Movie Review - Intruders

Intruders (2012)

Starring Clive Owen, Carice von Houten, Ella Purnell, Pilar López de Ayala, and Izán Corchero

Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

What we imagine can oftentimes be much more frightening than anything realistic and that's the case in Intruders, a horror flick that had a limited release earlier this year.  The movie tells two parallel stories -- one set in Spain and the other in Britain -- about two kids imagining a creature named Hallowface, a faceless entity who prowls the night for faces to remove from people to take as his own.  As the two children are forced to confront this creature from their nightmares, their families find themselves being drawn into the horror much to their dismay.

I will admit that I watched this on my computer and the whole thing looked awfully dark and almost incomprehensible at times.  I fully understand that the director -- like most helmers of horror flicks -- was going for a shadowy tone, but it was much too under-lighted to even see what was going on.  [Then again, as I pointed out, perhaps not viewing this on a larger screen hurt.]  Still, beyond the visuals, there's simply not a lot going on here.  While the story is fine and the acting is certainly better than expected, I couldn't help but think there wasn't really enough here to warrant a feature-length film. Unfortunately, both parallel stories are essentially telling the same tale without enough to differentiate them beyond the subtitles in the Spanish half.  Yes, the movie ends with an interesting enough twist to make me feel that I didn't waste my time, but it's not enough to warrant a glowing review.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-