THE EXPLOSIVE REVIEW

Starring: Emily Browning, Arielle Kebbel, Elizabeth Banks, David Strathairn, Maya Massar, Kevin McNulty, Jesse Moss, Lex Burnham, Danny Bristol, Matthew Bristol, Don S. Davis, Heather Doerksen, and Dean Paul Gibson.

Directed by: Charles Guard and Thomas Guard.

Story:
Anna Ivers, a young girl who was institutionalized for her recurring dreams of her dead mother and ghostly visions, is now released and arrives home with her sister Alex and father David. David is now living, dating, and sleeping with his dead wife’s nurse, Rachel Summers, whom the two daughters suspect to be responsible for their mother’s death. As usual, David refuses to believe them and thinks they’re out of their mind. Meanwhile, Rachel threatens the two daughters behind his back while Anna’s ghostly visions give her further insight into Rachel’s true intentions. Together, Anna and Alex team up to stop Rachel before she kills them and her father.

Characters:
*Anna Ivers (Emily Browning): A young girl who keeps having weird ghostly visions and dreams of her deceased mother.
*Alex Ivers (Arielle Kebbel): Anna’s sister, roughly the same age.
*Rachel Summers (Elizabeth Banks): The nurse of the deceased mother who is now the significant other of the widowed husband.
*Steven Ivers (David Strathairn): Anna and Alex’s concerned father.
*Lilian Ivers (Maya Massar): Alex and Anna’s dead mother who keeps appearing to Anna in her dreams.
*Matt (Jesse Moss): Another typical teenage pretty face boy who’s a ‘friend’ of Anna and serves no other purpose except cannon fodder.
*Mildred Kemp (Heather Doerksen): The woman whom Anna and Alex suspect to be the same along with Rachel Summers.
*Dr. Silberman (Dean Paul Gibson): Anna’s psychiatrist.

Overall:
I have to admit, I had very low expectations for this film which happens to be yet another remake of a recently released South Korean horror movie (how many more times, please God, how many more?). While I haven’t seen the original film it is based on, “A Tale of Two Sisters” (2003), “The Uninvited” was surprisingly watchable although it was quite an average film. Also bare in mind, “The Uninvited” shares no relation to two other films of the same name, one being (another) 2003 Korean horror film and the other a 1944 American film.

“The Uninvited” does have its share of cliched horror movie scare tactics which the film studios continue to include regardless of how ineffective they are; the twist it pulls at the end is somewhat cliche as we have seen it before, however, you pretty much won’t see it coming throughout most of the movie. The performances and dialogue are right out of your typical run-of-the-mill teenage horror movie from the 2000s, David Strathairn and Elizabeth Banks do well with what they are given to work with. Stay tuned for the next remake.

Rating: **1/2

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