Intruders (I) (2011)

Two children living in different countries are visited nightly by a faceless being who wants to take possession of them.

Director:

Juan Carlos Fresnadillo

Writers:

Nicolás Casariego (screenplay), Jaime Marques (screenplay)

Stars:

Clive Owen, Carice van Houten, Ella Purnell

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Clive Owen	...	John Farrow
Carice van Houten	...	Susanna
Daniel Brühl	...	Father Antonio
Pilar López de Ayala	...	Luisa
Ella Purnell	...	Mia
Izán Corchero	...	Juan
Kerry Fox	...	Dr. Rachel
Héctor Alterio	...	Old Priest
Adrian Rawlins	...	Police Inspector
Michael Nardone	...	Frank
Mark Wingett	...	Dave
Peter O'Connor	...	Frank
Mary Woodvine	...	Teacher
Lolita Chakrabarti	...	ER Doctor
Ralph Ineson	...	Alarm Installer

Storyline

In Madrid, the boy Juan is terrified by the monster Hollowface and his mother is unable to protect him so summons Father Antonio to exorcise the monster from their lives. In London, the construction worker John Farrow is very close to his teenage daughter Mia. One day, Mia is spending the day at her grandparents' house in the countryside with her mother Susanna and she finds a box with the story of Hollowface hidden in a tree. Soon Mia sees the monster Hollowface in the closet of her bedroom and John defends her. When they are attacked for the second time, the security camera that John has installed does not show any intruder. Are Mia and John delusional?

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Plot Keywords:

psychologist | hallucination | construction site | protective father | cat | 

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Taglines:

The Nightmare is Real.

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for terror, horror violence, some sexuality/nudity and language

Details

Country:

USA UK Spain

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

7 October 2011 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Intrusos

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$40,746 (USA) (30 March 2012)

Gross:

$64,727 (USA) (6 April 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Antena 3 Films, Apaches Entertainment, Canal+ España

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The director said that editing the film was a big challenge. It was a long, complex process because of the story's dual structure.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Juan: The shadow monster woke up. It saw the boy in the pot and said:
Juan: [making his voice gruff] "Mmmm. I'm starving. I'm going to eat you up."
Juan: So the monster opened his mouth wide and swallowed the little tailor whole. The boy fell and fell into a dark cave filed with slime...
Luisa: Is that it?
Juan: That's all I could come up with.
Luisa: Well, you'll think of something tomorrow. Let's go to bed.

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Connections

Referenced in Who Is Hollowface? - The Making of 'Intruders' (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Painted Up Doll"
Written and performed by Ella Hunt

User Reviews

A welcome intruder.

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.