The Uninvited (2009)

Anna Rydell returns home to her sister (and best friend) Alex after a stint in a mental hospital, though her recovery is jeopardized thanks to her cruel stepmother, aloof father, and the presence of a ghost in their home.

Directors:

Charles Guard, Thomas Guard

Writers:

Craig Rosenberg (screenplay), Doug Miro (screenplay),

Stars:

Emily Browning, Arielle Kebbel, David Strathairn

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Emily Browning	...	Anna
Arielle Kebbel	...	Alex
David Strathairn	...	Steven
Elizabeth Banks	...	Rachel
Maya Massar	...	Mom
Kevin McNulty	...	Sheriff Emery
Jesse Moss	...	Matt
Dean Paul Gibson	...	Dr. Silberling
Don S. Davis	...	Mr. Henson
Lex Burnham	...	Iris
Matthew Bristol	...	David
Danny Bristol	...	Samuel
Heather Doerksen	...	Mildred
Alf Humphreys	...	Priest (as Alfred E. Humphreys)
Ryan Cowie	...	Orderly

Storyline

After the death of her ill mother in a fire, the young teenager Anna tries to commit suicide and is sent to a mental institution for treatment. Ten months later, Anna still cannot remember what had happened on the night her mother died. Her psychiatric Dr. Silberling, however, discharges her telling that she has resolved her issues. Her father and successful writer, Steven, brings her back home in an isolated mansion nearby the coast. Anna finds that her mother's former nurse, Rachel Summers, is her stepmother now. Anna meets her beloved sister, Alex, swimming in the sea. She discovers that Steven has not delivered the letters and CDs that Alex had sent to her. As time moves on, Anna is haunted by ghosts and she believes that Rachel killed her mother. Alex and Anna decide to look for evidences to prove that Rachel is the murderer and Anna discovers the truth about the fire in the boat house.

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Plot Keywords:

nurse | boathouse | name on door | hanging a picture | diner | 

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Taglines:

Get invited.

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violent and disturbing images, thematic material, sexual content, language and teen drinking

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [au] Official site [fr]

Country:

USA Canada Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 January 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Tale of Two Sisters

Filming Locations:

Bowen Island, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£343,378 (UK) (24 April 2009)

Gross:

£927,501 (UK) (8 May 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks SKG, Cold Spring Pictures, MacDonald/Parkes Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

DTS SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the movie, Anna is meant to be fourteen/fifteen years old. However, Emily Browning was twenty years old at the time of filming.

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Goofs

When Matt visits Anna and her family for the first time to deliver some goods he ties the boat to the dock with a rope. When Rachel sends him away, he quits without untying the boat.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Matt: I love you... I have a condom.

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Connections

Referenced in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: The Informers/The Soloist/Tyson (2009)

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Soundtracks

"My Party"
Written by Caleb Followill, Nathan Followill, Jared Followill and Matthew Followill
Performed by Kings of Leon
Courtesy of The RCA Records Label
By Arrangement with Sony BMG Music Entertainment

User Reviews

Surprize, surprise, you can still make a good horror movie

It's not easy to make a horror movie these days. The critics will hate it by definition: their expectations are always high and mostly unsatisfiable. They will call them uninspirational, uninteresting, and not original enough. With time, the horror genre has become an underdog of the movie industry. Prior to watching this movie, I had no knowledge about the plot whatsoever and it turned out to be good for me. I won't beat around the bush: I'm not a horror fanatic, but this one, I enjoyed from the beginning until the very end and I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. The thing I appreciated the most was the great amount of mystery: at some point the movie becomes more a mystery movie than a horror movie. The plot is interesting at the very least: and it does make you think who the main villain might be. I personally had many guesses and I though I got it right, but the ending surprised me. And there's nothing I enjoy more than an ending I did not see coming. The surroundings are beautiful and the movie is very well shot. Visually, the pictures are very satisfying, another thing you would not expect. The acting is also professional, along the score: all these parts, I have no complaints about. The movie was, for some reasons I don't fully understand, certified as not fresh enough. I do agree, some moments are painfully cliché, but in this case, I found it charming. Isn't it a part of the horror movie to expect that a hand will try to reach you under the bed? It will make you jump in your place either way, so what's the deal? As long it's not cheesy, it's good enough for me. I think that if the creators maybe took a risk and avoided those couple of clichés, the movie would have been praised by critics. But who cares about their opinion anyway? The movie is really enjoyable and if that is what matters to you, don't hesitate and watch it. You won't regret it.