One of my favorite things about perusing the new titles that come out is finding films that nobody has ever heard about. Mostly this is made up of straight-to-DVD schlock starring Robert Englund or Val Kilmer, and while those do have their place and possess their own special kind of entertainment value, every once in a while I will come across a quality movie that flew under everyone's radar for reasons that I seriously couldn't tell you. "Intruders" fit the bill as far as that goes.
I hadn't heard a darn thing about this film, and to be honest, upon reading the back of the case, I was skeptical. It described a monster called "Hollowface" that was terrorizing two kids who lived in different parts of the world, because he wanted their faces. That sounds lame. "Hollowface?" Really? That just sounds like the villain in a really bad slasher movie, you know? Added to the low bar I had set for this was the fact that it stars Clive Owen, an actor I'm not overly fond of. So I went in not expecting much.
At this point I should mention that another one of my favorite things is being surprised. This was pretty freaking good.
The first thing that struck me about "Intruders" is that it's very Neil Gaiman-esque, although the true scope of how similar in tone this is to Gaiman's work isn't fully relieved until the second half of the film. It has a wicked "dark fairy tale" thing going on, which only gets more pronounced the further it progresses. It reminded me a bit of "Coraline," Guillermo Del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth," or Terry Gilliam's sublime "Tideland."
Few things are as horrifying as the mind of a child.
A lot of this has to do with children being put in terrifying situations, but they also all have a recurring theme of imagination, often coming from innocence, leading to very dark and horrific situations. Perhaps it is this innocence that the darkness is coming from that makes it so chilling. What is fascinating to me, however, is that in these films, the children don't seem to fully comprehend the darkness as something to be feared. They spin their creepy stories, travel down their dark passageways, totally rolling with the horror that surrounds them when an adult in the same situation would freeze and panic, and deny what they're seeing as impossible to be true. In a way, their adaptability is what is scary for us as adults, because we know better. Perhaps that makes us weaker.
Oddly enough, while it was plenty creepy. I don't even know if I'd call this a horror film, to be honest with you. And that's not because it wasn't creepy, which it was. Good lord was it creepy in spades. "Intruders" did an incredible job of slowly building up a situation, and presents you with unique and horrendously scary images which are presented very matter-of-fact, without overblown theatrics or horror movie cliches. It honestly does scary stuff far too well to be considered much a modern horror film. If you're looking for stuff to jump out of the shadows to try and shock you instead of scare, this ain't the movie for you.
And thank goodness it's not. I hate that crap. Jump scares are the bane of the horror genre's existence, and it's so refreshing to see a movie that isn't afraid to NOT use them at all. Seriously, I don't think there's a single jump scare in the entire film, and what do you know, it still manages to be scarier than any other movie I've seen this year. Oh it may be true that my heart wasn't pounding from the adrenaline being rocketed into my veins due to the fake-out 9,000 decibel orchestra sting playing as a kitty jumps out of a closet, but I can assure you that the skin on the back of my neck was crawling like mad through nearly the entire film, usually from a scene with barely any music at all.
Well.I guess I'M not getting to sleep tonight...
What movie sounds like the more legitimately scary experience to you?
The dark situation that is occurring in "Intruders" is a bit difficult to explain without giving away ridiculous spoilers, and trust me, this is not a movie you want spoiled. I shall do my best to describe it while got giving anything away. Just know that it's actually far more interesting that I can adequately describe in these circumstances.
The description on the case that rang so hollow is basically accurate. Clive Owen and Carice van Houten's (Hey! Melisandre from "Game of Thrones!") daughter, played quite well by Ella Purnell, is living in what I'm guessing is somewhere in the U.K., and new comer Izán Corchero plays another child who I'm guessing lives either in Spain or Mexico. It's never mentioned to my recollection, but it's somewhere Spanish-speaking. They are both being tormented by this creature they name Hollowface, who attacks them at night. Why they are both being haunted, and what Hollowface wants with them, is a mystery.
What the description doesn't tell you is that the way these two stories interconnect, and you're spending the whole movie trying to piece together what on earth the stories have to do with each other, is so masterfully executed and revealed that I have to put it up there with the most shocked I've ever been while watching a movie. And it's not only shocking, but also a lot of fun to finally see all the pieces fit together. And like any good twist, it changes everything about what you've seen up to that point. Scenes that were just kind of weird or confusing at first now make total sense, and previously unseen layers appear to make the story much richer and interesting to think about and dissect.
This is the reason to watch "Intruders." The lead in, while interesting and engaging, isn't quite so memorable as the payoff of the final 15 minutes, which are insane. In fact, the final 15 minutes of the film changes things up in such a significant way that it is enough to make one think of "Intruders" as an artsy film that is functioning as a metaphor, as opposed to a horror film about a monster. Yeah, that's right, we're going into "The Fountain" territory here.
Of course, when a movie is more of a metaphor than anything else, that's when the story can start breaking down a bit in terms of sense-make, because there are some things that really didn't add up at the end. But while it may not make a whole lot of sense when you sit back and think about it in any great detail later, the overall tone and mystery of the film is so all-encompassing that it really doesn't matter that much.
Part of me feels that, although the film does a shockingly good job of linking these two stories together by the end, it's almost as if this isn't supposed to make sense. It's more about conveying an otherworldly tone. And when a movie does that this well, it's easy to let slide some things that I would otherwise nitpick to death. When a movie reaches a certain level of vagueness, I can't really be mad when not everything is neatly explained, you know what I'm saying? At that point, I'm willing to let a lot of stuff go.
THE BOTTOM LINE - "Intruders" is one of the most unique, genre bending experiences I've seen in years. Coupled with the Neil Gaimen-style tone, an ending that is probably the most blown away I've been with a twist since "Fight Club" or "The Sixth Sense," and the fact that there was not a single point where I called anything to happen the way it did, this gets my seal of approval. I even liked Clive Owen in it. Who would have thought a movie with a villain called "Hollowface" could be so damn good? Highly Recommended.
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