''Intruders'' is a 2011

supernatural horror film Supernatural horror film is a film genre that combines aspects of horror film and supernatural film. Supernatural occurrences in such films often include ghosts and demons, and many supernatural horror films have elements of religion. Common them ...

directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and written by the Spanish duo Nicolás Casariego and Jaime Marques. The film stars

Clive Owen Clive Owen (born 3 October 1964) is an English actor. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for playing the lead role in the ITV series ''Chancer'' from 1990 to 1991. He received critical acclaim for his work in the film '' Close ...

, Carice van Houten,

Daniel Brühl Daniel César Martín Brühl González Domingo (; born 16 June 1978) is a Spanish-German actor and filmmaker. He received his first German Film Award for Best Actor for his roles in '' Das Weisse Rauschen (The White Sound)'' (2001), ''Nichts ...

, Pilar López de Ayala, Ella Purnell, Izan Corchero,

Kerry Fox Kerry Lauren Fox (born 30 July 1966) is a New Zealand actress. She came to prominence playing author Janet Frame in the movie '' An Angel at My Table'' directed by Jane Campion, which gained her a Best Actress Award from the New Zealand Film a ...

and Héctor Alterio. The film follows a man and a woman trying to save their kids' life from an imaginary monster, known as Hollow Face, that is trying to take their face and soul. ''Intruders'' was released in Spain on 7 October 2011 by Universal Pictures International and in the United Kingdom on 27 January 2012 by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

. The film had grossed $5 million worldwide and received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, who praised its performances, atmosphere and the first act, but criticized its bland plot, use of jump scares and the film's villain.

Plot

Though no one can see him, Hollow Face lurks in the corners, desperately desiring love but only knowing how to spread fear and hate. In England, Hollow Face creeps into the life of John Farrow, after Farrow's 12-year-old daughter Mia is assaulted in their home. In Spain, Hollow Face creeps into the life of Luisa and her adolescent son Juan, after Juan 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 out Hollow Face.

Cast

as John Farrow * Carice van Houten as Susanna * Ella Purnell as Mia Farrow * Pilar López de Ayala as Luisa * Izan Corchero as Juan *

as Father Antonio * Mark Wingett as Grandfather * Lolita Chakrabarti as Dr. Roy *

as Dr. Rachel *

Raymond Waring Raymond Waring (born 21 July 1977) is an English actor. He was born in Liverpool and grew up in Runcorn, Cheshire, where he attended St. Chad's Secondary School. In 1994, he was accepted into the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain and, in ...

and Adam Leese as Policemen

Production

The film stars

, Carice van Houten and

. The shooting began in late June 2010, in London, Madrid and

Segovia Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia. Segovia is in the Inner Plateau ('' Meseta central''), near the northern slopes o ...

, under the directorial guidance of Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. The screenplay was written by the Spanish duo Nicolás Casariego and Jaime Marques, based on a story by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. Belén Atienza and Enrique López Lavigne works as producer for Antena 3 Films, Apaches Entertainment and

Release

''Intruders'' was released in Spain on 7 October 2011 by Universal Pictures International and in the United Kingdom on 27 January 2012 by

. In the United States, the film received a

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unit ...

on 30 March 2012 by

Millennium Entertainment Alchemy (formerly Millennium Entertainment) was an American independent global film distributor based in Los Angeles, California. The company acquired and distributed feature films, television series and specialty programming. History Millennium ...

Reception

Critical reception for ''Intruders'' the film has been mostly negative. Film review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

reported an approval rating of 32%, based on 72 reviews, with an average rating of 4.86/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "''Intruders'' has a fantastic first act but then settles into a bland plot and scare tactics that aren't all too scary". On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 45 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Lou Lumenick from the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' liked the film's opening and atmosphere but also criticised the film as being "underwhelming". Sean Burns from ''

Philadelphia Weekly ''Philadelphia Weekly'' (''PW'') is a website based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded as a newspaper in 1971 as ''The Welcomat'', a sister publication to the ''South Philadelphia Press''. In 1995, the paper became ''Philadelphia Weekl ...

'' gave the film a negative review, criticising the film's climax, special effects, "disparate" storyline, and slow pacing. Burns also criticised the film's monster as being "not-particularly-frightening".

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Intruders 2011 films 2011 horror films 2011 horror thriller films 2010s supernatural horror films 2010s supernatural thriller films American horror thriller films American supernatural horror films American supernatural thriller films British horror thriller films British supernatural horror films British supernatural thriller films English-language Spanish films Films about families Films directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo Films scored by Roque Baños Films set in London Films set in Madrid Films shot in London Films shot in Madrid 2010s Spanish-language films Spanish supernatural horror films Spanish thriller films Atresmedia Cine films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films 2010s British films 2010s Spanish films