The Uninvited

It's not easy to make a horror movie these days. The critics will hate it by definition: their expectations are always high and mostly unsatisfiable. They will call them uninspirational, uninteresting, and not original enough. With time, the horror genre has become an underdog of the movie industry. Prior to watching this movie, I had no knowledge about the plot whatsoever and it turned out to be good for me. I won't beat around the bush: I'm not a horror fanatic, but this one, I enjoyed from the beginning until the very end and I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. The thing I appreciated the most was the great amount of mystery: at some point the movie becomes more a mystery movie than a horror movie. The plot is interesting at the very least: and it does make you think who the main villain might be. I personally had many guesses and I though I got it right, but the ending surprised me. And there's nothing I enjoy more than an ending I did not see coming. The surroundings are beautiful and the movie is very well shot. Visually, the pictures are very satisfying, another thing you would not expect. The acting is also professional, along the score: all these parts, I have no complaints about. The movie was, for some reasons I don't fully understand, certified as not fresh enough. I do agree, some moments are painfully cliché, but in this case, I found it charming. Isn't it a part of the horror movie to expect that a hand will try to reach you under the bed? It will make you jump in your place either way, so what's the deal? As long it's not cheesy, it's good enough for me. I think that if the creators maybe took a risk and avoided those couple of clichés, the movie would have been praised by critics. But who cares about their opinion anyway? The movie is really enjoyable and if that is what matters to you, don't hesitate and watch it. You won't regret it.

What worked: It's a beautifully shot and captured movie, with amazing natural space. The movie keeps its essence and mysterious till the end, which is a plus point, making it a watchable movie What did not work I must say the screenplay and narrative of the movie is weak, making it a dull watch because of the lack of substance. The movie is a simple thriller, with few thrills or exciting scenes. I would have loved the movie more if the movie had maintained the mood and climate of the movie. It's not a bad watch but an average watch Final verdict: it's an okay time pass movie

After being cleared for release from a mental hospital, Anna (Emily Browning) returns home to her writer father Steven (David Strathairn) and sister Alex (Arielle Kebbel). In her absence, Emily's father has grown closer to her late mother's former caretaker Rachel (Elizabeth Banks). Anna is continually hallucinating and seeing her dead mother, insisting that her death was not an accident and that Rachel had something to do with it. With this in mind, she sets out with Alex to prove Rachel is not everything she seems.

I did not expect much from The Uninvited, but surprisingly, I received a lot more than I expected.

Despite being an American remake of the Korean film A Tale of Two Sisters, The Uninvited does enough to make it stand out on its own. I never saw the original film, but I imagine it looked different than this film does. It is dark and atmospheric from the very beginning, and continues on the same wavelength to the very end of the film. It frequently blends horror with psychological terror, developing a movie that could have easily been a throwaway scare-flick for pre-teens to scream through, but ends up being a fairly accomplished film. This is not a film anywhere near the quality of the greatness found in the likes of The Silence of the Lambs, but it is a film that was not just scraped out for a profit.

The story itself, as twisty and loopy as it gets, is fairly well done. Although I was not too interested at the beginning, the film draws you in rather tightly, revealing itself quite nicely over its short 87-minute running time. Yes, there are plenty of predictable moments laced throughout the film, but there are a few moments of genuine surprise as well. The film never makes the claim that it is trying to be original, but it does a unique enough job that you can only see shades of what has come before (as opposed to a standard American horror film basically spelling out exactly what it is ripping off, or homaging sort to speak). Even with the cheap scares around every corner, it still managed to make me jump back more than once.

What does not make sense however, is how some things are explicitly stated while others are briefly alluded to. A lot of what happens is fairly obvious for even the least astute of audiences, yet the film dumbs itself down more than once to fit the conventions of 2000-era PG-13 horror. When something ambiguous comes up, it is either explained in-depth, or done away with entirely. A rather crucial character element of Anna's is revealed very close to the beginning of the film, but is never explored in any capacity. We understand her motivations and what drives her quest for the truth, but there are a few background details that even after the film concludes, still left me a bit baffled. Why explain some things that are obvious, but not bother touching on ones that are not?

Despite not having starred in a lot of things, Browning is quite good in her role as Anna. Struggling throughout the film with mental anguish and hallucinations, Browning makes this young teenage character convincing in a way only someone so young could do. She is not perfect in the role, but you can see the desperation and heartbreak in her face and her actions. This is an actress who becomes her role, and never falters out of it. She carries the film from beginning to end, and never looks the worst for it. She is a young actress I hope to continue to see more of, especially in higher fare.

Kebbel, while not as powerful as Browning, commands when she is on-screen. She works beautifully off of Browning, and makes their relationship clear and pure from their first moment together. Their chemistry makes the film as surprising as it is. It easily could have been something that was clouded over, or underplayed. But the filmmakers use every opportunity to stress the strength of the relationship of the two sisters, and their willingness to go the distance for each other. Some moments are just heartbreaking, seeing the lengths they are willing to go, but Kebbel keeps herself in check at all times, and gives a great performance.

