Review: The Uninvited (2009)

Producer Roy Lee has made a lot of hay from importing horror films of Asian descent, slapping an Americanized polish on it and releasing it onto the unsuspecting public. With The Uninvited, Lee has tapped The Guard Brothers as directors, previously known for short films. Writers Craig Rosenberg and Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard, who have collectively written such films as The Great Raid and Hotel de Love, were given the daunting task of taking the near-classic A Tale of Two Sisters and adapting it for stateside audiences. The Uninvited takes a more linear approach than the twisting telling that was the hallmark of the predecessor.

Anna (Emily Browning) begins the film as the inmate of an asylum. Fortunately for her, it's her last day, and she is soon to be released into the arms of her novelist father, Steven (David Straithairn). Back at home, the family is reeling from the death of Anna's mother, but Steven has moved on. He has found solace in the arms of Rachael (Elizabeth Banks), who had previously served as the family's nurse as Anna's mother's illness worsened. What we come to learn, though, is that Anna's mother didn't die of her illness, but rather an explosion that has suspicious roots.
Along with the awkwardness of her father's new girlfriend, Anna tries to rebuild her relationship with sister Alex (Arielle Kebbel). Anna and Alex had been thick as thieves, and soon find a mutual distrust of Rachael as she insinuates herself into the family proper. Adding to Anna's growing suspicion of Rachael's true intentions are visions that haunt Anna, namely of three children, ghostly in appearance, who are trying to communicate with the young girl. Are they trying to tell Anna that Rachael has killed them and Anna and her sister are next, or is there something more insidious going on here?

Sadly, the problems with The Uninvited are numerous. First and foremost, the secret of the film, which I won't spoil here, is so plainly obvious that it detracts from the film as a whole. From the first act on, one of the supposed twists must prey on the thoughts of the viewer, drawing attention away from the screen. Not that that's a bad thing. There's not much happening up there. The script handles the family dynamic in a straightforward, unsophisticated manner, making the drama of the mother's death underwhelming. As far as the scares go, there's not much to be had. There are a few jump gags, and some imagery of kids in garbage bags at wrong angles, but not much else.
If anything could save this movie, it would be Elizabeth Banks, who delights in playing a villainess. It would have been sadistic fun to see her work her chops in a better film, and there are more than a few line deliveries that bring one to smile. David Straithairn doesn't have much to do here, but he's fine, as usual. Emily Browning does an adequate job of playing the terrorized Anna, but Kebbel drags down almost every scene she appears in. She's a very pretty girl, but this is not the film to showcase her acting talents, if they indeed exist.
Paul Simon once sang, "Who do you think you're fooling?" and that's the question that kept running through my mind during the 90 minutes it took this film to put me out of my misery. Banks is so much fun that I hate to see her in a performance that is wasted on a film that relies far too heavily on cheap gags and twists that are so telegraphed, there are as-yet undiscovered tribes in the Congo that saw them coming. This is a film made by people that understand that horror is, in fact, a genre that exists, but don't seem to understand the mechanics or inventiveness that went into making A Tale of Two Sisters such a treat. If you haven't seen that Korean treasure, do yourself a favor and give it a rent and stay far away from The Uninvited. You'll thank me, later.