THE INTRUDERS (2015)

Studio:       Sony Pictures
Director:    Adam Massey
Writer:       Jason Juravic
Producer:  Jeff Sackman, Nicholas D. Tabarrok
Stars:     Miranda Cosgrove, Donal Logue, Austin Butler, Jenessa Grant, Michael Luckett, Tom Sizemore

Review Score:

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Summary:

A grieving young woman discovers that her family’s new home may hide a secret connection to a young girl’s disappearance.

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

Following the death of her mother Sophia, college girl Rose Halshford moves into a new home with her father Jerry. Rose meets her neighbor Leila Markby after witnessing a fight between Leila and Leila's father Howard. Leila cryptically mentions that Rose’s new home hides a dark history, but Rose’s father says he has no knowledge of any such claims.

Rose meets Noah Henry, a young contractor working on her home’s repairs, and the two strike up a romance. Meanwhile, Rose flushes her psychiatric medication and begins experiencing strange activity while alone in the house.

Rose becomes suspicious of Howard when she spies him loading a large bag and a shovel into his truck during the night. She also finds a necklace in the Markbys’ driveway.

Rose begins seeing a discarded doll head around the house. She then discovers a secret room in the basement with the words “Rachel was here” scrawled into the wall before becoming briefly trapped inside.

Rose learns that a girl named Rachel Winacott once lived in the house before disappearing suddenly. Howard Markby was a suspect in Rachel’s disappearance, but was cleared of any wrongdoing when an email implied that Rachel ran away with Marcus Garrison, the son of the woman who took Rachel in. Rose additionally learns from Noah that Marcus’ mother Cheri also disappeared without explanation shortly thereafter.

After learning that the necklace found in the driveway belonged to Rachel Winacott, Rose confronts Howard with her suspicions about his involvement in the disappearance. However, Leila explains that Rachel gave the necklace to her and she threw it in a fit of anger while fighting with her father. Rose tells her own father about her experiences and discoveries, including having a vision of a man stalking her in the basement, but Jerry passes everything off as being all in her mind.

Rose confides in Noah about her mother’s suicide. Leila joins their conversation and Rose learns that Cheri Garrison used to keep Rose’s bedroom boarded up and padlocked. Rose later finds Rachel’s diary hidden behind a drawer. The journal implies that Rachel was held captive against her will.

Leila becomes trapped inside Rose’s house and disappears while Rose goes to a hotel party with Noah. As the seeming paranormal activity continues, Rose comes to believe that Cheri was involved in some sort of conspiracy and that someone is trying to tell her something about what really happened in the house. Rose is then knocked unconscious while running from someone inside her house.

After recovering, Rose researches the home’s original blueprints and finds a secret panel in the basement floorboards. Under the panel, Rose uncovers a strange doll shrine in a hidden room along with video footage of Rachel Winacott being attacked by Marcus Garrison while his mother watches.

Marcus unexpectedly attacks Rose and takes her prisoner. Marcus explains that his mother compelled him to kill Rachel because she disapproved of their relationship. Deranged, Marcus forces Rose to wear Rachel’s dress. Rose manages to stab Marcus with a glass shard and flees. Rose finds Leila tied up and promises to return for her later. Marcus catches Rose upstairs, but Jerry returns home and knocks Marcus off his daughter. Marcus recovers and attacks Jerry, but Rose then stabs Marcus.

Marcus is taken away by ambulance. Leila is reunited with her father. Noah helps Rose and Jerry move into their new residence. While alone later, Rose thinks she sees Marcus stalking her from the street outside.

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Click here for Culture Crypt's review of the home invasion thriller "Intruders" f.k.a. "Shut In."

Review:

Mischa Barton did it in the “Apartment 1303” remake (review here).  So did Abigail Breslin in “Haunter” (review here).  Haylie Duff and Beverley Mitchell teamed up together to take their turns in “Asylum of the Dead” (a.k.a. “Pennhurst” a.k.a. “The Lost Episode”).  With “The Intruders,” Miranda Cosgrove throws her own cap in the ring as the next actress to chip at a child star past by graduating into a moping young woman pitted against a tormenting haunted house.

With a near-permanent pout and a shoulder-slumped sulk, 20-year-old Rose moves into a new home following her mother’s tragic death.  Depressive grief turns to oppressive terror when a severed doll head starts randomly appearing throughout the house in between bouts of bumps in the night and discoveries of hidden rooms.  Once she learns that the previous owner disappeared mysteriously, with a runaway tenant (who happens to be the same age as Rose) and weirdo son also missing, Rose comes to believe that a paranormal presence is leading her to the truth behind the vanishings.  Although the steely-eyed stare of next-door neighbor Tom Sizemore warns Rose that the real danger might not be so supernatural in nature.

As a mystery movie, “The Intruders” features the kind of slow drip reveal where the protagonist finds clues only when convenient for the pace.  For instance, it isn’t until several days after taking up residency in the house when Rose discovers a locked wooden door in the basement that fully kickstarts her investigation.  Because who checks out every room in the place first thing upon moving into a new home?  Better to leave whatever exists in the cellar for until there is time to acclimate to the other two floors.  As the thriller thread continues taking its time unraveling casually, the characterizations remain so rote and the horror so humdrum that the story could have been auto-completed by a semi-sentient screenwriting program.

Donal Logue, playing a part that does not require Donal Logue, is Rose’s stereotypically inattentive father too busy with work to give his grieving daughter the attention she craves.  When he is around, dad’s purpose is to bounce back Rose’s Chicken Little claims of conspiracies and ghostly activity with patronizing protestations along the lines of, “it’s all in your head, sweetie.”  Dad is not so much a character as he is an obligatory hurdle.  Logue’s management might consider lacing up the eyelets on its screen to prevent similarly routine roles from pockmarking his résumé in the future.

Dad’s void at the homestead is filled by Noah, a smooth-skinned, fair-featured construction worker sporting a freshly shorn salon cut more apropos for a fashion runway than a gutter stripping session.  With Noah being both impossibly handsome and coincidentally the same age as Rose (just like the missing tenant and the girl next door), he trades in his duct tape and pipe wrench to couple up for a fast fostering, CW-style romance neither here nor there in the onscreen heat or plot importance departments.

The echoing tinkle of piano keys accompanies an opening montage of slow pans across decaying old dolls.  The camera switches to shaky handheld for those hectic moments when Rose might be acting “crazy.”  A conveniently discovered necklace links the three key ladies in the story.  Lights flicker spookily.  Someone suddenly sits up straight in bed after waking from a nightmare.  The female lead trips while running.  There are even multiple library research scenes highlighted by blueprint discrepancies and one of those movie magic search engines trying to be Google without actually being Google.  In short, “The Intruders” trudges with staunch commitment down a checklist of suspense thriller tropes to churn out a predictable production, albeit one at least glimmering with professional polish.

Against Kate Hudson in “The Skeleton Key,” Kelen Coleman in “Cassadaga” (review here), or any of the ladies mentioned in paragraph one, making “The Intruders” a top choice for middling suspense entertainment comes down to whether or not Miranda Cosgrove is the attractive young actress preferred for taking on the haunted history of a spooky house and its slow burn secrets.  Ticking peripheral boxes for milquetoast suspense mixing vengeful ghost haunting with small town mystery focused on a troubled heroine, “The Intruders” boils down to another log for the pile of formulaic thrillers better suited as midweek made-for-cable filler.

Review Score:  45

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