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The Uninvited is directed by Charles and Thomas Guard.
The film stars Emily Browning, Arielle Kebbel, Elizabeth
Banks, David Strathairn, Maya Massar, and Lex Burnham. The
musical score is composed by Christopher Young. ***
The Uninvited is the story of a girl who has been released
from a mental facility following being traumatized by her
mother’s death. Upon being released, she discovers that
her father now lives with her mother’s old nurse. Her sister’s
suspicions, as well as strange visions she sees involving
her mother and strange children, implies that their father’s
new love interest may not be all she seems. ***
It’s more or less official now – the horror genre is
as dead as the characters that get killed in it. The Uninvited
marks yet another attempt to Americanize elements of oriental
horror movies, something that has been extremely popular
in recent years. But like so many other attempted adaptations,
it ends up falling short compared to the original movies
that inspired it. ***
The Uninvited is a movie that puts style over substance
(though I won’t deny it isn’t the first horror movie to
do this) and features paper-thin characters, poor acting
and writing, and a predictable plot that, to any fan of
horror at all, won’t give any surprises. If you’re curious
about oriental horror films, I strongly suggest checking
out the original versions. Unfortunately, the Uninvited
is another half-assed American attempt at recreating oriental
horror greatness. ***
There was once a time, in America in particular, in
which there was no shortage of great horror movies, which
are now considered classics. Why can’t these filmmakers
get back to their roots and recapture the greatness that
this genre once had? Instead, filmmakers keep trying to
adapt other nations’ films, and the results always fall
flat compared to the oriental originals. Long story short,
The Uninvited brings nothing new to the horror table. Recommended
only to die-hard fans of the genre. ---
Image and Sound: Ultimately, The Uninvited looks and
sounds pretty good on Blu-Ray. The transfer is free of any
major blemishes or flaws, although the picture looks a bit
too soft at times. Fortunately, detail is generally strong,
as are black levels. The film was most likely shot with
a drab color pallete due to the nature of the movie, and
that said, it translates well to 1080p. There are slight
traces of grain, but fortunately, it is never distracting,
and helps the movie to maintain a film-like feel. From what
I can tell, no processing or digital noise reduction has
been used, which is always a good sign. The lossless audio
track is very front-heavy (there's a lot of dialogue here
after all) for most of the movie, but when stuff starts
going on, it really starts to shine. all in all, even though
the movie itself wasn't something I enjoyed, this transfer
was more than worthy.
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