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Released by: Paramount
Released on: 4/28/09
Director: Guard Brothers
Cast: Emily Browning, Elizabeth Banks, Arielle Kebbel, David Strathairn
Year: 2009
The Movie:
One of the latest in the string of American remakes of popular Asian horror titles is The Uninvited, an Americanized take on the cult hit, A Tale Of Two Sisters, which had a brief theatrical run a few years ago before hitting DVD on these here shores courtesy of the late, lamented Tartan Video.
When the movie begins, Anna Rydell (Emily Browning) is at a party in the woods fending off advances from her tipsy, horny boyfriend. She heads home after a stroll through the woods and after noticing a few oddities around the house, watches in horror as the boathouse where her terminally ill mother has been resting goes up in flames. Understandably traumatized, Anna slits her wrists and before you know it, she heads off to the local mental hospital for a lengthy stay. Upon release, Anna learns that her father (David Strathairn) has had no problem moving in - in fact, he's let mom's former caregiver, a foxy blonde thing half his age named Rachael (Elizabeth Banks), move in on a more personal level.
Anna's older sister, Alex (Arielle Kebbel), doesn't like Rachael very much and it soon becomes apparent that neither does Anna - the sisters are sharp enough to realize that the feeling is mutual and soon start snooping around to see what they can dig up on daddy's new girlfriend and discover some unsettling evidence that may finger her as the one responsible for the explosion that killed their mother. If that weren't bad enough, poor Anna begins receiving creepy nocturnal visits from the ghosts of various dead people - including her mother and a few dead kids - that continue to warn her about the horrors that lie ahead for her…
A very slick looking film that makes great use of its Vancouver locations (effectively standing in for Maine), The Uninvited is certainly a nice film to look at - unfortunately, however, it's pretty hollow. The performances are fine across the board with Emily Browning turning in a surprisingly good sort of doe-eyed and spooked out performance and Elizabeth Banks, best known for her comedic roles in The 40 Year Old Virgin and Zack And Miri Make A Porno, fits very comfortably into Rachel's bitchy shoes. In fact, Banks' performance is the film's one saving grace, as she's completely believable in the part. Not only do you believe she might be a bit off her rocker and have some fairly serious issues, but she looks like the type of girl a middle aged widower would want to hop into bed with. Arielle Kebbel's character starts off as a rather unlikeable brat but soon evolves into a more sympathetic and realistic character who plays off of Browning's more innocent younger sister quite well.
Good performances and pretty camera work, however, cannot make up for a fairly sloppy and predictable script. There are parts of the movie where characters defy logic (if a woman is pointing a carving fork at your daughter, you don't ignore that and it seems any cop worth his salt would be hesitant to let someone simply inject a girl with a sedative on his couch) and the finale is a wee bit predictable. There's definitely some effective tension towards the end of the picture and a couple of good jump scares thanks to the creepy looking apparitions that plague Anna throughout the film, but nothing of any lasting substance making this a rather disposable time killer and nothing more.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The 1.85.1 1080p AVC encoded high definition anamorphic widescreen transfer is excellent across the board. The outdoor shots look fantastic, with an amazing amount of detail and clarity present, while indoor scenes fare almost as well. Shadow detail is nice and strong while black levels remain deep and consistent without breaking up or getting murky. The image is free from print damage, mpeg compression artifacts or nasty edge enhancement resulting in a clean, clear picture with great color reproduction, strong sharpness and spot on contrast.
The English language Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track is also quite strong, with deep rich bass and crystal clear dialogue. There are times where the rear surround channels could have been used better but there's still some nice surround activity to note that punctuates the jump scares nicely. The levels are properly balanced and there are no problems with hiss or distortion to note. You can't help but wish there had been more surround activity in certain parts of the film, but otherwise, that complaint aside, the movie sounds great.
The only extra of any interest is a fairly fluffy twenty minute featurette entitled Unlocking The Uninvited which features interviews with the principal cast members, the Guard Brothers, and some of the film's producers. The original Korean film is mentioned barely in passing and most of what's here feels very promotional and self congratulatory in nature. Some behind the scenes footage is marginally interesting, but for the most part, this featurette is lame.
Aside from that, look for an alternate ending (which is just barely different from the one used in the feature), five minutes worth of inconsequential deleted scenes, animated menus and chapter selection.
The Final Word:
Nowhere near as inspired as the original film. The Uninvited is pretty tame stuff despite a decent last half hour. It's certainly a competent film in that it's nicely shot and well acted but the scares are cheap and infrequent. That said, to their credit Paramount/Dreamworks have done a very nice job on the look and sound of this Blu-ray release, even if the extras stink.