Intruders
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Subversion is a very liberating facet of the horror genre. Not only does it create a feeling of never being completely safe, but it gives power to people who are powerless. The direct influence for this film seems to be The Last House on the Left, which takes the parents of a victimized daughter, and regresses them until all they seek is revenge. Like those people, agoraphobic Anna (Riesgraf) starts as the victim of a home invasion, and swiftly becomes much more powerful than any of her tormentors could dream.
This concept is automatically interesting and is in line with a burgeoning trend in horror filmmaking. Much like last year’s Don’t Breathe, this is a story that starts with the victimization of a helpless individual, but the narrative swings around quickly when their true identity is revealed. Anna cannot leave her home, as she is an agoraphobic, so escape is never on the table. Instead, the objective is survival, and then adaptation to the issues at hand. It’s definitely interesting, and done correctly this could have been another breakout hit, like The Babadook, or Hush.
What this film gets wrong is the motivation and neuroses of Anna’s character. The film gives her unbridled power and strength one minute, and then humanizes her as a traumatized victim giving into a cycle of violence. Which is it? Does she have a killing instinct (which we know she does) or is she an accomplice to a greater evil? The backstory is way too complicated and takes away a lot of the bite and suspense of the film. Director Adam Schindler obviously didn’t have a big enough budget to be as horrifying as he wanted, because there’s is minimal blood and gore.
On the other hand, Anna is a complex character, and adding psychopathy to agoraphobia can be a slippery slope. Mental illness is a provoking and distressingly overblown plot device in horror films. Real mental illness does not always lend to murder and mayhem. Agoraphobics want peace of mind, so to suggest that isolation and trauma lend to violence is backward. But of course, that’s the rub. You can’t be conscious of the mentally ill community and then suggest that someone with said mental illness is a killer. It seems that this film is trying to please everyone, and therefore comes out a little bland and unsatisfying. I will say that still does have some thought-provoking twists and turns and is maybe worth the watch.
