The Uninvited (2009 film)

{{About|the 2009 horror film|the 1944 ghost story starring Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey and Donald Crisp|The Uninvited (1944 film)}}

{{Infobox film

| name = The Uninvited

| image = The Uninvited (2009 film).jpg

| alt =

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| director = The Guard Brothers

| producer = Walter F. Parkes
Laurie MacDonald
Roy Lee

| screenplay = Craig Rosenberg
Doug Miro
Carlo Bernard

| based_on = {{Based on|A Tale of Two Sisters|Kim Jee-woon}}

| starring = {{Plain list|

}}

| music = Christopher Young

| cinematography = Daniel Landin

| editing = Jim Page
Christian Wagner

| studio = {{Plainlist|

DreamWorks Pictures
Cold Spring Pictures{{cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/executive-suite-tom-pollock-ivan-165068 |title=Executive Suite: Tom Pollock and Ivan Reitman |website=The Hollywood Reporter |date=2011-10-03 |access-date=2014-01-25 }}
Vertigo Entertainment
The Montecito Picture Company
Parkes+MacDonald Productions
Goldcrest Pictures

}}

| distributor = Paramount Pictures

| released = {{Film date|2009|1|30|United States/Canada|2009|5|28|Germany}}

| runtime = 87 minutes

| country = United States
Canada
Germany

| language = English

| gross = $42.7 million{{cite web |title=The Uninvited (2009) - Financial Information |url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Uninvited-The-(2009)#tab=summary |website=The Numbers |access-date=2020-10-20 }}

}}

The Uninvited is a 2009 American psychological horror film directed by the Guard Brothers and starring Emily Browning, Elizabeth Banks, Arielle Kebbel, and David Strathairn. It is a remake of the 2003 South Korean horror film A Tale of Two Sisters, which is in turn one of several film adaptations of the Korean folk tale Janghwa Hongryeon jeon. The film grossed $42.7 million, and received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, with the Rotten Tomatoes' critical consensus stating that it "suffers from predictable plot twists", but called it "moody and reasonably involving".

Plot

Following a suicide attempt after her terminally ill mother died in a house fire, Anna Ivers is discharged from a psychiatric institution after ten months; she has no memory of the actual fire, though recurring nightmares from that night frequently plague her. Back at home, Anna reunites with her older sister Alex and learns their father Steven has a new girlfriend, Rachel Summers, who was their mother's live-in nurse.

Anna and Alex become convinced that Anna's nightmares are messages from their mother, telling them that Rachel murdered her so she could be with Steven. The girls remain angry at Steven for moving their mother into the boathouse when she got sick, her only way of calling for help being a bell that Rachel tied to her wrist. Anna meets up with her old boyfriend Matt, who tells her he saw what happened the night her mother died, but Rachel intervenes before he can explain further.

Anna goes with Rachel into town so Alex can look through Rachel’s possessions and Anna can talk to Matt again. The two secretly plan to meet that night, but Matt fails to show up. Anna has a ghastly hallucination of him and, the next morning, his dead body is pulled out of the water, his back broken. The police state he fell from his boat and drowned.

After the sisters are unable to find a record of Rachel with the State Nursing Association, they conclude that she's actually Mildred Kemp, a nanny who killed the children she was taking care of after she became obsessed with their widowed father. While Steven is away on business, the girls try to gather evidence against Rachel to show the police, but Rachel catches them and sedates Alex. Anna escapes and goes to the local police station, but they disbelieve her and eventually call Rachel to take her home.

Rachel sedates Anna and puts her to bed and sees Alex in the doorway with a knife before passing out. When she wakes up, she finds that Alex has killed Rachel and thrown her body in a dumpster in their backyard. When Steven arrives home, Anna explains that Rachel tried to murder them and Alex saved them. Confused and panicked, Steven reveals that Alex died in the fire along with their mother. Anna looks down to find that the bloody knife is in her hand, finally remembers what happened on the night of the fire. After catching Steven and Rachel having sex, she became enraged, filled a watering can from a gasoline tank in the boathouse, and carried it toward the house, intending to burn it down. However, she didn't fully close the faucet and it spilt a trail of gasoline that ignited when a lantern fell. Her mother was killed in the resulting explosion, as was Alex.

