DVD Review: The Uninvited (2009)

In Attendance- Me, Geo, and Michelle.
Cast Members of Note- Arielle Kebbel again (I saw Red Mist only a few days ago), the ever awesome David Strathairn, The naughty goodness of Elizabeth Banks, and the Down Under hotness of Emily Browning. *A special shout out goes to Don S. Davis who died last year; he plays a small role in this and was always a fantastic character actor. R.I.P.

A girl goes nuts after her mom dies in a tragic fire, and finds herself locked up in the local nuthouse. She's released after a year of therapy, only to return home to find that her Dad is shacked up with a hot, yet suspiciously evil, woman. She and her sister decide that they hate their new stepmom because she's far too sexy, and so the cat-fighting begins.

The evil stepmother; the sweaty, hot, evil, sweaty stepmother.

The sisters rummage through her drawers, steal the batteries for her vibrator, call her names, talk about her behind her back while they're in bed (and the bath) together... they even go as far as to Google her and find out that she may just be a child killer named Mildred Kemp. When they finally steal her pearl necklace (lol), she hits the roof and breaks out the syringe... I won't say anymore here, because I'd ruin the ending if I did, but suffice it to say that someone is bat-shit crazy, Mildred Kemp is real, and the lesbian-sister angle that I saw developing never quite comes to fruition.

"Sssh... Don't cry... Let's practice kissing instead."

Having seen the original A Tale of Two Sisters, I have to admit that this was not a bad retelling of that story. I was absolutely waiting for The Uninvited to use nothing but jump scares and cheesy plot devices to muck up the class and atmosphere of the original, but that never happened... at least not too much. Overall, this was a pretty smart movie in it's own right, and even managed to be creepy in some parts.

"You're sure that it only hurts the first time?"

Elizabeth Banks, whom I love in most everything she's in, plays the role of wicked stepmother perfectly; while the rest of the cast holds their own admirably, she's what really stood out to me here. Emily Browning did a nice job too as the tormented sister of the family, and Arielle Kebbel was hot and competent as always.

The locations were nice too, with the Vancouver backdrop providing some breathtaking visuals, giving the film a nice and isolated feel. This movie was well made.

I guess it's not that hard to figure out the twist if you're paying close enough attention, but at least they weren't too obvious about it. I did like how they handled the reveal at the end, but I just think it was too obvious throughout the movie. Then again, I saw the original, so I may be bitching for nothing. 

"Emily Browning looks as if she figured out the twist too."

They totally ruined "the kitchen/sink" scene. In the original, the sink gag was one of the highlights of the movie, but here they used it for little more than an excuse to insert a jump scare. Lame.

A little bit of gore towards the end, but that's about it. There are several scenes throughout the movie containing disturbing imagery though, especially the broken back bit. Nice.

It's PG-13, get serious.

A clothed bath scene? Ugh!

"Finish what you started." or "She's like a crackwhore without the dignity."

Never trust your stepmother. Also, never trust your sister... or your girlfriend...  Just to be safe, maybe don't trust women in general.

I'm thoroughly surprised that I'm rating The Uninvited as high as I am, but it was an above average flick that deserves some love; for every one thing that the film missed the mark on, it gave us two or three things that worked well, making the whole thing play like a solid effort. I'd definitely give this one a chance if you're in the "smart" Horror mood.

B-

The Uninvited is available now on Blu-ray, DVD, and VOD.

Aren't they adorable? Click the banner below for more of The Girls of The Uninvited.