Intruders

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.

'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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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.

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.

Well, OK, let me first start by saying the movie is not "bad".

If you want to go watch an OK to somewhat decent movie, this one is for you, but if your aspirations are any higher you should look for elsewhere.

The movie starts slow but surely it states it's points pretty quickly. An invisible invader haunts 2 different kids from different places, a little kid and a not so little girl. The movie flow nice with the script but the actual "fright" scenes are not very much so, in fact, I didn't experience any scare whatsoever through the movie, and this comes from a guy who after watching The Mothman Prophecies had to sleep with the lights on and had goosebumps for the whole duration.

Sadly, this one, for a scare-suspense movie, does the complete opposite, it's plain and quite hollow. We never really find the motive of the attacks, and the motives are vague to say the least.

The main problem with this one is that the "bad guy" is not scary and the scary scenes don't work, that's it and it's enough for a movie of this genre to fail.

If we take out this one little problem, the rest of the movie is OK, good acting and some good twists at the end, but, the main flaws are too big. Number one, lack of good scares, lack of sense of danger, bad timing and for the most important part, a lack of purpose for the attacks.

To add insult to injury, there are scenes so clichéd that bend on ridicule, I can't, for the life of me picture a scary movie where the parents LEAVE the children in the same bed where a monster just attacked them. The first time this happens, well, it's OK, it's movies you know, common sense don't apply, the fifth time it's ridiculous, I would sleep with my kids the first time this happens, does anyone there takes notices of this huge mistakes in common sense?

Recommended only for a casual viewing if you don't have anything more worth watching, if you want real suspense go watch Mothman Prophecies.