It is revealed that Anna has symptoms of both severe schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder. Flashbacks reveal that Anna has been hallucinating Alex since she returned home from the institution, which is why no one else ever responded to Alex's presence or dialogues, only Anna's. She also remembers killing Matt at their planned meeting by letting him fall off a cliff and breaking his back after he revealed that he saw what she had done. She finally remembers killing Rachel, who was not a murderer but a kind woman trying to make the family work, mistakenly perceiving her to be homicidal and callous.

The next morning as Anna is arrested for murder, the police question Steven, who reveals that Rachel's real name was Rachel Worshinsky and she changed her last name three years earlier to escape from her abusive ex-boyfriend. When Anna returns to the mental institution, she is welcomed back by the patient in the room across from hers, whose nameplate reveals she is the real Mildred Kemp.

Cast

Emily Browning as Anna Ivers
Elizabeth Banks as Rachel Summers
Arielle Kebbel as Alex Ivers
David Strathairn as Steven Ivers
Jesse Moss as Matt
Kevin McNulty as Sheriff Emery
Don S. Davis as Mr. Henson
Heather Doerksen as Mildred Kemp
Maya Massar as Mom
Lex Burnham as Iris Wright
Danny Bristol as Samuel Wright
Matthew Bristol as David Wright
Dean Paul Gibson as Dr. Silberling

Development

In 2002, producers Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald produced the hit horror film The Ring, a remake of the Japanese film Ring. They subsequently produced the film's successful sequel The Ring Two in 2005. Since first starting this new cycle of Asian horror film adaptations, Parkes and MacDonald searched for a project they felt was as ingeniously conceived and executed as The Ring and finally found it when producer Roy Lee brought the Korean film A Tale of Two Sisters to their attention.

When A Tale of Two Sisters played in US theatres, directors Tom and Charlie Guard acquired the English language remake rights. The Guard Brothers had previously directed commercials and short films and wanted to expand into feature films.

In June 2006, DreamWorks announced that a deal had been set up for the US version of A Tale of Two Sisters. The new film was a presentation of DreamWorks and Cold Spring Pictures (Disturbia) and was produced by Parkes, MacDonald and Lee. The screenplay was written by Craig Rosenberg (After the Sunset, Lost), Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard (The Great Raid).Scifi Japan(December 26, 2007). [http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2007/12/26/two-brothers-remake-a-tale-of-two-sisters-2/ Two Brothers remake Two Sisters]. Scifijapan.com. Retrieved on January 18, 2009.

In early 2008, the film, whose working title had been A Tale of Two Sisters, was renamed to The Uninvited.{{cite web |title=Announcement of title change |work=Fangoria.com |url=http://www.fangoria.com/news_article.php?id=6224 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080416221020/http://www.fangoria.com/news_article.php?id=6224 |archive-date=2008-04-16 }}

The film was released in North American theatres on 30 January 2009.

=Shooting location=

Although the film is set in Maine, it was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia. Most of the film was shot at one location, a waterfront property on British Columbia's Bowen Island, a short ferry ride west from mainland Vancouver.

Producer Walter F. Parkes said, of the shooting location:

{{cquote|Eighty percent of the story takes place at the house, so we couldn't make the movie without the right one. It couldn't have been more important. We scouted Louisiana, an environment which is both beautiful and slightly threatening. We had two houses which were terrible compromises, but both of them fell through. We had a difficult time finding anything that had both the connection to the story and the right logistical possibilities.

But then we were lucky to find in Canada a place that seemed as if it had been built for our movie. It was perfectly evocative and suggestive of a family that is both welcoming and forbidding. The fact that the house was within 30 miles of Vancouver was a greater plus than the minus of having to get everyone on boats to get them over there; water taxis and ferries are a way of life up there. In fact, I don’t remember ever having a more pleasant time on a location. Getting onto a boat and having a cup of coffee and then going up the little pier and the stairs we built, it focused us. We were isolated with one thing on our minds, which was making this movie. It was great.Scifi Japan (December 26, 2008). "[http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2008/12/26/a-tale-of-two-sisters-remake-becomes-the-uninvited-for-2009-release/ The Perfect House]." Scifi Japan. Retrieved on January 18, 2009.}}

It is reported that a two-storey boathouse in the film was built on the property overlooking the water just for several scenes. The cold water is rough and unappealing; it is a greenish-grey that crashes constantly and does not invite swimming.Heidi Martinuzzi(January 05, 2009). "[http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/topnews.php?id=9073 An Invitation to the Set of The Uninvited]." shocktillyoudrop.com. Retrieved on January 18, 2009.

