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The Uninvited (2009 film)

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The Uninvited
Theatrical release poster
Directed byThe Guard Brothers
Written byOriginal screenplay:
Kim Jee-Woon
Screenplay
Craig Rosenberg
Doug Miro
Carlo Bernard
Produced byMichael Grillo
Ivan Reitman
Tom Pollock
Walter F. Parkes
Laurie MacDonald
Riyoko Tanaka
StarringEmily Browning
Arielle Kebbel
Elizabeth Banks
David Strathairn
Maya Massar
CinematographyDaniel Landin
Edited byJim Page
Christian Wagner
Music byChristopher Young
Distributed byDreamWorks
Paramount Pictures
Release date
United StatesJanuary 30, 2009[1] AustraliaMarch 26, 2009[2]
Running time
87 min.
CountryTemplate:FilmUS
LanguageEnglish
Box office$39,894,187

The Uninvited is a Template:Fy American remake of the 2003 South Korean horror film A Tale of Two Sisters. It is unrelated to another 2003 Korean horror film and a 1944 American film of the same name.

Plot

The story revolves around Anna (Emily Browning) and Alex Ivers (Arielle Kebbel), teenage sisters, their father, Steven (David Strathairn), and the father's partner, Rachel (Elizabeth Banks). Rachel was previously nurse to the girls' fatally ill mother, Lilian (Maya Massar), who died in a fire. The fire, and their mother's death, has caused Anna to have psychological problems and be admitted to a psychiatric ward after a suicide attempt. She has a number of dreams and visions, some of them about a red-haired girl who has died (in one dream she finds the body) and two boys. Other dreams relate to her mother, to other incidents that happened around the time of the fire, and to the fire itself, which she was very close to but cannot recall. She gradually remembers pieces of events, but not the whole story.

Rachel carries Anna upstairs to her room and starts dressing her for bed. Anna manages to escape from Rachel and later on when she is outside, she sees Alex standing in the driveway, bloody and holding a knife. Alex told her that she had to do it and Anna opens the dumpster that has blood dripping out of it and sees Rachel in there, dead from stab wounds. Anna and Alex hug each other and Anna tells her that everything is going to be okay. Just then, their father drives up and sees them covered in blood. He asks what happened and Anna tells Alex to tell their father what happened.

Their father is confused and asks what she is talking about. Anna tells Alex again to tell their father what happened. Her father tells her that Alex is dead and that she died the previous year in the same fire that killed their mother. Alex screams at Anna to not listen to him. Anna looks down to where she was holding Alex's hand, but she is actually holding the knife. At that moment, it is revealed that the reason why their father didn't answer Alex about the letters was because he couldn't see her. It is also revealed that Matt was killed by Anna who let him drop off the cliff after he begged her to not let go of him after he confronted her about what happened the night of the fire. Alex has only been around as a figment of Anna's imagination and it was Anna who really murdered Rachel.

At the end of the film, Anna is arrested and taken back to the psychiatric ward. The police tell Steven that Rachel's name really was an alias. He tells them that she changed her name after leaving an abusive boyfriend. While at the psychiatric ward, another female patient that likes to hang around Anna and "tell her stories" stops by her door, and is shown holding the pearl necklace in her right hand. She says "Welcome home" to Anna, and closes her door shut, revealing her to be Mildred Kemp, as shown on her room door. It is at this point the audience still remains to be confused and has more evidence assisting them to believe that this film is garbage.

Cast

Development

In 2002, producers Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald produced the hit horror/thriller, The Ring, a remake of the Japanese film Ringu. 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 original Korean hit movie on which The Uninvited is based to their attention.

As A Tale of Two Sisters was playing in US theaters, directors Tom and Charlie Guard acquired the English language remake rights. The Guard Brothers studied at Cambridge before launching careers as commercial and short film directors for such clients as Nokia, Euro Disney, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. The Korean remake is their first feature film. In June 2006, DreamWorks announced that a deal had been set up for the US version, A Tale of Two Sisters (advance press materials drop the “A” from the English title). The new movie is a presentation of DreamWorks and Cold Spring Pictures (Disturbia), and is produced by Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald (The Ring, The Ring Two) and Roy Lee. The screenplay was written by Craig Rosenberg (After the Sunset, Lost), Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard (The Great Raid).[3]

In the early of 2008, the title needed to be changed. The working title was originally A Tale of Two Sisters like its predecessor, but the final title was confirmed to be The Uninvited in an announcement made in March.[4]

The film was released to theaters on January 30, 2009.

