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47 of 56 people found the following review helpful.
Classy, fun and, yes, kind of scary
By Terry Mesnard
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.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
READ ME FIRST
By The Movie Guy
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.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
one of the better psychological thrillers
By RC
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.

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The Uninvited (2009 film) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Uninvited is a 2009 American remake of the 2003 South Korean horror film A Tale of Two Sisters. It is unrelated to another 2003 Korean horror film and a 1944 …

The Uninvited (1944) – IMDb
A brother and sister move into an old seaside house they find abandoned for many years on the English coast. Their original enchantment with the house diminishes as …

The Uninvited (1944 film) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Uninvited is a 1944 American supernatural mystery / romance film directed by Lewis Allen. It is based on the Dorothy Macardle novel Uneasy Freehold. The film …

The Uninvited | Trailer and Cast – Yahoo! Movies
A deadly battle of wills begins when Anna returns from a psychiatric facility and investigates the circumstances surrounding her mother’s suspicious and untimely death.

The Uninvited – Rotten Tomatoes – Movies | Movie Trailers …
The Uninvited (2009) tomatometer. All Critics; Top Critics; 31. … The Uninvited relies too heavily on cheesy dialogue, and jump scares to really be that frightening.

The Uninvited – Rotten Tomatoes – Movies | Movie Trailers …
Review: The Uninvited is one of the rare Hollywood ghost stories that does not cop out with a “logical” ending. In fact, the film has more in common with…

The Uninvited | Official Band Website
The Uninvited official band website If you are looking for the original Uninvited, then you have come to the right place. Apparently, there have been some confused …

The Uninvited – Dorothy MacArdle – Google Books
The Uninvited (1944) The SF, Horror and Fantasy Film Review: The Uninvited (1944). Haunted House. Stars: Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey. Director …

Amazon.com: The Uninvited: Emily Browning, Arielle Kebbel, David …
Synopsis: Based on Kim Jee-Woon’s 2003 korean horror film. Story of two sisters returning home to their father from a mental institution, whose recovery is hindered …