Sometimes a simple idea -- something novel and refreshing -- can make for great entertainment. But sometimes a simple idea is simply a simple idea. Such is the case with Intruders, from director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. The film, a genre-bending mesh of ghostly thrillers and psychological drama, incoherently toggles between two families in the midst of a rather strange phenomenon.
In Spain, a young boy is terrorized by a supernatural faceless enemy wearing a hooded jacket. In England, a young girl writes a story about a similar monster and starts to encounter him as well. As it turns out, both families are being haunted by the same unknown force.
Without spoiling the film's central twist, Intruders was meant to convey the nature of fear and its origins. In this case, the entity – while ghostly in appearance – is actually a creature of the past. In other words, the film is less focused on its horror elements and more about how fear psychologically affects us.
Fresnadillo uses his characters to illustrate an actual event in his past; however in doing so, he renders a film that is both confusing and perhaps too narrow at times. And once the twist is revealed, and the audience sees how simple the convoluted narrative really was, there isn't much replay value to the film.
Most genre lovers will be able to pick up on the film's twists rather quickly, leaving a mostly dry, uneventful experience with very few scares and not much intrigue. Clive Owen, who plays the young girl's father, does elevate the picture some despite having very little to do in the film other than look shocked and scared. The personal nature of the story is not necessarily relatable, either, which dampens much of the horror. The ghostly clichés are piled on which further adds insult to injury. And there's not much momentum to the narrative, which is a surprise given Fresnadillo's energetic body of work, which includes 28 Weeks Later.
The film does have a few decent scares and some interesting visuals, reminiscent of Guillermo Del Toro's work, mostly toward the finale, but it's too little too late. The 90 minutes that led up to the film's haunting conclusion are too dry and oddly disconnected to really work. The simple idea that guides Intruders is both worn and tiresome, and Fresnadillo, quite sadly, adds little flavor and originality to the template.
Intruders comes to Blu-ray presented in 2.35:1, encoded in 1080p/AVC. The film is mixed in 5.1 Dolby TrueHD. Shot on 35mm, Intruders has a classy, moody appearance not too dissimilar from other Spanish horror films of its type. The encode is mostly pristine with just a hint of noise every now and then. No artifacting, banding or other intrusive errors distort the image whatsoever. Colors are a touch saturated, but add to the film's visual allure. Blacks are consistent with minimal bleed. While the transfer for Intruders doesn't necessarily pop off the screen, it does look very good.
The audio, unfortunately, is terrible. While mixing is aggressive and occasionally terrifying as well as atmospheric, the film's center channel is tuned incredibly low with dialogue that's often inaudible. The film's finale is damaged so much by this flaw that it virtually ruins the emotional punch of the entire picture. Just a little bit better leveling and this mix would have been eons better. As it stands, viewers will likely find themselves playing around with the volume knob often.
Extras are a tad on the thin side. There's a relatively brief featurette and a 19-minute behind-the-scenes feature, as well as trailers for other Millennium Entertainment films. The behind-the-scenes material is well worth a look, but it would've been nice to hear a commentary track from director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, especially because the story is connected to his own past.
Intruders has a few scary moments, and some decent performances, especially from Clive Owen, but the film is simply too dull, too slow and not quite scary enough to win over genre fans. However, if you're looking for something with more of a psychological edge to it, and a few scares, Intruders might do the trick -- just don't expect a masterpiece.
If you haven't already, be sure to read our interview with director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo.
Source : feeds.ign.com
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