Sometimes it’s hard to accept someone new into our lives. There is fear and anxiety for the worst, but what if those fears are real? The Uninvited is a remake of the Korean horror flick ‘Tale of Two Sisters’, but takes its name from another unrelated Korean film. The story revolves around worried-looking teenager Anna, played by Emily Browning (yes, the girl from the "Lemony Snicket" movie). Anna just got released from a mental institution 10 months after witnessing her sickly mother die in a horrible fire. Her loving dad, Steven (David Strathairn), has a new girlfriend, who coincidentally was his wife’s former nurse Rachel (Elizabeth Banks) who is "helping him cope, three times a night".
Rachel seems to care and tries to bring the family together, but something makes Anna feel otherwise. Perhaps it is the weird feeling whenever she says that she hopes to be friends. After being haunted by visions and dreams of her dead mother (looking disturbingly burnt) calling Rachel "murderer!", she comes to the conclusion that her new stepmother might be the one responsible for her death. Alex (Arielle Kebbel), Anna’s rebellious older sister (and smoking hot eye candy) seems to support her loathe for Rachel, and the two are determined to figure out who she really is. This is where Google comes to play, and the more they find out, the creepier it gets.
It also doesn’t help that Anna keeps seeing spooky dead children warning her of Rachel and telling her she’s next. Who is Rachel really? And are the two sisters all that stands in the way of what she wants? The Uninvited does have its scary moments, although they mostly consist of unsettling scenes and sudden scares, best of which is probably the kitchen scene! The characters are well-cast and fit the roles well. Banks plays a convincing stepmother with ulterior motives, Browning is convincingly worried, Strathairn is constantly calm despite his daughter’s concern and Kebbel is the smart one who steals every scene with her bikini. The way the movie is shot is also interesting, some scenes make it seem like everything’s okay, but you can feel your guts telling you, it’s not.
The Uninvited is scary at times and plays with the mind but is essentially more of a "seeking the truth" type of movie. Scare-freaks might not appreciate the spread-out scare pace but it should be something for the average viewer. While it has its fair share of predictable moments, the movie does have a gem of a twist at the end, making you rethink and replay the events of the entire movie.
3.5 out of 5 Stars
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