Purely Joyful Movie!

Boring

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Shut In (AKA Intruders): Anna (Beth Riesgraf) suffers from chronic agoraphobia. She has just nursed her brother in his final illness but is unable to leave the house to attend his funeral. Expecting nobody to be at home, three men burgle the house. Anna hides but is discovered by the intruders as she cannot flee the building. One burglar, Perry (Martin Starr) is psychotic and drags her outside as a form of torture. Anna however has other strengths and inflicts a reversal of fortune the crooks. Combat then ensues with the house as the battlegroundA rather savage film, more than just your typical revenge film, Anna truly has a dark side of her own. Agoraphobia isn't her only issue. Even the house itself has it's surprises. A few rather disturbing scenes so this is not a movie for the squeamish or faint of heart. Effective Horror/Thriller with perhaps some unlikely developments. 6.5/10

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

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.

Beth Riesgraf is excellent as agoraphobic Anna, who has spent years looking after her dying brother Conrad. On the day of his funeral, three men forcibly enter her home, believing her to be away. They intend to rob Anna of the money she has stashed away in the house, a detail revealed to them by Dan (Rory Culkin – MaCauley's brother), who delivered food to Anna.Toying with her and her illness, Perry (Martin Starr) throws her outside the house, where she panics and almost has a seizure. Little gestures like Anna self-consciously pulling her skirt over her knees after she has involuntarily wet herself really endear her plight to us. The thugs are hateful, as is the duplicitous Dan, but it isn't until Perry casually bludgeons Anna's pet canary to death that we are really clamouring for his suffering.We are given plenty of reasons to spur Anna on to kill these low-lives. Apart from Perry and the slimy Dan, the 'leader' is convincing hard-man JP (Jack Kesy) and right hand Vance (Joshua Mikel). Bad enough they strive to rob someone who is at the funeral (they think) of the long-suffering brother they have cared for, but the powerful acting gives them an extra edge of nastiness. Their inevitable demises are, if anything, not horrible enough.The house, in which the whole thing is set, provides an effective maze-like prison for them all as they begin to realise that Anna's intimate knowledge of the place has its advantages, and the building, it seems, has secrets of its own.This is another 'home invasion' project, where the comforts of a familiar environment are turned on their head upon the arrival of uninvited 'others'. Although the format itself may be limiting, it clearly works if used well and interspersed with interesting, well-defined and finely acted characters and sinister dilemmas. Happily, this is one such film.