The Uninvited (2009 film)

Last updated
The Uninvited
The Uninvited (2009 film).jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byThe Guard Brothers
Screenplay byCraig Rosenberg
Doug Miro
Carlo Bernard
Based on A Tale of Two Sisters
by Kim Jee-woon
Produced by Walter F. Parkes
Laurie MacDonald
Roy Lee
Starring
Cinematography Daniel Landin
Edited byJim Page
Christian Wagner
Music by Christopher Young
Production
companies
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release dates
  • January 30, 2009 (2009-01-30)(United States/Canada)
  • May 28, 2009 (2009-05-28)(Germany)
Running time
87 minutes
CountriesUnited States
Canada
Germany
LanguageEnglish
Box office$42.7 million [2]

The Uninvited is a 2009 American psychological horror film directed by the Guard Brothers and starring Emily Browning, Elizabeth Banks, Arielle Kebbel, and David Strathairn. It is a remake of the 2003 South Korean horror film A Tale of Two Sisters , which is in turn one of several film adaptations of the Korean folk tale Janghwa Hongryeon jeon. The film grossed $42.7 million, and received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, with the Rotten Tomatoes' critical consensus stating that it "suffers from predictable plot twists", but called it "moody and reasonably involving".

Contents

Plot

Following a suicide attempt after her terminally ill mother died in a house fire, Anna Ivers is discharged from a psychiatric institution after ten months; she has no memory of the actual fire, though recurring nightmares from that night frequently plague her. Back at home, Anna reunites with her older sister Alex and learns their father Steven has a new girlfriend, Rachel Summers, who was their mother's live-in nurse.

Anna and Alex become convinced that Anna's nightmares are messages from their mother, telling them that Rachel murdered her so she could be with Steven. The girls remain angry at Steven for moving their mother into the boathouse when she got sick, her only way of calling for help being a bell that Rachel tied to her wrist. Anna meets up with her old boyfriend Matt, who tells her he saw what happened the night her mother died, but Rachel intervenes before he can explain further.

Anna goes with Rachel into town so Alex can look through Rachel’s possessions and Anna can talk to Matt again. The two secretly plan to meet that night, but Matt fails to show up. Anna has a ghastly hallucination of him and, the next morning, his dead body is pulled out of the water, his back broken. The police state he fell from his boat and drowned.

After the sisters are unable to find a record of Rachel with the State Nursing Association, they conclude that she's actually Mildred Kemp, a nanny who killed the children she was taking care of after she became obsessed with their widowed father. While Steven is away on business, the girls try to gather evidence against Rachel to show the police, but Rachel catches them and sedates Alex. Anna escapes and goes to the local police station, but they disbelieve her and eventually call Rachel to take her home.

Rachel sedates Anna and puts her to bed; Anna sees Alex in the doorway with a knife before passing out. When she wakes up, she finds that Alex has killed Rachel and thrown her body in a dumpster in their backyard. When Steven arrives home, Anna explains that Rachel tried to murder them and Alex saved them. Confused and panicked, Steven asks what Anna is talking about: Alex died in the fire along with their mother. Anna looks down to find that the bloody knife is in her hand. She finally remembers what happened on the night of the fire: after catching Steven and Rachel having sex, she became enraged, filled a watering can from a gasoline tank in the boathouse, and carried it toward the house, intending to burn it down. However, she didn't fully close the faucet and it spilt a trail of gasoline that ignited when a lantern fell. Her mother was killed in the resulting explosion, as was Alex.

It is revealed that Anna has symptoms of both severe schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder. Flashbacks reveal that Anna has been hallucinating Alex since she left the institution, which is why no one else ever responded to Alex's presence or dialogues, only Anna's. She also remembers killing Matt at their planned meeting by letting him fall off a cliff and break his back after he revealed that he saw what she had done. She finally remembers killing Rachel, who was not a murderer but a kind woman trying to make the family work; Anna had only imagined her as homicidal and callous.

The next morning as Anna is arrested for murder, the police question Steven, who reveals that Rachel changed her last name three years earlier to escape from her abusive ex-boyfriend; her real name was Rachel Worshinsky. When Anna returns to the mental institution, she is welcomed back by the patient in the room across from hers, whose nameplate reveals she is the real Mildred Kemp.