=Casting=

Emily Browning was hired to portray the lead Anna Ivers. She had originally auditioned for the role of Alex. The film is rated PG-13 and is visually less gory and bloody than the original film. Elizabeth Banks plays the role of the stepmother, Rachel.Heidi Sam Baltrusisi(January 11, 2009). "[http://www.loadedgunboston.com/2009/01/elizabeth-banks-gets-wicked-in.html Elizabeth Banks gets wicked in 'The Uninvited' ]." Loadgun Boston. Retrieved on January 18, 2009. Banks based her character Rachel on Rebecca De Mornay in The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.{{cite web

| url = http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/Elizabeth+Banks%3A+The+Uninvited/

| title = Elizabeth Banks: The Uninvited

| publisher = SuicideGirls.com

| date = 30 January 2009

| access-date = January 30, 2009

}} "It was very important to me that every line reading I gave could be interpreted two ways," says Banks of her role, "so that when you go back through the movie you can see that." David Strathairn plays the concerned father of the two girls.{{Cite web | author= Brad Miska |date=June 22, 2007 |url=https://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/9185 |title=David Strathairn Stars Opposite Banks in 'Two Sisters' Remake |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204180644/http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/9185 |archive-date=2008-12-04 |work=Bloody Disgusting |access-date=October 20, 2020 }} Arielle Kebbel plays Anna's older sister, Alex Ivers.Arieanna Schweber (December 30, 2008). "[http://www.gilmoregirlsnews.com/2008/12/30/arielle-kebbel-in-the-uninvited/ Arielle Kebbel in “The Uninvited” ]." Gilmore Girl news. Retrieved on January 18, 2009. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108033011/http://www.gilmoregirlsnews.com/2008/12/30/arielle-kebbel-in-the-uninvited/ |date=January 8, 2009 }}

=Music=

The original score for the film was composed by Christopher Young, who recorded it with a 78-piece orchestra and 20-person choir. His score features a glass harmonica and the Yale Women's Slavic Chorus.{{cite news |last=Goldwasser |first=Dan |url=http://www.scoringsessions.com/news/139 |title=Christopher Young scores the horror film The Uninvited |work=ScoringSessions.com |date=June 3, 2008 |access-date=June 3, 2008}}

Sara Niemietz is the vocalist for the soundtrack and film score,{{AllMusic | id= the-uninvited-original-motion-picture-score-mw0001689647 | title= The Uninvited | access-date= October 31, 2020}} having previously worked with Christopher Young in the same capacity on The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005).{{AllMusic | id= the-exorcism-of-emily-rose-original-motion-picture-soundtrack-special-limited-edition-mw000047895 | title= The Exorcism of Emily Rose | access-date= October 31, 2020}} Now an adult, she is an independent artist and cast-member of Postmodern Jukebox.{{cite web | title=Sara Niemietz Archives | website=Postmodern Jukebox | url=https://postmodernjukebox.com/tag/sara-niemietz/ | access-date=2020-11-01 | archive-date=2020-11-01

|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201101030923/https://postmodernjukebox.com/tag/sara-niemietz/}}

Reception

= Box office =

On its opening day, the film grossed $4,335,000 and ranked #2 in the box office.{{cite web

| url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/?sortdate=2009-01-30&p=.htm

| title=Daily Box Office for Friday, January 30, 2009

| work=Box Office Mojo

| access-date=February 2, 2009

}}

It got $10,512,000 for its opening weekend, set on the third place, opened in 2,344 theaters with an average $4,485 per theatre.{{cite web

| url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2009&wknd=005&p=.htm

| title=Weekend Box Office Results from January 30 – February 1, 2009

| work=Box Office Mojo

| date=February 2, 2009

| access-date=February 2, 2009

}}

The film spent nine weeks in US cinemas, and finished with a total gross of $28,596,818. It did fairly moderately for a horror film in the US markets.{{cite web

| url=https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily&id=uninvited.htm

| title=The Uninvited (2009) – Daily Box Office Results

| work=Box Office Mojo

| access-date=November 26, 2010

}}

The film was released on March 26, 2009, in Australia, and it opened at the fifth position, averaging $3,998 at 121 sites, for a gross of A$483,714. The second week it dipped 29%.

