The Uninvited Guest

I like to imagine that money came in for this before the filmmaker had the chance to iron out the creases in the script and he just went ahead while the project was still hot and he could get it made.

It is half-way an interesting film, a more novel take on Hitchcock than we have seen from DePalma in ages; the prowling eye of the camera; the vertigo of assumed identities and deceived points-of-view; the projections in space of an obsessive mind. But a deeply flawed film that left me with a growing sense of dissatisfaction.

Our point-of-view is decidedly with a man who comes to think that someone else is hiding in his own house. The house itself is a spacious labyrinth of modern architecture so it's impossible to make sure; dark corners abound and the mind comes to cast in them its own shadows of doubt. The paranoid situation he's embroiled in becomes worse when he suspects that his ex is involved in some mysterious bargain where he is the victim.

The story has been set in motion long before though. There is a woman who has suffered a crippling accident and whose husband has grown distant from her, we get to find out about this later in the film when he does.

In the first house, physical space is what the mind fills in with its own chimeras. In the second house, it's what the mind fills with emotional pain, with distance as the space between hearts and affections.

It's in this second house that the man seeks refuge - where he comes to fill the space left blank by the missing husband - now by going into hiding himself, and so looking at his situation from the inverse point-of-view. Now we are what we were trying to apprehend in the first half, looking to evade capture from anxious eyes. So if the first house was the setting for a thriller, what was perceived from our end as holding elusive danger, here it's us causing the thriller to happen while from our pov it is recast as this exhilarating game of hide-and-seek. It makes sense to watch this as a dance or performance art; where one partner swings out of view just seconds before the other enters it, with both locked together in a ballet of appearances.

The man obsessively imagines himself as part of a relationship, and the film assumes a whimsical, light-hearted tone. This strangely underscores the fundamental creepiness of what is really going on.

There are two problems in all this. One is that it never makes any sense why our man behaves the way he does. Usually what Hitchcock did was that he would supply the doubt of an unreliable eye or unstable mind; here the guy seems perfectly normal and then acts completely unhinged.

The other is the ending, where the filmmaker stretches to explain for us the missing links of the story. We knew that the two houses were somehow linked, but it turns out that they were quite literally so. So instead of using mirrored space - and persons, there's two of everyone here and one woman seems to be the other's twin sister - as the means of examining abstract reflections, we're give pieces of a puzzle to put together. In doing so, whole swathes of the story collapse and what held elusive power by remaining just out of sight is made to be safely ordinary or, worst, downright stupid.

Is it possible to live in somebody's house hiding all the time and avoid that the inhabitants there detect your presence? Well, that's the question this original story deals with. "El habitante incierto" keeps the audience on the alert, 'cause you don't really know what's going on. That plot remind me of Ki-Duk Kim's "Bin Jip" (but that's the only point in common between these two movies).

The movie has a good script, though some dialogs are rather affected and there are a couple of characters that are not well defined. Anyway, the film as a whole really thrilling and brilliant, and the actors are quite reliable (specially Mónica López who plays two different roles).

In short: a nice choice.

*My rate: 7/10

No Curb Your Enthusiasm fans??

The Uninvited Guest turned out to be a welcome thriller, but not an entirely perfect encounter.

The film revolves around a dude who's having trouble coping with the departure of his wife/girlfriend.

While having these issues one day a man comes to the door and asks to use the phone. Our lead obliges and lets the man come in. When he goes back into the room to check on the invited guest, the room is empty and he can't understand how the man left without making a noise. It then registers that the man may still be in the house. This is when our lead begins hearing noises and his paranoid factor raises to great levels. Is he going mad? Is someone in the house? Should he prepare two plates at dinner time?

The Uninvited Guest, what a great name for a vampire flick. But in this case it's nothing related to the creatures of the night, but more on weirdos who enjoy secretly living in another person's house, which we see during the second half.

At one point, the movie kinda leaves the tension at the back door and goes in a different, more comedic type direction, but by the end of the movie, (darker vibe has returned) the viewer is left with a number of questions. Yet it seems like almost all the questions can be answered. Besides a couple.

I, for one, enjoy films that can bundle up the story and questions and explain it all in a eye-opening manner instead of the "think for yourself" and "no answer is wrong" type of ending. Though I do enjoy films like this, I do appreciate films wrapping up completely a tad more.

The Uninvited Guest is a pretty good flick that should appeal to movie-goers who enjoy these type of films where you're left thinking after the movie ends. If it wasn't for the drastic change of tone and the decision making during the middle, I would have really liked it.

Never mind about it's downfalls though, it's a well-made flick that should definitely have a wider audience.

As a Horror fan, I was fairly disappointed that (yet again) another film was tagged/labeled as Horror when it simply isn't. I don't know how long it will take before it finally sinks in - a Thriller is not Horror. The difference might be less obvious and more subtle and nuance depended than the difference between Comedy and Drama, but it's there!

However, as a films fan and a literature fan, I was very pleasantly surprised. The Uninvited Guest has one of the best script/ideas I've ever seen. The way the protagonist Felix is haunted by the intruder in his house (or maybe just his paranoid thoughts of one?) and then ends up as such in a similar situation himself is artistic and almost genius.

The acting of the main characters is excellent, Andoni Gracia and Monica Lopez have really given lives to the script. The other characters I believe weren't important enough to director/writer Morales vision, they could have been given a little more depth. No harm done though, and the sensations of confusion, discomfort and bizarre anxiety in the audience weren't negatively affected.

The ending had a very nice (if somewhat predictable) twist, and could be understood in more than one way. All in all, while not exactly frightening or horrific, The Uninvited Guest is a clever, original and innovative film. Recommended!

THE UNINVITED GUEST is not your typical thriller. It's an example of taking a well-worn premise and turning it inside out and upside down. You may find yourself "figuring it all out", only to be twisted and flipped right along with the plot.

The story's "hero", Felix (Andoni Gracia) is an emotional wreck. This actually adds to the suspense, since he's more vulnerable and apt to mess things up. This also makes him a more believable character.

If you like bizarre, novel thrillers that don't spoon-feed you every answer in prefabricated fashion, then be sure to invite this GUEST in for the evening...