Cast

Development

In 2002, producers Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald produced the hit horror film The Ring , a remake of the Japanese film Ring . They subsequently produced the film's successful sequel The Ring Two in 2005. Since first starting this new cycle of Asian horror film adaptations, Parkes and MacDonald searched for a project they felt was as ingeniously conceived and executed as The Ring and finally found it when producer Roy Lee brought the Korean film A Tale of Two Sisters to their attention.

When A Tale of Two Sisters played in US theatres, directors Tom and Charlie Guard acquired the English language remake rights. The Guard Brothers had previously directed commercials and short films and wanted to expand into feature films.

In June 2006, DreamWorks announced that a deal had been set up for the US version of A Tale of Two Sisters. The new film was a presentation of DreamWorks and Cold Spring Pictures ( Disturbia ) and was produced by Parkes, MacDonald and Lee. The screenplay was written by Craig Rosenberg ( After the Sunset , Lost ), Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard ( The Great Raid ). [3]

In early 2008, the film, whose working title had been A Tale of Two Sisters, was renamed to The Uninvited. [4]

The film was released in North American theatres on 30 January 2009.

Shooting location

Although the film is set in Maine, it was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia. Most of the film was shot at one location, a waterfront property on British Columbia's Bowen Island, a short ferry ride west from mainland Vancouver.

Producer Walter F. Parkes said, of the shooting location:

Eighty percent of the story takes place at the house, so we couldn't make the movie without the right one. It couldn't have been more important. We scouted Louisiana, an environment which is both beautiful and slightly threatening. We had two houses which were terrible compromises, but both of them fell through. We had a difficult time finding anything that had both the connection to the story and the right logistical possibilities.But then we were lucky to find in Canada a place that seemed as if it had been built for our movie. It was perfectly evocative and suggestive of a family that is both welcoming and forbidding. The fact that the house was within 30 miles of Vancouver was a greater plus than the minus of having to get everyone on boats to get them over there; water taxis and ferries are a way of life up there. In fact, I don’t remember ever having a more pleasant time on a location. Getting onto a boat and having a cup of coffee and then going up the little pier and the stairs we built, it focused us. We were isolated with one thing on our minds, which was making this movie. It was great. [5]

It is reported that a two-storey boathouse in the film was built on the property overlooking the water just for several scenes. The cold water is rough and unappealing; it is a greenish-grey that crashes constantly and does not invite swimming. [6]

Casting

Emily Browning was hired to portray the lead Anna Ivers. She had originally auditioned for the role of Alex. The film is rated PG-13 and is visually less gory and bloody than the original film. [6] Elizabeth Banks plays the role of the stepmother, Rachel. [7] Banks based her character Rachel on Rebecca De Mornay in The Hand That Rocks the Cradle . [8] "It was very important to me that every line reading I gave could be interpreted two ways," says Banks of her role, "so that when you go back through the movie you can see that." [8] David Strathairn plays the concerned father of the two girls. [9] Arielle Kebbel plays Anna's older sister, Alex Ivers. [10]

Music

The original score for the film was composed by Christopher Young, who recorded it with a 78-piece orchestra and 20-person choir. His score features a glass harmonica and the Yale Women's Slavic Chorus. [11]

Sara Niemietz is the vocalist for the soundtrack and film score, [12] having previously worked with Christopher Young in the same capacity on The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005). [13] Now an adult, she is an independent artist and cast-member of Postmodern Jukebox. [14]

Reception

Box office

On its opening day, the film grossed $4,335,000 and ranked #2 in the box office. [15] It got $10,512,000 for its opening weekend, set on the third place, opened in 2,344 theaters with an average $4,485 per theatre. [16] The film spent nine weeks in US cinemas, and finished with a total gross of $28,596,818. It did fairly moderately for a horror film in the US markets. [17] The film was released on March 26, 2009, in Australia, and it opened at the fifth position, averaging $3,998 at 121 sites, for a gross of A$483,714. The second week it dipped 29%.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 32% based on reviews from 129 critics, with an average rating of 4.55/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "The Uninvited is moody and reasonably involving but suffers from predictable plot twists." [18] On Metacritic it has a weighted average score of 43 out of 100 based on 24 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average" reception. [19] In Yahoo! Movies Critical Response, the average professional critical rating was a C according to 11 reviews. [20] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B on scale of A to F. [21]

