Customer Reviews

The Uninvited

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

The Uninvited begins with our protagonist, Anna, in a mental ward after dealing with the emotional trauma of losing her mother in a freak fire. As the film begins, her psychiatrist believes she is ready to go back into the real world and she is allowed to move back in with her father and her older sister, Alex. Unfortunately, father is now seeing Rachel, a nurse who was in charge of Anna's mother. This weird situation is further complicated by the fact that Anna is becoming more and more convinced that her mom wasn't killed in a freak accident...maybe she was murdered.

So if you have watched ghost movies over the last ten or so years, you basically know this film. It hits all of the major plot points, has a couple requisite twists and throws weird scares at you (it is based on a Korean film, you know). I expected all of this. I even expected one twist that I thought was revealed very early on. Even so, the ending still surprised me and I have to say that this film was classy in telling a familiar story. The truth is, there hasn't really been a genre-changing film in the ghost story genre for awhile now. The Uninvited is no different. So, what is important is not what is being told (as there's nothing new under the sun), but how it's told.

Here The Uninvited soars where a lot of recent ghost stories (Unborn, for example) have failed. The storytelling is far classier than it has any right to be, the script is well-written and convincing and the actors are terrific. Emily Browning, playing Anna, practically carries the weight of the film on her slender shoulders. With her forlorn and innocent gaze, you really start to feel for her increasingly desperate plight. Meanwhile, her sister is played perfectly by Arielle Kebbel who brings a sexy older sibling charm to the proceedings. And then there's Elizabeth Banks, playing the stepmother who might not be all she says she is.

All of this is pitted against a murder mystery or two and wrapped up in a perfect bow. There's not a dull moment in the film, the scares actually startled me, even when I expected them and some of the ghostly hauntings could give the weird factor of The Grudge/Ring a run for their money. It's effective and very well done.

I definitely recommend going to see it. The Korean film, A Tale of Two Sisters, is definitely in my scope now, to see how it stacks up. Go see The Uninvited if you're in the mood for a fun, classy and, yes, sometimes scary ghost story.

One of the best suspence movies I have seen. I can't say too much without giving it away. But it has an interesting plot and the perfect balance of creepy but not disgusting.

THE UNINVITED

**** Out of 5

Release Date- January 30th, 2009

Running Time- 87-Minutes

Rating- PG-13

Screenplay- Craig Rosenberg, Doug Miro & Carlo Bernard

Director- Charles & Thomas Guard

Starring- Emily Browning, Arielle Kebbel, David Strathairn and Elizabeth Banks

In many ways this decade is sort of the 80s in reverse; it seemed like back in the 80s every horror flick was a sequel and now it seems every horror flick is a remake. Both have the same basic idea and that's to cash in on the success of the original only with a remake it starts things over. Most of the recent remakes haven't been very good and others were alright; Dawn of the Dead was one of the few that were actually really good. But remakes of Asian horror flicks always seem to turn out horrible or just below average. You have the downright pathetic One Missed Call and slightly below average The Grudge and The Eye, which was an average movie, but sadly was probably the best remake of an Asian horror flick. Well that was until The Uninvited, which was actually a pretty good movie.

The Uninvited is a remake of the South Korean masterpiece A Tale of Two Sisters, which was written and directed by Ji-woon Kim. When I first heard of the remake I wasn't really too excited seeing as A Tale of Two Sisters is one of my all time favorite horror flicks and since the track record for Asian horror movies remade in the States have turned out awful my expectations were very low. The trailer looked fairly decent and so I decided to give it a chance. First up bottom line is The Uninvited is far inferior to A Tale of Two Sisters, but with that said I really liked The Uninvited. I feel there is always a different direction you can take a movie. That doesn't mean a different direction would be better, but there is more than one way to tell a story.

The Uninvited takes the basic concept of A Tale of Two Sisters, but also goes in a slightly different direction therefore at least it's not a shot for shot remake, but doesn't stray to where it has nothing to do with the movie it's based on. Some of the different directions this movie took doesn't always work, but it remains interesting. Like the original version The Uninvited is a mixture of a drama and mystery with horror elements. Sometimes the mixture doesn't always work, but it worked brilliantly in A Tale of Two Sisters and while it doesn't work as well it still works in The Uninvited.

