ridiculous rating

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

In Intruders, a severely agoraphobic young lady (Beth Riesgraf) is menaced by three baddies in search of cash somewhere in her home. But this isn't a standard home-invasion flick, and she's not the standard victim, either. This Intruders contains a devilish twist about midway through, and suddenly this isn't a movie about a damsel in distress but something wholly different – and much more interesting.Anna (Riesgraf) lives in an old house with her brother Conrad, who's quickly dying of some disease. The two have lived in the house by themselves since their father passed away some ten years earlier, but Anna has developed a paralyzing fear of the outside. She can't even open the door without hyperventilating.Conrad dies very early in the film. The only other person Anna has been in contact with over the past decade has been the faithful delivery boy from Meals on Wheels, Dan (Rory Culkin). A few days before Conrad's death, Dan and Anna discuss the possibility of either leaving their small town for bigger and better things. When Dan says he'd love to strike out on his own somewhere, Anna offers him a sackful of cash. Which Dan turns down.A quick fast-forward to the days after Conrad's death. It's time for the funeral. Anna doesn't go, despite the pleadings of her brother's lawyer. And then, while she's at home doing pretty much nothing, a couple of vehicles pull up in her driveway and men enter the house. They don't know she's there. Because she's not supposed to be there.Riesgraf's Anna is no shrinking violet. At the same time, the thugs aren't exactly one dimensional themselves, with each character carefully defined without being a stereotype. Perhaps this affair won't be as one sided as it initially appeared. After all, this is Anna's home turf.I found Intruders to be fairly brilliant, with a neat twist on a standard plot that ultimately transforms the film from a pile of predictability to a tsunami of terror and guessing.

PROS: The acting was pretty solid in this film. I enjoyed how unwavering the characters were when it came to expressing pain. Pain is such a hard emotion to show especially 100% of the time, so I give credit to the actors here. I also love how fitting the movie cover is.CONS: For me the largest problem would be the extreme amount of plot holes. This movie goes from one basic idea and completely dumps that idea and goes with a whole new one. The transition itself was not done with tact nor was it helpful at all. As soon as you got comfortable the director took away any stability established in the film. There were just so many confusing attributes. As soon as they introduced a different plot line they abandoned the other one, and that was the biggest problem. Once a new plot line gets developed it's key to keep the first plot line because a good movie should build off the first one to get to the second one. Therefore, you ended up getting an ending that didn't go together with any of the character development or structure of the movie. www.chorror.com

This one surprised me. It was taunt, well-directed, paced well and the actors did outstanding work. Beth Reisgraf as Anna was amazing! She sold the character so well. On a scale of 1 to 10, I wanted to give this one a 20! Nothing is given away until the right moment in the action. There is death and violence but it is not out of place for the plot. The director is to be complimented for keeping the story well paced and without any of the characters having to act stupid to make the story work. I liked the movie so much that I immediately ordered a copy from Amazon. It is worth it.

Three opportunists break into an agoraphobic woman's isolated country home, only to get more than what they bargained for upon deciding to let her live in this home invasion thriller with an inventive and original twist. 'Intruders' (or 'Shut In' as it is also known) is a difficult film to discuss without revealing the twists and turns of the plot; suffice it to say though, the movie is a triumph of production design with thoughtful sound mixing often keeping one on edge; to say that the film makes the best of its single location setting would be a massive understatement. The final act of the movie does not quite stack up as well as the build-up to it. The protagonist's motives in particular are underwhelming and her dark past that is hinted at never quite seems as sinister at it could be. For the most part though, it is an enticing ride that goes in some refreshingly unexpected directions. First time feature film director Adam Schindler handles the material quite well. The gradual zooms-in and crosscut facial reactions of the protagonist when staring at the doorknob, wondering whether she should attend her brother's funeral, are an especially good touch. Beth Riesgraf is reasonably effective in the lead role too and of the three intruders, Martin Starr offers a very compelling performance as the most violent and unpredictable member who will not even let innocent birds stand in his way.