= Critical response =

On Rotten Tomatoes The Uninvited has an approval rating of 31% based on reviews from 128 critics, with an average rating of 4.55/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "The Uninvited is moody and reasonably involving but suffers from predictable plot twists."{{cite web |title=The Uninvited (2009) |work=Rotten Tomatoes |publisher=Fandango |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/uninvited_2009 |access-date=April 8, 2025 }} On Metacritic it has a weighted average score of 43 out of 100 based on 24 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average" reception.{{cite web |title=The Uninvited Reviews |work=Metacritic |publisher=CBS Interactive |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-uninvited |access-date=August 20, 2020 }} In Yahoo! Movies Critical Response, the average professional critical rating was a C according to 11 reviews.{{cite web|url=https://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809922891/critic|title=The Uninvited (2009): Reviews|access-date=February 2, 2009|work=Yahoo! Movies|archive-date=May 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510093743/http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/the-uninvited-2009/|url-status=dead}} Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B on scale of A to F.{{cite web |url= https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |title= UNINVITED, THE (2009) B |work= CinemaScore.com |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181220122629/https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |archive-date= 2018-12-20 }}

Dennis Harvey of Variety wrote: "Weak even by the standard of uninspired recent Asian-horror remakes, The Uninvited is more likely to induce snickers and yawns than shudders and yelps."{{cite web |date=30 January 2009 |last=Harvey |first=Dennis |title=The Uninvited |url=https://variety.com/review/VE1117939512 |website=Variety }} Kim Newman of Empire magazine gave it 2 out of 5 and called it a "slick remake.... with a new set of twists" but let down by a finale featuring "revelations you've seen far too often" and an underused role for Banks.{{cite web |date=13 December 2008 |last=Newman |first=Kim |author-link=Kim Newman |title=The Uninvited |url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/uninvited-review/ |website=Empire }} Bloody Disgusting gave the film 3 out of 5 and noted Banks and Kebbel's fine performances but also criticised the ending, "which can be figured out within the first 20 minutes" and noting it as "perfectly acceptable as a major-studio horror film for the 13 – 17 crowd and is unlikely to insult or ruffle the feathers of any genre fan that wants to give it a go."{{cite web |url=https://www.bloody-disgusting.com/review/569 |title=The Uninvited (A Tale of Two Sisters remake): Review |access-date=February 2, 2009 |work=Bloody Disgusting |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202063917/http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/review/569 |archive-date=February 2, 2009 }}

Roger Ebert gave it 3 out of 4, with particular praise for Browning: "She makes an ideal heroine for a horror movie: innocent, troubled, haunted by nightmares, persecuted by a wicked stepmother, convinced her real mother was deliberately burned to death. She makes you fear for her, and that's half the battle." Ebert also had positive notes for the cinematography, the casting of Strathairn. He expressed surprise at the PG-13 rating and cited this film as evidence that MPAA rates films based on the absence of sex, nudity, or foul language, rather than the imagery it does contain that might actually be inappropriate for younger viewers.{{cite web |date=January 28, 2009 |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |title=An angel-faced teenage girl in a nightmare of horror |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-uninvited-2009 |website=Chicago Sun-Times }}

Claudia Puig of USA Today gave it a positive review and wrote: "Don't be too quick to turn down The Uninvited. A stylish horror thriller in the vein of "The Ring," it's well-acted, frightening, and handsomely produced."{{cite web |author1=Claudia Puig |author-link=Claudia Puig |title='The Uninvited' turns out to be a pretty scary visitor |url=https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/movies/reviews/2009-01-29-the-uninvited_N.htm |website=USA Today }}