The screenplay by Craig Rosenberg, Doug Miro & Carlo Bernard is surprisingly well written. The characters are well developed and actually interesting as well. Like the original the core of the story is about the two sisters and like the original the relationship between two works very well and feels real and not forced. Some of the new ideas like ghostly visions while not bad feels too much like your run of the mill ghost flick something A Tale of Two Sisters wasn't. But this new element does mostly work overall. The screenplay keeps the basic idea of the original, but has enough going for it to keep it from being a rehash. While the script isn't much deliver a by the books horror flick, but it still works even if clichéd. There is some decent suspense and tension and they handle the dramatic scenes well and deliver some decent suspense.

Directors Charles & Thomas Guard never reach the epic heights Ji-woon Kim reached, but they still deliver a solid movie. Most of the big scare scenes are done pretty much the way it was done in the original so if you've seen that it won't work as well here. But the pacing is slow, but steady and the movie never fails to be interesting. Again The Guard Brothers may not reach the level of greatness Ji-woon Kim did, but they deliver a solid movie that turns out better than maybe it should have.

I'd say the strongest aspect of The Uninvited were the actors; Elizabeth Banks is quickly becoming one of my favorite actresses and once again Banks delivers a great performance and it also doesn't hurt that she's very easy on the eyes. David Strathairn is slightly underused as the father torn between his daughters and girlfriend, but he delivers an excellent performance. But it's Emily Browning as Anna and Arielle Kebbel as Alex that really elevate The Uninvited.

Browning and Kebbel really work amazing together and both deliver excellent performances; this was Arielle Kebbel's best performance to date and she's an actress with a lot of potential, but it's Emily Browning who is clearly the standout with an excellent and sympathetic performance. As long as she picks the right roles she can go far in her career. But again both Browning and Kebbel are excellent and really cute as well so that helps as well.

Due to the fact we are in what seems remake hell sadly The Uninvited might get dismissed as yet another pointless remake of a truly amazing film and while I cannot argue that The Uninvited is a pointless remake it was actually really good and better than most of the recent remakes to come along. Don't let the PG-13 rating scare you off as a movie like this doesn't need an R-rating. Had this been R-rated it wouldn't have made the movie any better. The violence level is low, but there is a little bit of blood, but not much obviously. The Uninvited is a prime example how PG-13 doesn't have to mean bad.

The twist in The Uninvited doesn't work as well as it did in the original, but it doesn't follow it exactly. It does offer its own twist on the twist and while it worked well it's s not as strong as A Tale of Two Sisters. Bottom line is The Uninvited isn't as good as the original movie it's based on, but with that said it was actually pretty good and hopefully other fans of A Tale of Two Sisters gives The Uninvited a fair shot.

As for the Blu-ray release the picture quality is very sharp and looks excellent in HD and the sound is also solid as well, but the disc lacks with extras. There is an 18-min behind the scenes feature (watch it after the movie some spoilers) deleted scenes and an alternate ending. All the extras are also on the DVD, but the good thing is the features on the Blu-ray are all in HD. Sometimes the features are SD, but not here. I don't know if this movie is popular enough to warrant another edition, but you never know.

I love classic ghost stories and psychological thrillers - the ones that don't have a lot of gore but do have sympathetic characters you can feel anxious for plus an element of mystery. A number of people have pointed out that this is a well done movie but doesn't have a lot of new elements. I have to point out that there have been no truly surprising plot twists in ghost movies since "The Sixth Sense" came out - the best ghost stories since then have all had plot twists that are some variation of that famous movie or older horror films. There has also been a deluge of remakes of Asian horror films, the Ring and the Grudge being the most famous, plus a host of others I can't even recall right now. The Univited contains elements from everything: Asian horror films and your favorite old thrillers: The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Poison Ivy, Hide and Seek - I could go on and on.

