughly confused before explaining everything. If you can make it that long, which you might not be able to, it is a boring show and the pay off is somewhat weak.

Now, the acting is top notch, Clive Owens does an very good job of playing father, and the supporting cast really commits to this movie. That said, it isn't enough to carry the film through the normal jumps and grabs while you just sit there saying, 'get on with it!'

First off just a quick note, This is not a horror movie. I repeat this is not a horror movie but a drama with horror elements. Intruders is filled with some good ideas however the story and pacing fall flat on it's face. The movie tries to twist and turn the viewer with it's twist-ish ending but however it fails to create any emotion because it keeps certain details hidden from the viewer. The acting is okay throughout the film nothing great, but decent. however the one thing that kills this movie for me is the scene's where hollowface is all cgi. It's completely uncalled for and looks awful. I wish this movie could have been better but unfortunately it's lacking.

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.