Older Reviews-The Uninvited

            A surprise ending turns this mediocre horror movie into an above average one.

            The Uninvited, released this Friday, is a pretty standard representation of its genre. Emily Browning (Series of Unfortunate Events) plays Anna, a troubled teen who has spent ten months in a mental hospital after attempting suicide following the death of her mother (who knew that one-time suicide attempts could get you ten months in a hospital these days?). After her release, she returns to her now-haunted lakeside home to find that her father is shacking up with her mother’s former nurse, the delightfully creepy Rachel (Elizabeth Banks, from Zack and Miri Make A Porno). Together with snarky sister Alex (Arielle Kebbel, who looks like Mandy Moore but is actually the girl from The Grudge 2), Anna begins to believe that Rachel has murdered their mother and intends to murder them.

            Most of the scares are fairly standard. Three vaguely creepy children haunt Anna at random intervals, leading her to their gravestones and telling her that she’s next. Anna’s mother’s ghost appears crawling and burned to a crisp, pointing blindly at any of the characters and moaning “murderer!” Blood flows from keyholes, garbage bags have dance parties, and all the while, stepmother Rachel practices her Jack Nicholson impressions. The army of teenagers in the audience (PG-13 horror film- what can you expect?) scream in terror at all of these moments, but the seasoned horror fan sees it all as par for the course, and will most likely remain unmoved.

            What the film lacks in scares, it makes up in plot. The audience is expecting a twist (or at least it should be- the teenagers behind me kept getting fooled by the most obvious red-herrings), and there is one. Part of the twist is not that surprising, but the biggest shock of them all comes almost out of nowhere. I considered watching the movie again to see all of the pieces fall into place and check to make sure the filmmakers didn’t cheat, but as I couldn’t find the movie online and don’t feel like paying $9.25 to see it again, you’ll just have to sort it out for yourselves.

            Frankly, if the filmmakers had settled for making a psychological thriller rather than a horror film, this one would have been better. As Anna, Emily Browning is gorgeously innocent and almost as fun to watch as Elizabeth Banks (who knew that Banks could do creepy?). Browning and Kebbel make a nice pair and have passable chemistry as far as sisters go. If the filmmakers wanted to expand the plot, they could have given the father (David Strathairn) more to do- he’s certainly capable of having more of a presence. The landscape is gorgeous, the plot is almost intriguing- the ghosts are unnecessary.

            This film will never match up with the horror films it’s being compared to. It is not The Shining, or The Sixth Sense. But as far as horror films go, it is far better than most of the other ones out there, PG-13 or otherwise. Just wait to rent it on video, if you want to uninvite those pesky audience teenagers. 

Grade: B-