The Uninvited Review

Posted by Shawn S. Lealos on 02.04.2009

Another Asian horror remake is coming round the bend. Is it any better than the rest of the retreads?

Directed by The Guard Brothers
Written by Craig Rosenberg, Doug Miro, Carlo Bernard based on the original screenplay by Jee-Woon Kim
Cinematography by Dan Landin
Music Score by Christopher Young

Cast
Emily Browning ... Anna
Arielle Kebbel ... Alex
David Strathairn ... Steven
Elizabeth Banks ... Rachel
Maya Massar ... Mom
Kevin McNulty ... Sheriff Emery
Jesse Moss ... Matt
Dean Paul Gibson ... Dr. Siberling



Rated PG-13 for violent and disturbing images, thematic material, sexual content, language and teen drinking


Janghwa Hongryeon jeon is a Korean fairytale similar to the American fairy tale Snow White. It tells the story of two sisters who live with their father and an evil step-mother. The evil step-mother does everything in her power to torment the girls and eventually kills them both, causing their ghosts to return and wreck havoc until their vengeance is finally consummated. The fairy tale is a wonderfully twisted story and would make a great movie. As a matter of fact, it was used as an inspiration of a great movie. That movie’s title is A Tale of Two Sisters.

The Uninvited is a remake of that movie.

Emily Browning (Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events) is Anna, a young girl suffering temporary amnesia brought upon by the trauma of watching her mother die in a horrible explosion. The movie opens with her recounting everything she can remember up to the explosion to her psychiatrist. The doctor decides Anna has come as far as she can in the hospital and agrees to her release.

Anna returns home to her loving, but distracted father Steven (Strathairn), an author who spends most of the movie oblivious to everything going on in his home. Also there to greet Anna upon her return is her sister Alex (Arielle Kebbel from The Grudge 2) and her father’s new fiancée Rachel (Elizabeth Banks).

I mentioned the connection to the fairy tale and most of the movie is the evil step mother story where Rachel does everything in her power to torment and try to force her will on the girls. She wants nothing more than to be accepted and force them to be one big happy family. Anna feels strange when Rachel starts to try to buddy up with her and things really get out of control when she starts to see strange ghosts, including the charred remains of her mother and three strange kids who warn her that she is next.

There is a lot here that could lay the foundation for a really good movie. The acting is solid with both girls connecting well as sisters and carrying most of the plot. Elizabeth Banks surprises me, escaping from her safety net of comedies and slipping comfortably into a character that compares well with Jennifer Jason Leigh’s performance in Single White Female. Even without the ghosts, the acting displayed here could be enough to make this a strong contender with that thriller.

The problems lay in the same area all the recent outburst of American remakes of Asian horror films lie. The original Asian movies have a design that makes them very creepy and very disturbing. When they are transported to the West, they are modified to be something Americans are more used to. The once great foreign horror films are then neutered and left for dead. Very few make it out in one piece. There was The Ring and then ... there was The Ring. At least this movie doesn’t rely on the stupid creepy, wet long haired girl that most of the remakes rely on. And I will give this movie some credit - it isn’t as bad as the horrible American remake of The Grudge.

What hurts the movie is that it is boring. None of the actors can save a film moving at the pace of a snail. There is nothing remotely scary outside of a few cheap jump scares. This movie is meant to build a sense of dread but the director felt it was necessary to build the music to a crescendo and use quick cuts to make the audience jump. The scares in this movie are cheap and that is unforgivable. The movie is also boring, so that makes the attempt a complete disaster.

The best part of the movie is the twist at the end. It is brilliant. It almost would be enough to save the entire film except for one very good reason. I repeat, there is a lot here that could lay the foundation for a really good movie. That movie is A Tale of Two Sisters. The remake adds some changes, mainly in the fate of the evil step mother, but the twist at the end is the exact same. If the twist of The Uninvited is the best part of the movie, save yourself the pain and watch the Korean original. It moves quick, almost making you lose track of the time, and the scares are actually disturbing. The climax is just as exciting and it is a great horror movie.

It is everything The Uninvited is not.

The 411: The Uninvited takes a great Asian horror movie and breaks it down making it a boring, plodding movie. All of the actors are very good in their roles, which is impressive with the stupid lines they are asked to deliver. The psychiatrist is an idiot, contradicting himself every time he opens his mouth and David Strathairn has a thankless role as the most oblivious father in the history of the world. The ending is awesome, but is the exact same as the original Asian film. Don’t see this film. Go to the video store and rent A Tale of Two Sisters. You can thank me later.

Final Score:  4.0   [ Poor ]