Dennis Harvey of Variety wrote: "Weak even by the standard of uninspired recent Asian-horror remakes, The Uninvited is more likely to induce snickers and yawns than shudders and yelps." [22] Kim Newman of Empire magazine gave it 2 out of 5 and called it a "slick remake.... with a new set of twists" but let down by a finale featuring "revelations you've seen far too often" and an underused role for Banks. [23] Bloody Disgusting gave the film 3 out of 5 and noted Banks and Kebbel's fine performances but also criticised the ending, "which can be figured out within the first 20 minutes" and noting it as "perfectly acceptable as a major-studio horror film for the 13 – 17 crowd and is unlikely to insult or ruffle the feathers of any genre fan that wants to give it a go." [24]

Roger Ebert gave it 3 out of 4, with particular praise for Browning: "She makes an ideal heroine for a horror movie: innocent, troubled, haunted by nightmares, persecuted by a wicked stepmother, convinced her real mother was deliberately burned to death. She makes you fear for her, and that's half the battle." Ebert also had positive notes for the cinematography, the casting of Strathairn. He expressed surprise at the PG-13 rating and cited this film as evidence that MPAA rates films based on the absence of sex, nudity, or foul language, rather than the imagery it does contain that might actually be inappropriate for younger viewers. [25] Claudia Puig of USA Today gave it a positive review and wrote: "Don't be too quick to turn down The Uninvited. A stylish horror thriller in the vein of "The Ring," it's well-acted, frightening, and handsomely produced." [26]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Ring</i> (2002 film) 2002 American film directed by Gore Verbinski

The Ring is a 2002 American psychological supernatural horror film directed by Gore Verbinski and written by Ehren Kruger, and stars Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, David Dorfman, Jane Alexander and Brian Cox. It is a remake of Hideo Nakata's 1998 film Ring, based on the 1991 novel by Koji Suzuki. Watts plays Rachel Keller, a journalist who discovers a cursed videotape that kills the viewer seven days after viewing it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danielle Harris</span> American actress (born 1977)

Danielle Andrea Harris is an American actress. She is known as a "scream queen" for her roles in multiple horror films, including four entries in the Halloween franchise: Halloween 4 (1988) and Halloween 5 (1989) as Jamie Lloyd, and Halloween (2007) and Halloween II (2009) as Annie Brackett. Other such roles include Tosh in Urban Legend (1998), Belle in Stake Land (2010), and Marybeth Dunston in the Hatchet series (2010–17). In 2012, she was inducted into the Fangoria Hall of Fame.

<i>C.H.U.D.</i> 1984 American horror film

C.H.U.D. is a 1984 American science fiction horror film directed by Douglas Cheek, produced by Andrew Bonime, and starring John Heard, Daniel Stern, and Christopher Curry in his film debut. The plot concerns a New York City police officer and a homeless shelter manager who team up to investigate a series of disappearances, and discover that the missing people have been killed by humanoid monsters that live in the sewers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Banks</span> American actress (born 1974)

Elizabeth Banks is an American actress, producer and director. She is known for playing chaperone Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games film series (2012–2015) and an ICCA commentator in the Pitch Perfect film series (2012–2017). She made her directorial film debut with Pitch Perfect 2 (2015), whose $69 million opening-weekend gross set a record for a first-time director. She has since directed the action comedy Charlie's Angels (2019) and the horror comedy film Cocaine Bear (2023). Banks founded the film and television production company Brownstone Productions in 2002 with her husband, Max Handelman.

<i>A Tale of Two Sisters</i> 2003 South Korean film

A Tale of Two Sisters is a 2003 South Korean psychological horror film written and directed by Kim Jee-woon. The film is inspired by a Joseon dynasty-era folktale entitled "Janghwa Hongryeon jeon", which has been adapted to film several times. The plot focuses on a recently released patient from a mental institution who returns home with her sister, only to face disturbing events.

<i>The Grudge 2</i> 2006 film by Takashi Shimizu

The Grudge 2 is a 2006 American supernatural horror film directed by Takashi Shimizu and written by Stephen Susco. The film is a sequel to The Grudge (2004) and the second installment in the American The Grudge film series. The film stars Arielle Kebbel, Amber Tamblyn, Jennifer Beals, Edison Chen, Sarah Roemer, and Sarah Michelle Gellar who reprises her role from the first film. Like its predecessor, the film features a plot that is told through a nonlinear sequence of events and includes several intersecting subplots. It follows Karen's younger sister Aubrey coming to Japan after finding out about Doug's death, a schoolgirl named Allison being haunted by the ghosts of the Saeki family after entering the house with two of her classmates, and a young boy named Jake whose apartment building is haunted by the ghosts.

