I went into watching The Uninvited without any real pre-existing knowledge of what I was letting myself in for; the name of the film seemed familiar, beyond that though I couldn’t really recall much else about the film, and the only key detail I knew about the film was that it was a horror film. The film I’d say comes across as a mix of films like Ringu and The Grudge, combined with more contemporary films such as Paranormal Activity and Insidious. It’s actually a remake of the South Korean horror film A Tale of Two Sisters, and this would therefore explain the Asian horror vibe of the film that you get here.
One of the key things that struck me about The Uninvited is the performance of Elizabeth Banks; she’s really good as the creepy stepmother, and for me she provided the absolute stand out performance of the film. Unfortunately there was not really enough focus on her character for my liking, when she was called upon she was brilliant at all times however, and fulfilled her role perfectly in creating a sense of tension and suspense throughout the film. Elizabeth Banks was brilliant then, but beyond this I have very little that’s particularly positive to say about The Uninvited. This film is incredibly clichéd and unoriginal, everything that takes place in the film has all been done before, and it’s all been done a lot better in the past, too.
The Uninvited is one of those horror film’s that comes complete with a twist; you think you know where you are with the film, and then it goes and ‘shocks’ you by turning that around, only, you know, it doesn’t, because in horror film’s these days it’s actually probably more shocking when the film doesn’t have a terrible twist. I think the film was probably actually better before it provided its big twist, I certainly enjoyed it a little more up until that point anyway, then they went and hit me with it, and I felt even more disappointed in the film than I’d anticipated. I’m guessing the original film that The Uninvited is based on had this twist, and so it’s not really the fault of directorial duo Charles Guard and Thomas Guard that this element of the film is so completely awful, it did rather ruin any enjoyment that I’d taken from the script up until this point however, and left me more than a little disappointed in the direction that the film had taken.
Throughout the film there are some pretty great shots of the location, aesthetically the film is incredibly pleasing, in terms of actual content however the film fails to ever really deliver. There doesn’t seem to be a strong sense of storyline here, the film just seems to meander along, and every so often we’re thrown another ghost-child moment that we get all too often with these annoying Asian horror film remakes. Banks’ character is great at building tension when she’s around, all too often she’s not however, and the film fails to really grab you or have you particularly caring about the events that are taking place onscreen. There’s no great sense of structure here, and for that reason The Uninvited really seems to struggle.
The film managed to gross in excess of $41 million worldwide, and I really don’t know how it managed to do this. Sure, it has the star power of people like Elizabeth Banks, David Strathairn, and Emily Browning, it also happens to be a really bad film however, and surely word travels pretty fast in this day and age about just how truly awful a new film is?! Elizabeth Banks is really good in the film, she alone is not enough to save it however, and The Uninvited ultimately suffers from its disappointingly clichéd approach and failure to really provide any sort of a compelling viewing experience. I’ve seen worse, but The Uninvited really isn’t a horror film that works, and definitely isn’t a film that I’ll be watching again in the future.
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
