A prosaic thriller that needed a touch of visual poetry to make the grade...Kim's original is far scarier; come to think of it, so is Lewis Allen's The Uninvited from 1944.
Comment
01/30/09
The Uninvited (2009)
32
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:122
Fresh:39
Rotten:83
Average Rating:4.6/10
Consensus: The Uninvited is moody and reasonably involving, but suffers from predictable plot twists.
Theatrical Release:24-04-2009
Synopsis: They say you can never go home again...because you never know when the ghosts of murders past are waiting to shatter the present. Such is the case in THE UNINVITED, an eerie and... [More]
Starring: Emily Browning, Elizabeth Banks, Arielle Kebbel, David Strathairn
Director: Guard Brothers
Reviews for The Uninvited
Perfunctory scares lead up to a would-be surprise plot reveal that instead carries the odor of a day-old tuna sandwich left out on the counter.
01/30/09
It's a slick, bloodless affair that's neither as suggestive as the classic general-audiences ghost stories of the past, nor as intense as a hard-R would allow it to be.
01/30/09
The Uninvited is a mess of styles and stolen ideas, including a plot twist that would make M. Night Shyamalan roll his eyes and dialogue straight from a CW scene generator.
01/30/09
In truth it's just a gimmicky thriller that doesn't play fair with the audience.
01/30/09
Top CriticScare-mongers will probably find The Uninvited too tame for their taste, but the storytelling should satisfy thriller fans.
01/30/09
The Uninvited story may not pay back a viewer's attention, but the visuals are their own reward.
01/30/09
A decently constructed genre programmer for much of its running time, The Uninvited just lays its Big Twist on the table, but does nothing to earn it or make it stick.
01/30/09
Cheap thrills and a gimmicky twist at the climax keep The Uninvited in the realm of the subpar horror movie.
01/30/09
What can I tell you about The Uninvited that you haven't already heard about every other instantly forgettable horror flick?
01/30/09
The story line is more crafted than it at first appears, but a big finish doesn't always make up for everything that came before. Until then, The Uninvited is basically 80 minutes of things jumping out and making loud noises.
01/30/09
Although the movie's best moments are pilfered, at least the Guards know whom to steal from (I'd bet The Shining is still in their DVD player). True, there's nothing new here for veteran horror fans.
01/30/09
A teenager's resistance to her father's new girlfriend provides the emotional underpinnings for The Uninvited, a spooky, if narcotic, psychological thriller adapted from a 2003 K-horror suspenser.
01/30/09
...has more genuinely earned scares than any other recent American horror movie.
01/30/09
A horror-thriller that's neither horrifying nor thrilling.
01/30/09
The Uninvited won't make anyone forget The Shining, but it's a nice throwback to the days when scary movies featured pretty good actors, a plot that holds together and a couple of creepy-looking ghost kids.
01/30/09
The excellent South Korean A Tale of Two Sisters becomes a less complex, but not bad, thriller in The Uninvited.
01/30/09
The premise is seaworthy, but the execution flounders.
01/30/09
That climax is not enough to make the formulaic nature of what's preceded any easier to sit through. Unless you happen to be 12, in which case The Uninvited may well seem like the scariest movie ever made.
01/30/09
Though not in the top tier of psychological horror flicks, The Uninvited is well-paced and offers enough jolts and twists to keep an audience sufficiently on the edge of their seats to offset the price of admission.
01/30/09
Latest News for The Uninvited
May 25, 2009:
An occult home invasion horror thriller serving up a suspicious aspiring stepmom, extra bloody beef for dinner, and an oversized dildo named Mister Chubby. And victims fleshed out enough, so that we care about them when they squirm. 
More...
February 08, 2009:
An occult home invasion horror thriller serving up a suspicious aspiring stepmom, extra bloody beef for dinner, and an oversized dildo named Mister Chubby. And victims fleshed out enough, so that we care about them when they squirm.
More...
January 29, 2009:
Critics Consensus: Taken Is A Near Miss
This week at the movies, we've got a kidnapping plot (Taken, starring Liam Neeson and Famke Janssen); haunted teens (The Uninvited, starring Emily Browning and Elizabeth Banks);... More...
January 29, 2009:
Box Office Guru Preview: Three New Films Battle Super Bowl Frenzy
With all eyes on Tampa Bay for the Super Bowl, Hollywood offers three counter-programming options for those looking for something a little different. Fox releases the kidnapping... More...
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