<i>Psycho</i> (1998 film) 1998 psychological horror film

Psycho is a 1998 American psychological horror film produced and directed by Gus Van Sant, and starring Vince Vaughn, Julianne Moore, Viggo Mortensen, William H. Macy, and Anne Heche. It is a modern remake of Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film of the same name, in which an embezzler arrives at an old motel run by a mysterious man named Norman Bates; both films are adapted from Robert Bloch's 1959 novel.

Korean horror films have been around since the early years of Korean cinema, however, it was not until the late 1990s that the genre began to experience a renewal. Many of the Korean horror films tend to focus on the suffering and the anguish of characters rather than focus on the explicit "blood and guts" aspect of horror. Korean horror features many of the same motifs, themes, and imagery as Japanese horror.

The Grudge is an American supernatural horror film series released by Sony Pictures based on and a part of the larger Japanese Ju-On franchise. The first installment is a remake of Ju-On: The Grudge and follows a similar storyline to the Japanese film. The sequel, The Grudge 2, is not a remake and follows a unique storyline, albeit still borrowing some plot elements from several Japanese predecessors. Another sequel, The Grudge 3, picks up shortly after the events of the second film.

Keiko Nemoto is a Japanese voice actress from Chiba and affiliated with 81 Produce. She is married to voice actor Masaya Takatsuka.

<i>Inside</i> (2007 film) 2007 French horror film directed by Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo

Inside is a 2007 French slasher film directed by Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo in their directorial debut, written by Bustillo, and starring Béatrice Dalle and Alysson Paradis. The plot focuses on a mourning widow on the verge of pregnancy, where she is attacked in her home by a mysterious intruder on Christmas Eve.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arielle Kebbel</span> American actress and model

Arielle Kebbel is an American actress and model. She has appeared in various television series, including Gilmore Girls (2003–2004), The Vampire Diaries (2009–2017), Life Unexpected (2010), 90210 (2011–2013), Ballers, Midnight Texas (2017–2018), and Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector (2019–2020). Kebbel has also appeared in films such as American Pie Presents: Band Camp (2005), John Tucker Must Die (2006), The Grudge 2 (2006), Forever Strong (2008), The Uninvited (2009), Think Like a Man (2012), Fifty Shades Freed (2018), After We Fell (2021), After Ever Happy (2022), and After Everything (2023).

Freakdog is a 2008 British horror film directed by Paddy Breathnach, that originally went under the title Red Mist.

Grace Jane Gummer is an American actress. She received a Theatre World Award for her Broadway debut in the 2011 revival of Arcadia. Her television work includes recurring roles in The Newsroom and American Horror Story: Freak Show, and regular roles in Extant and Mr. Robot.

<i>Vampires Suck</i> 2010 American vampire parody film

Vampires Suck is a 2010 American parody film written and directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. It stars Jenn Proske, Matt Lanter, Christopher N. Riggi, Ken Jeong, Anneliese van der Pol, and Arielle Kebbel. The film is a parody of The Twilight Saga franchise. Like the previous Friedberg and Seltzer movies, the film was panned by critics for its humor and plot. 20th Century Fox theatrically released the film on August 18, 2010.

<i>Livid</i> (film) 2011 French film

Livid is a 2011 French supernatural horror film written and directed by Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo. It is their follow-up to the horror film Inside.

<i>Uninvited</i> (1987 film) 1988 film by Greydon Clark

Uninvited is a 1987 American science-fiction horror film written, produced and directed by Greydon Clark and starring George Kennedy, Alex Cord, Clu Gulager, Toni Hudson and Eric Larson. The film primarily takes place aboard a luxury yacht owned by a criminal multimillionaire and bound for the Cayman Islands, whose passengers and crew are terrorized by a mutant cat.

<i>Martyrs</i> (2015 film) Horror film by the Goetz brothers

Martyrs is a 2015 American horror film directed by Kevin and Michael Goetz, and written by Mark L. Smith. The film stars Troian Bellisario, Bailey Noble and Kate Burton. A remake of Pascal Laugier's 2008 film of the same name, the story sees a woman who, after having been kidnapped and tortured as a child, goes to kill her supposed captors, and with her friend discovers the dark truth behind the torture.

