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'The Uninvited' not as bad as they say
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The Uninvited movie review
If you go to RottenTomatoes.com you'll see The Uninvited listed as a 32 on their Tomatometer. A scan of the "professional" movie critics will pop out words like "yawn," "bored to death," and "poor remake." Some critic also referred to a "braindead centipede" being able to predict the ending. Who uses the word "braindead centipede"?
With all of that information I avoided the movie in the theater and wasn't enthused about it when my wife rented it. She had been interested because she loves ghost stories. Suprisingly, The Uninvited is not that bad. Critics love to hear themselves talk and come up with brilliant critiques such as the "braindead centipede" reference, but I always try to scale down my comments somewhat and place the movie in context.
That context is The Uninvited is an afternoon matinee movie or a weekday evening rental. While the writer and director, of course, would want it to be a huge hit, the producers I'm sure were well aware that it would do moderate business.
It is a well plotted J-horror remake of a Korean film called "A Tale of Two Sisters." Hmm, do Korean films count as J-horror? Well, that's the genre and it perfectly describes what you're getting into when you start watching.
We are introduced to Anna, who will remind you of Shannon Doherty (but prettier and less bitchy). She resides at a mental institution (another reason why you'll be reminded of Shannon Doherty) but her doctor has just given her the free and clear to return home. She may have been better off staying at the mental facility.
At home she finds out her Dad has become romantically involved with Rachel Summers, the woman who was the nurse for her sick mom--the same mom who died in a mysterious ball of fire.
After meeting up with her sister Alex, the two settle their differences because Alex felt abandoned after the incident when Anna had to go away. Then slowly they discover that their Dad's new sex-interest may not be who she claims to be.
The mood of the film is like a gothic pulp novel that you find in a used bookstore. I'm not sure how many viewers can relate to living in a beautiful waterside home with their Dad as a moderately successful writer, but then that's a fantasy. I live in a city and I'm always wanting to get away from it.
I believe, generally speaking, this film will mainly appeal to women because of the sister angle. Two sisters against a "mom replacement" makes for some vicious gossip and a need for revenge. I found the actresses Emily Browning and Arielle Kebbel good in their roles, though Arielle seems so tall compared to Emily that I thought they were a little mismatched. And the only reason I gave the Scream Stats a skull underneath the Nudity category was because Arielle was shown multiple times in a bikini or revealing her midriff. She's pretty much a Maxim girl which is why she was chosen--so if the guys were bored by he story they'd have some eye candy.
As for the surprise ending not being so surprising to some critics, so what? It's expected with J-horror that they're going to try to trick you. I've grown tired of the tricks and rarely watch J-horror, but if you're going to see a J-horror style film then that's part of the genre--expect it. What we should be considering is if the story was well told up until the twist and while The Uninvited could have used more scares I think it was better than most American remakes.
With summer here, The Uninvited is one to put on the list for the kids to watch (it is a mild PG13 with one loud F word) or for you to watch when you can escape the kids. The movie features many lazy days with the breeze blowing, it would feel right to watch it on such a day.
SPOILER SECTION
Here's the reason I liked the film. It isn't a ghost story.
It's about an insane girl who thinks she sees and hears dead people giving her clues as to who murdered her mom. But in the end we find out it was Anna all along. She was responsible and somehow the guilt was so great she had to bury it and put blame on her Dad's mistress.
For me, this added a touch of realism because I have the tendency to roll my eyes at ghost stories. The ghost hunting craze has never scared me or intrigued me. People's imaginations are bigger than they think and in the dark or becase of dreams we can easily become self-deluded. The potential of humans to do harm always has scared me more than any nonphysical entity.
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