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:

Can you believe what you see?

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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

Emily Browning originally auditioned for the role of Alex.

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Goofs

When Alex and Anna are looking online for information about the Wright children murders, they come across an article which ran in a local paper about the event. The story mentions that the children were apparently "heavilly" (incorrectly spelled) drugged when they were killed.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

Remake of A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)

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Soundtracks

"The Songs That We Sing"
Written by Jarvis Cocker, Jean-Benoît Dunckel (as Jean Dunckel-Barbier), Nicolas Godin and Neil Hannon
Performed by Charlotte Gainsbourg
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp. / Vice Music, Inc. / Because Music
By Arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing

User Reviews

Pretty Ordinary

Having witnessed her mother's death in an explosion Anna has been understandably traumatised and has spent 10 months in a psychiatric hospital recovering. When she returns to the family home she finds that Mommy's former nurse has become Daddy's current girlfriend. Something neither she nor her sister Alex are too happy about. They soon start to believe that she killed their mother and now has similar plans for them. The fact that Anna's mother appears to her (a lot) wailing and screaming and pointing fingers convinces them further and they set out to stop her. 'The Uninvited' isn't a particularly bad film, but it's not a particularly good one either. It's just ordinary. It plods along without any real pacing or tension throwing in a few horror sequences that you know are going to end with everything back to normal as soon as Anna blinks. All the old clichés are rolled out including the children are scary one first used in 'The Shining'. Inevitably there is a major twist at the end that will knock you sideways and while it is well handled it is as so much else in the film nothing new. I can think of a number of other films which used a variation of this climax and some did it better.