Andrew Marcec » The Uninvited

The Uninvited

Jun 30, 2009 | No Comments | @andrewmarcec

Anna Ivers was wracked with guilt after watching the guest house her terminally ill mother slept in burnt to the ground, and sought refuge in the psych ward of a hospital. Ten months had passed since then, and with help and guidance from her psychologist she is deemed fit to return home with her father, sister, and the newest addition to the household Rachel. Rachel was Anna’s mother’s nurse while she was bedridden, and has since quickly implemented herself as an important member of the household. She cooks dinners, helps with renovations, and even went so far as to help plan the funeral for Anna’s mother. However Anna’s sister Alex is not so sure of her true intentions, and voices her feelings whenever possible. As tensions in the family rise, and the relationship between Alex and her father seem to crumble before their eyes, the sisters find out something very important about Rachel, something possibly deadly. Will the sisters be able to save what is left of their family, or will they be stuck living the rest of their lives with the uninvited?

The Uninvited is nothing the horror watchers of America haven’t seen before. This is another addition to the slew of Eastern films that America has failed to successfully remake. Based on the 2003 South Korean film A Tale Of Two Sisters, The Uninvited chose to take incredible artistic liberties that stray heavily from the Korean original while still attempting to keep some of the scariest parts of the film.

Elizabeth Banks falls terribly short of a mediocre performance as she makes one of her first attempts at being a villian. Her character Rachel, is supposed to be the new love of her father’s life, and the thorn in Anna’s side because she is trying so hard to be the perfect mother. However Rachel is hardly ever shown on screen with Anna’s father in the film, and when she is, she is barking demands and whining like a spoiled fifth grader. Her actions toward Anna are similarly slefish, and her demeanor quickly turns apathetic and distant moments into every conversation. In the Korean version Rachel’s character is masterfully executed by Jung-ah Yum. She masterfully portrayed the step-mother who wanted so badly to be accepted by her new family and not treated as an outcast. Her proper manners and the pressure to maintain and image of being incredibly happy no matter what the situation drives her to madness at points that is truely terrifying. Not all of the character loss is Elizabeth Banks’ fault because there is an incredibly amount of character depth lost through cultural differences between Asia and America.

David Strathairn portrays Steven, Anna and Alex’s father. He is supposed to be an incredibly mysterious and complex character. He is distant and detatched from the situation that is his living in at the moment, and also so that he isn’t too incredibly affected by the seriousness of Anna’s situation. He cares deeply for her, but throws himself into work to cope, even distancing himself from Rachel. This was not even close to how the character is portrayed, the only reason he is distant in the American film is because he is hardly on screen for more than fifteen minutes.

The Uninvited tried so hard to make a plot that was not only mysterious, but also full of twists and turns to keep the viewers guessing. However it was blatantly obvious of the route they were taking the second the film opened. Anna is in a mental ward, long story short, she is insane. In movies like this the insanity is incurable, it’s surprising these filmmakers had the balls to green light this as a script. The psycho thriller started with Fight Club and ended with Haute Tension, or to those who only watch American films Identity, The Uninvited is really pulling up the rear. All the red herrings placed in craftily throughout the film might have worked had the characters and their relationship to the town been better established and cultured. The filmmakers even went so far as to create entirely new characters and a new subplot to the film that wasn’t explained until the last twelve minutes of the film. That dulled the affect of the scares because the audience had no idea what was going on.

This is another film that has fallen victim to the Hollywood money machine. It is an incredibly bad way to spend 87 minutes, not even blu-ray quality could make this more watchable or entertaining. IF you feel the urge to watch a truly scary version of the film, where the reveals are actually shocking and terrifying Netflix A Tale Of Two Sisters, and realize just how good these films that Hollywood remakes truley are.