<i>Goodnight Mommy</i> 2014 film directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala

Goodnight Mommy is a 2014 Austrian psychological horror film, written and directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala. The film stars Susanne Wuest and twin actors Elias and Lukas Schwarz, and follows the complex relationship between twin boys and their newly-returned-from-the-hospital mother in a large isolated house. The boys begin to question the woman's identity, believing that she isn't the same person as the one who went to surgery, and therefore wondering if she is their real mother.

<i>The Curse of La Llorona</i> 2019 American supernatural horror film

The Curse of La Llorona is a 2019 American supernatural horror film directed by Michael Chaves, in his feature directorial debut, and written by Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis. Based on the Latin American folklore of La Llorona, the film stars Linda Cardellini, Raymond Cruz, and Patricia Velásquez, and follows a mother in 1973 Los Angeles who must save her children from a malevolent spirit trying to steal them. The film was produced by James Wan through his Atomic Monster banner.

References

  1. ↑ "Executive Suite: Tom Pollock and Ivan Reitman". The Hollywood Reporter . 2011-10-03. Retrieved 2014-01-25.
  2. ↑ "The Uninvited (2009) - Financial Information". The Numbers . Retrieved 2020-10-20.
  3. ↑ Scifi Japan(December 26, 2007). Two Brothers remake Two Sisters. Scifijapan.com. Retrieved on January 18, 2009.
  4. ↑ "Announcement of title change". Fangoria.com. Archived from the original on 2008-04-16.
  5. ↑ Scifi Japan (December 26, 2008). "The Perfect House." Scifi Japan. Retrieved on January 18, 2009.
  6. 1 2 Heidi Martinuzzi(January 05, 2009). "An Invitation to the Set of The Uninvited." shocktillyoudrop.com. Retrieved on January 18, 2009.
  7. ↑ Heidi Sam Baltrusisi(January 11, 2009). "Elizabeth Banks gets wicked in 'The Uninvited' ." Loadgun Boston. Retrieved on January 18, 2009.
  8. 1 2 "Elizabeth Banks: The Uninvited". SuicideGirls.com. 30 January 2009. Retrieved January 30, 2009.
  9. ↑ Brad Miska (June 22, 2007). "David Strathairn Stars Opposite Banks in 'Two Sisters' Remake". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on 2008-12-04. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  10. ↑ Arieanna Schweber (December 30, 2008). "Arielle Kebbel in “The Uninvited” ." Gilmore Girl news. Retrieved on January 18, 2009. Archived January 8, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  11. ↑ Goldwasser, Dan (June 3, 2008). "Christopher Young scores the horror film The Uninvited". ScoringSessions.com. Retrieved June 3, 2008.
  12. ↑ The Uninvited at AllMusic . Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  13. ↑ The Exorcism of Emily Rose at AllMusic . Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  14. ↑ "Sara Niemietz Archives". Postmodern Jukebox. Archived from the original on 2020-11-01. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
  15. ↑ "Daily Box Office for Friday, January 30, 2009". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved February 2, 2009.
  16. ↑ "Weekend Box Office Results from January 30 – February 1, 2009". Box Office Mojo . February 2, 2009. Retrieved February 2, 2009.
  17. ↑ "The Uninvited (2009) – Daily Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved November 26, 2010.
  18. ↑ "The Uninvited (2009)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango . Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  19. ↑ "The Uninvited Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  20. ↑ "The Uninvited (2009): Reviews". Yahoo! Movies. Archived from the original on May 10, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2009.
  21. ↑ "UNINVITED, THE (2009) B". CinemaScore.com. Archived from the original on 2018-12-20.
  22. ↑ Harvey, Dennis (30 January 2009). "The Uninvited". Variety .
  23. ↑ Newman, Kim (13 December 2008). "The Uninvited". Empire .
  24. ↑ "The Uninvited (A Tale of Two Sisters remake): Review". Bloody Disgusting . Archived from the original on February 2, 2009. Retrieved February 2, 2009.
  25. ↑ Ebert, Roger (January 28, 2009). "An angel-faced teenage girl in a nightmare of horror". Chicago Sun-Times .
  26. ↑ Claudia Puig. "'The Uninvited' turns out to be a pretty scary visitor". USA Today .
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.