Movie Review: The Uninvited
“The Uninvited” was creepy, thrilling, and maybe a little bit disturbing. But it was none of these for the reasons it was intended to be.
I set out with an entirely different view of the film than it was going to turn out to be. From the commercials it was extremely hard to figure out the actual story line, which is a very good thing. I am usually almost psychic when it comes to figuring out what is going to be the outcome of a movie and I can honestly say that by misleading me with the commercials and the opening of the film as they had, that I was completely caught off-guard by the now obvious conclusion.
That having been said, it was actually quite a shallow story. Not much really happens … and that is actually important in a film in which you are supposed to be surprised by the conclusion. As far as thriller-horror films go I would have to say it was one of the better ones I have seen lately. It of course casts Elizabeth Banks, one of my very favorite horror film actresses.(she was also in Slither, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, and 40 Year old Virgin.) A very beautiful woman indeed. It is strange that in a lot of her films she starts out very busty, but as the film proceeds the wardrobe they have her in accentuates that less and less and she seems almost entirely flat by the end of each film. It’s always a very strange transition to watch and is super apparent in this film. Don’t know why I have noticed this, but let’s move on.
The other highly featured actresses in the film(Emily Browning and Arielle Kebbel) play sisters who suspect that Rachael(Elizabeth), their deceased mother’s nurse who is now dating their father, is a psycho killer linked to a brutal murder and somehow connected to their mother’s suspicious death. Ok now what I am saying may catch you off-guard but there’s really no other way to say it. The movie makes you wonder when the police are going to raid the theater to arrest all of you pedophiles watching this film. Let me explain for a moment.
The film features these two teenage-looking girls through almost the entire film. There is no explanation of their ages, but the film leads you to suspect that one of them is maybe 21 and the other is considerably younger. As the film progresses they wear skimpier and more revealing clothing to the point where (and I know that the horror film community is perfectly used to this) they are almost letting you see their “naughty parts” for lack of a better term. While this makes the film a 15 year old boy’s dream, WTH is the deal!? Believe me when I say that any glimpses of the female form you may require throughout this film are adequately provided by the generous Elizabeth Banks. There is no need to see these young actresses like this throughout the film. The only explanation I can come up with is that it symbolically portrays helplessness and or innocence. In which case, I acknowledge that this is a feasible visual-mental film device. Knowing the world as I do though, I would say that either the director is a big perve or maybe the actresses did this film in hopes that they could launch a successful adult film career or move in with “Heff.” I have done the research and both of them are over 18 so if it does float your boat go check them out I guess…
From a horror film perspective though, the film as quite good. The makeup and suspense are good enough to make the audience jump on occasion and the timing is also excellent as well. There was even one point where, though I knew that something was definitely going to jump out, they waited sufficiently that I relaxed before the pounce, making me jump like a little girl. (After which Cerberus gave me quite a look by the way.)
All in all most of the characters are too shallow to give them half a thought, the backstory is insufficient to fully explain anything that draws from it for explanation, and the gore of the film pretty much looks entirely fake — enough that even 3 year olds will point and say “mommy ketchup!” I do have to say that with this all in mind it was quite enjoyable and the ending definitely got me. In fact the ending got one person in the theater so hard that he sat down in the aisle twitching for a few moments holding his head. His friends had to come back and get him and when they asked what is wrong he explained to them that the ending just hit him so hard that it fried his brain for a minute. Any film that features Elizabeth or fools me with an unpredictable conclusion is o.k. in my book, but since it is a horror-thriller after all, the best it can most likely ever receive from me is a 2.5 to 3 out of 5 on whatever scale you measure by…
Nice review man. It’s good to know it works (kinda) as a horror movie. I bet the use of little to no clothing in this is the same as in The Unborn. Totally pointless but there none the less.
Uninvited was a good movie. You had to focus on each detail. Now realizing, they did begin to wear less clothing. Unborn was the same ordeal but in unborn, the main girl began to look hotter as the movie went on. She went from ok to Megan Fox look-a-like.
Funny story I thought I was going to see the Unborn, because I forgot the Uninvited even existed. You can imagine my surprise and later disappointment when I was in the theatre and realized what I was really in for. As for having to focus on each detail…well I tried, but then realizing my failure when Andy had to elbow me to keep me from snoring. Maybe my interpretation of a good movie differs from most you see in a movie I prefer when people…DO SOMETHING!!!