The Uninvited is Both Heart-Stopping and Mind-Blowing!
The Uninvited, a remake of South Korean director Kim Jee-Woon's 2003 thriller�A Tale of Two Sisters draws on the classic legend of the “evil stepmother” or in this case widowed dad’s new hot girlfriend. The notion that this particular woman really is evil is story enough to build on, but add to that extremely effective creepiness and an utterly shocking conclusion, and you have quite a little horror film.
Written by BHM Contributor Horror Queen
January 30, 2009
Watch The Uninvited Horror Movie Trailer!
Release: January 30, 2009 (U.S.)
Directed by: The Guard Brothers (Thomas and Charles Guard)
Written by: Craig Rosenberg, Doug Miro, Carlo Bernard and Jee-Woon Kim (motion picture "Changhwa, Hongryon")
Starring:
Emily Browning as Anna
Arielle Kebbel as Alex
David Strathairn as Steven
Elizabeth Banks as Rachael
Maya Massar as Mom
Set in Coastal Maine, The Uninvited boasts some beautiful cinematography with an idyllic estate home on a picturesque lake and lush forest all around, a setting that provides a striking backdrop to the dark secrets and unimaginable horrors that lie within. Brother Directors Thomas and Charles Guards’ ability to provide continuous jolts against mounting tension, and a surprise ending makes for a heart-stopping, and in the end mind-blowing film.
The story of The Uninvited is centered on young Anna, eagerly returning
home from nearly a year in the mental hospital. She had apparently attempted suicide when her invalid mother died in a horrible guest house fire. What Anna returns to however, is a home that’s since been taken over by her mother’s former nurse, now dad’s new girlfriend, Rachel. That’ll put a damper on your day.
And as if that’s not bad enough, Anna’s plagued by nightmares in which her dead mother and some other random people pop up out of nowhere and scare the bejesus out of her. The grotesque figures in her dreams are seemingly trying to tell her something. One wonders why dead people in horror films always show up in nightmares offering “hints”. Wouldn’t it be simpler if they just eased in graciously and whispered “this is who killed me, and this is how they did it. Bye.” and eased back out?
Poor Anna. As we may have guessed, she doesn’t exactly warm up to her new mommy. Instead she and her sister Alex retreat into their own rebellious teenage world. After all how much fun is it to watch your father cuddling up on the couch with Nurse Ratched Rachel who gives you nothing but cold stares. And now that she thinks about it, Anna wonders what did start that fire… or who.
Seeing Anna’s reaction to Rachel is much to the dismay of her aloof if not clearly blinded-by-sex father. Maybe Anna can open his eyes. But how? By snooping into Rachel’s personal things of course. And good that she did. Rachel’s whole “don’t be afraid, I’m a nurse” routine has Anna wondering if she has some particular plans for the massive doses of sedatives and needles in her dresser drawer.
Now it’s difficult to get past the fact that dad kept invalid mom in the guest house with a little bell tied to her wrist in case she needed something, while nurse Rachel slept in the big house with him – perhaps even in his bed. Who does that? So of course Anna’s nightmares include her mother’s burned and decrepit body dragging itself around on the floor with a little bell ringing. If only parents knew.
There are some other pretty creepy things in Anna’s nightmares. Like big garbage bags slowly moving across the floor by themselves, body parts suddenly jumping out. These are definitely not “Glad” bags.
And whatever you do, don’t look under the kitchen stove.
So the question in The Uninvited is can young Anna stop Rachel before she “nurses” anyone else in her way? Let’s just say dad will probably be a little more careful before moving the next girl in.
Horror Queen Says: A Bloody Thumbs Up!
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