Strathairn, despite the Oscar-nomination for Good Night, and Good Luck., seems to have fallen on being the wise older character in every movie since, and gives the same old performance here. He is good as always, but seems more mellowed down than he should be. Banks on the other hand, is completely out of her comfort zone, and her performance is an obvious reflection. In some scenes, she is downright terrifying as the evil potential stepmother, and in others, she is laughably bad. There is no middle ground, and no one seems to have been able to suggest any consistency tips for her. While she gives a decent performance anyway, it could have been stronger with a more confident actress.

But what the film is guilty of is its lack of reinvention. It is a unique piece of horror for 2009, but the film never strives to be anything bigger or better. It lacks the motivations to really make something of itself, and never even tries to be something better than it could be. The Uninvited really surprised me for how good it actually was, but surprised me more in how easily it could have been even better. A lean running time, a great pair of young actresses, and some decent supporting acting could have made this small picture quite the notorious horror flick. But instead, it seems content just being an above average run-of-the-mill psychological thriller.

7/10.

(Portions of this review originally appeared on http://www.dvdfanatic.com).

The Uninvited (2009) delivers a solid 7 out of 10 as a horror-thriller with a captivating atmosphere and a few solid scares. It centers around Anna (Emily Browning), who returns home from a psychiatric facility to find her father entangled with a new girlfriend, Rachael (Elizabeth Banks), who appears suspiciously intent on keeping Anna and her sister, Alex, at bay. This movie is loosely based on the South Korean horror film A Tale of Two Sisters, and while it doesn't quite achieve the psychological depth of its inspiration, it offers enough twists to keep viewers engaged.

What works well for The Uninvited is its moody, eerie vibe; the setting and cinematography effectively build tension, drawing audiences into Anna's perception and keeping them guessing about who to trust. Emily Browning gives a compelling performance, and Elizabeth Banks shines in her layered role, adding a disturbing edge to her character. The tension builds consistently toward an unexpected twist that's clever, even if it won't shock seasoned horror fans.

However, The Uninvited sometimes stumbles with pacing, and parts of the plot feel a bit predictable. It's more of a slow-burn psychological mystery than a jump-scare horror, which may disappoint those looking for a more intense experience. The movie ultimately succeeds as a suspenseful, entertaining thriller but lacks the depth and originality to make it truly memorable.

If you're in the mood for an atmospheric thriller with a few haunting twists, The Uninvited is worth a watch-even if it might not be the most groundbreaking horror flick you'll see.

I haven't seen the original Tale of Two Sisters by Kim Ji-woon to begin with so I won't be able to do any meaningful comparisons. But if a remake is any indication of how the original is generally miles better, especially if done by Hollywood, hen it probably is worth my while to put the Korean horror movie in my to-watch list. After all, Kim Ji-woon's film is one of Korea's top box office draws when released.

There have been more misses than hits when Hollywood adapts what it thinks could be instant box office gold with its fountain of Asian content, and since there have been only a limited number of successful Asian horror releases in recent years, it had looked inwards and cannibalized on remaking its own shock/slasher films. This one took a long while to translate to The Uninvited, and I guess taking some 6 years indicated the filmmakers wanted to do things right instead of rushing through and come out with crap.

As such the directing duo of the Guard Brothers Charles and Thomas managed to find some balance between telling a psychological thriller, and moments where they can properly employ tricks from the usual formula book to scare an audience, with the usual light and shadows, smoke and mirrors, warped beings, decomposed bodies and jump cuts with ghouls staring down at you. Surprisingly it didn't rely on sound or lack thereof to add a further sensory dimension to set pulse racing, which I thought was a little let down in its moments to build up to the next "Boo!" If anything, the acting duo of Emily Browning (Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, with pouty lips to rival Angelina Jolie's, and given special attention too in this narrative) and Arielle Kebbel shine as skimpily clad sisters Anna and Alex respectively, who have to rely on each other as they uncover the truth behind the death of their mom (Maya Massar). It doesn't help of course with Anna just being certified sane and safe to be released from a mental institution, and their suspect happens to be their nanny-turned-new-step-mom-to-be Rachel (Elizabeth Banks) whom dad (David Strathairn) intends to marry. Given the short run time of under 90 minutes, the pace is kept compact with little room wasted to pump in unnecessary subplots (unless set up just to provide an additional avenue to unleash horrific mayhem), focusing very much of the relationship between the two sisters, and their strained one with their father. Emily Browning, as the lead, of course had enough latitude to showcase a double-head snake role in being "nice" to Rachel, in order for some fishing of information.

That isn't to say there isn't any loophole that a jumbo jet can't fly through. Even if you have no background knowledge gained from the original Korean film, it is easy enough for sharp-eyed viewers, or those whose cinematic staple is horror films, to stay one step ahead and deduce just what is exactly going on. Which makes me wonder just how much it'll take for shockmeisters to scare seasoned audiences since they're getting savvier, and easily bored with the same old bag of tricks.

If anything, The Uninvited would have piqued your interest in the original, which has a longer run time and in all likelihood, the exploitation of mood and atmosphere that are quite standard tools for horror films from Asia, which is sorely lacking in this version. Nonetheless it's still one of the better Western remakes of Asian horror attempted.