The Uninvited: A horror/suspense movie review

July 1, 9:28 PMHartford Movie Reviews ExaminerPete Clark

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The recently released film The Uninvited is a remake of the Korean horror film, A Tale of Two Sisters. It is the story of a young girl named Anna, played perfectly by Emily Browning (Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events). Anna’s mother, who was already very sick, died a little less than a year ago in a freak house fire. Anna, after attempting suicide, spent the past several months in a psychiatric facility, in order to help her to transition back to a normal life.

However, upon her return home, Anna's father (Oscar nominated David Strathairn) is easing himself back into his life by dating and preparing to marry the very nurse who was hired to take care of Anna’s mother. The nurse, one Rachel Summers (the increasingly recognizable Elizabeth Banks) is a subtle yet aggressive presence who clearly is not all that pleased about having to deal with Anna. Anna’s sister, Alex, played by Arielle Kebbel (John Tucker Must Die), has been dealing with all of this on her own while Anna was in the hospital. Alex is Anna’s only real ally, since their father is oblivious to the dealings of his new lover, and Anna's love interest is secondary to her other concerns.

Further complicating matters are Anna’s very intense dreams which may not be dreams, and the constant appearances of creepy ghost children. What is up with the creepy ghost children? They make the viewer jump, but they don’t seem that evil. Interesting...

This film takes its time getting going. However, it features very fine acting, especially from Browning who is believable throughout in a role that would be easy to overplay. The film also has a nice creepy, but not overdone, setting in the fairly isolated beachhouse, and the score suits the mood nicely. The plot is surprisingly clever and is slick in performing its job of keeping the viewer looking in the wrong direction.

Overall this is a very enjoyable film, featuring the odd scare, but it is more worth watching for the fine acting and the expertly realized plot. It gets a four out of five.
 

Photo courtesy of IMDBPro and property of DreamWorks Entertainment.