Intruders

This movie was really good right up until the big reveal at the end where they throw away all the buildup on a really weak ending. This movie would have been a four-star cult classic if they’d kept going with the buildup instead of juking to the left. I will say that everything right up until the “reveal” was captivating and I was totally into the movie the entire time.

From a technical standpoint everything was well put together. The plot was tight and there wasn’t a lot of wasted time on things that had no bearing on the story. I found myself complimenting the camera direction most of all. The church scenes were a highlight in this department, I also enjoyed the subtle (and not so subtle) zooming and focus shifting.

The CGI was the weakest link here, but I wasn’t expecting top of the line digital effects. I bring it up specifically because at the very beginning of the movie when the “monster” is attacking the boy there is a very noticeable shift between CGI hands and live actor hands.

Acting was acceptable all around, and the music was your standard suspense fare.

Overall I’d tell you to watch this movie. It kept me entertained with the questions they wanted me to be thinking about (instead of some films where I’m left scratching my head as to what they’re trying to accomplish) and it wasn’t painful to watch. The only thing I can say is that you will be disappointed by the ending.

SPOILER TERRITORY LIES BELOW!!!

Honorable Mentions:

·      The old Priest calling out the mom for being crazy.

·      What’s the deal with the cats? I was disappointed they didn’t do anything with them.

·      I was in love with everything they did with the camera in the church. Especially any shot looking down over the characters through the cross.

·      The soccer scene where the young priest is like “hey Juan” and the kid just runs off.

Why the ending sucked:

They spend the first half of the film building up this monster as a real haunting and then turn it around with everything being in Clive Owen’s head. Then they take it a step further and give you the reason WHY Clive Owen’s character created the monster in the first place and I’m eating this shit up its so good. Then they go with the whole “oh the monster IS real” and the daughter is totes haunted instead of keeping us on the Clive Owen crazy train.

It would have been a much better movie if the daughter was traumatized by her father’s actions (as a crazy person attacking something that wasn’t there) for the reason she became mute, and at the end of the movie Clive Owen’s character (after learning the truth) accepted the fact that he made the whole thing up. But no, let’s solve our problems with the power of family, togetherness, and some sort of fever dream.