None of this impeded my enjoyment of the movie. All the necessary elements are there: 1. A huge house in a gorgeous wooded and secluded setting; 2. A dangerous intruder in the form of Dad's former mistress now fiance who invades the family sacred space and threatens to turn him against his daughters; 3. A concerned but distant father who puts his traumatized daughter's needs after his own sexual ones; 4. Two very sympathic daughter heroines - the younger one ethereal and tormented by something she saw but can't quite remember and the older one sassy and assertive but funny rather than annoying and 5. The mystery - how much of what we are watching is real and what is perception? Can we trust the perceptions of our heroine or is she crazy? Are the ghosts real? Is the stepmother a killer or just an opportunistic - well, you know what.

The photography is beautiful and the acting is good. The two girls are fantastic and Elizabeth Banks as the "wicked stepmother" has a subtle nastiness that contrasts wonderfully with her summy, sexy exterior. The actor playing the father comes off as sympathetic and tormented instead of slimy even though you want to shake him for his cluelessness.

I don't want to give any of the surprises away, so let me just say that this is one of the few keepers for me in the ghostly genre. It will do fine until the next "Sixth Sense" or "the Village" comes out - and I have a feeling I could be waiting quite a long time for another original.

DON'T READ ANY OTHER REVIEWS as it may ruin the movie for you. This is a 5 star suspense/drama/horror/mystery. Just go watch it. Knowing about the movie will simply ruin the ending. Trust me. Just watch it, don't even read the box.

About ten minutes into the movie I began to experience a chill up my spine. No not from the storytelling, but from the scenery! I was having that deja vu feeling of having been there before, the incredibly lush and tall trees, the rocky craggy beach, the formidable cliffs and the stormy sea. It all looked like Harpers Island, the thriller series from CBS that we enjoyed so much last year. In a way, THE UNINVITED is a lot like Harpers Island, only not as scary, but they share a predilection for a good grabber twist. Suffice it to say that we stayed for the credits and noticed that the movie was filmed on Bowen's Island in British Columbia, indeed the exact same location that Harpers Island was filmed at. Good spotting!

SPOILERS AHEAD.

I want to know what kind of direction do they give a character like Elizabeth Banks plays here? My observations extend not only to Rachel, the nurse played by Banks, but to all similar characters in similar plots. "Director, what's my motivation?" "Well, we want you to look evil and forbidding, even though it will turn out that you are completely innocent." "How do I do that?" "I don't know, maybe freeze up your face as though you'd just swallowed a tube of botox, and glare through your eyes as though squinting in the sun." I have to give Banks credit for playing a difficult part, though I think she was cheating as we saw the movie again, she definitely seemed to be trying to portray a ruthless "angel of mercy" type serial killer nurse, and that got me to thinking, maybe they gave her a different script than the other actors got, one in which she was definitely the killer.

THE UNINVITED was a movie so dull, in which nothing happens really, that it makes you immediately suspect all this chazzerai is only the setup to a twist ending. Well, we didn't figure out the ending (except we knew the killer's identity from the beginning), but the surprise wasn't worth the drawnout family drama of these super rich white people! I have heard that the house on Bowen's Island is for sale and they are asking 8 million dollars (Canadian) for it! Why then is the girl dating the grocer boy, she should have some respect for her own class!

I very much enjoyed this movie. I always love a twist ending, one that I don't see until the last few minutes or the film, and this movie delivered that beautifully.

Thinking people who enjoy total misdirection of their emotions and perceptions right up to the climax will love this one.

I would say: watch this! It is worth the money. It is entertaining. The acting is decent. It is suspenseful. And the ending is really way out there!

This is a well made thriller about a girl whose mother died horribly and whose dad takes up with the woman who had been a caregiver to the mother, who was ill before her death. There is good family drama going on, along with the mystery of whether the young girl is telling the truth or if she is merely sliding back into psychosis.

Good stuff, and decent performances.

The Uninvited is a very good suspense thriller that is directed by the Guard Brothers. There are a few jump out of your seat moments but this is by no means a horror movie. There is always a dark and foreboding mood during the movie which adds to the suspense. The main cast puts together fine performances, but the two that stick out most are Elizabeth Banks as the evil soon to be step-mom and Emily Browning as the troubled and protective daughter. There is also a twist at the end of the movie that might surprise you. If you are into movies such as Secret Window, The Number 23 and What Lies Beneath, than I think you will have a good time watching The Uninvited.