Please don't spend money on this.

One of my all time favorites.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The acting in this movie is really good.

This movie was a real treat to finally find something on Netflix to watch worth the $7.95 I pay each month. If I were you, I would stay away from long reviews and long descriptions and watch this fresh for yourself. Figure it out for yourself because any hints will spoil the movie and take away from its real presentation - it unfolds for you - that is the point. If you like psychology, medical, reasons people do what they do, then it is all there. Plus, Clive Owen is a pleasure to watch. He is an excellent actor and is handsome, which is more than you get from most movies they are throwing together with unknown actors these days. Hunker down for the evening and enjoy. If you still have questions, then you can read all the spoilers.

Rather curious and unfathomable little movie this is, to say the least… I'll immediately admit that I was extremely focused and fascinated when watching Juan-Carlos Fresnadillo's "Intruders" and this from the opening sequences until the very last climax sequences. And yet at the same time I also regularly caught myself thinking during this film stuff like: "this isn't going anywhere…" or "what is the meaning of all this?". Director Fresnadillo interweaves two separate stories, one set in his home country Spain and one set in Britain where made his previous success film "28 Weeks Later". Both stories revolve on two young children that are being terrorized by a petrifying monster nicknamed Hollowface (because he seemingly doesn't have a frontispiece and wants to steal theirs). Hollowface appears at night in the bedrooms of the the Spanish boy Juan and the English girl Mia. In Spain the desperate mother of the boy seeks the help of a priest, while the cherubic Mia receives a lot of emotional support and understanding from her loving father John. That is pretty much all that ever happens in "Intruders"… A tall, thin and faceless creep breaks into the rooms of innocent children like a bad amateur-burglar and subsequently the adults don't take their nightmare stories seriously. The atmosphere is continuously ominous and unsettling, but honestly speaking the film is substantially void! Then, more or less during the denouement, there suddenly comes a heavy and significant plot twist. It's a kind of twist that is unexpected and surprising, but at the same time you can't blame yourself for not seeing it coming since there never at one point was any hinting at this! Quite the contrary, it even feels as if Fresnadillo and his scriptwriters tried really hard to camouflage all clues and hints that vaguely could lead to this essential plot twist. I don't know what to think about the plot twist near the end, in fact. It's clever and gives a whole other dimension to the movie, but it's weak and cowardly that it comes out of the blue. Clive Owen gives a very impressive performance as the devoted father of the haunted girl in England. He's definitely one of the best A-listed actors of his generation and this overall mediocre production benefices from his presence. Another actor who never ceases to amaze me is Daniel Brühl and his seamlessly endless language knowledge. Here he speaks Spanish, but he's also fluent in German, French, Italian and English. Last but not least I really dug the performance of the extremely cute Ella Purnell as Mia. She might only be 15-year-old, but her acting capacities overpower those of many mature actresses, including the wooden Dutch actress Carice Van Houten.

A lot of people are complaining about the pace of the movie. And I do get it, it does take its time. A lot of it. Plus the two story lines are not for everyone either. But in the end it does make sense. Makes it even worth a second viewing if you will. Just to get the dots and connections you might have missed.While the movie is filled with tension, what really fuels it, is Clive Owens performance. It's at least power house what he delivers and it is necessary. I would call this movie not predictable, but maybe some will disagree. Still if you let yourself into the world (one that is well done, by the director), you will have a really good experience with it. And some shockers along the line

"Intruders" is generally well-made: Good acting, script, cinematography, arresting scenery, etc. It's definitely something different, with touches of "Pan's Labyrinth," though nowhere near as good as that film. Yet, the whole storyline has that same half-baked, fragmented feel that we get from so many films these days. Suspenseful at times, with some genuinely harrowing scenes, as well as some clever and surprising tie-ups. In the end, though, the whole feel of "Intruders" is draggy and repetitive. It just didn't play itself out and take me anywhere really interesting. Although some mystery is always nice, a little more revelation of who/what the "monster" is supposed to be--and how it came to be-- would be helpful.I can see why some like (or dislike) it more than I do, but I cannot see why anyone would find "Intruders" a truly special and rewarding film.