Shooting location

The film 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."' 'Eighty percent of the story takes place at the house, so we couldn't make the movie without the right one,' said Walter F. Parkes. It couldn't have been more important.' 'We Scouted Louisiana, an environment which 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,'" he continues. "'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.'"[5] However, the film's location is also set in Steveston & Richmond, British Columbia, Canada as well.

It reported that a two-story 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-gray that crashes constantly and does not invite swimming.[6]

Casting

Emily Browning, a 20-year-old Australian actress, 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 going to be less visually gory and bloody than the original film.[7] Elizabeth Banks plays a new character, Rachel.[8] Banks based her character Rachel on Rebecca De Mornay in The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.[9] "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."[10] David Strathairn plays the concerned father of the two girls.[11] Arielle Kebbel plays Alex Ivers, the older sister of Anna.[12]

Music

Main article: The Uninvited (soundtrack)

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.[13]

DVD release

The film was released on DVD and Blu-Ray April 28, 2009 in the USA, and July 23, 2009 in Australia.

Reception

Critical

The film received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 36% of critics (26 out of 72) gave favorable reviews, with the average score of 4.6/10.[14] Metacritic also score the film of 44/100 (mixed or average) from 22 reviews.[15] Bloody Disgusting gave the film 6/10[16] while on Yahoo! Movies Critical Response, the average professional critical rating was a C according to 11 reviews.[17]

Box office performance

On its opening day the film grossed $4,335,000 ranked #2 in the box office.[18] However, it finally 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.[19]. The film spent 9 weeks in US cinemas, and finished with a total gross of $28,596,818[20]. The film was released on March 26, 2009 in Australia, and the film opened ranked #5, averaging $3,998 at 121 sites, for a gross of AUD$483,714. The second week it dipped 29%[21].

References

  1. ^ "Announcement of release date". Bloody-Disgusting.
  2. ^ http://www.uninvitedmovie.com/intl/au/ "The Uninvited" official Australian website
  3. ^ Scific Japan(December 26, 2007). "Two Brothers remake Two Sisters." Scificjapan.com. Retrieved on January 18, 2009.
  4. ^ "Announcement of title change". Fangoria.com.
  5. ^ Scific Japan (December 26, 2008). "The Perfect House." Scific Japan. Retrieved on January 18, 2009.
  6. ^ Heidi Martinuzzi(January 05, 2009). "An Invitation to the Set of The Uninvited." shocktillyoudrop.com. Retrieved on January 18, 2009.
  7. ^ Heidi Martinuzzi(January 05, 2009). "An Invitation to the Set of The Uninvited." shocktillyoudrop.com. Retrieved on January 18, 2009.
  8. ^ Heidi Sam Baltrusisi(January 11, 2009). "Elizabeth Banks gets wicked in 'The Uninvited' ." Loadgun Boston. Retrieved on January 18, 2009.
  9. ^ "Elizabeth Banks: The Uninvited". SuicideGirls.com. 30 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-30..
  10. ^ "Elizabeth Banks: The Uninvited". SuicideGirls.com. 30 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-30..
  11. ^ Mr.Disgusting (June 22, 2007). "David Strathairn Stars Opposite Banks in 'Two Sisters' Remake ." Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved on January 18, 2009.
  12. ^ Arieanna Schweber (December 30, 2008). "Arielle Kebbel in “The Uninvited” ." Gil More Girl news. Retrieved on January 18, 2009.
  13. ^ Dan Goldwasser (2008-06-03). "Christopher Young scores the horror film The Uninvited". ScoringSessions.com. Retrieved 2008-06-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ "The Uninvited (2009) Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
  15. ^ "Uninvited, The DreamWorks Pictures (Paramount): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2009-02-02. {{cite web}}: line feed character in |title= at position 15 (help)
  16. ^ "The Uninvited (A Tale of Two Sisters remake): Review". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
  17. ^ "The Uninvited (2009): Reviews". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
  18. ^ "THE UNINVITED - Daily Box Office Result". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
  19. ^ "Weekend Box Office Results from January 30–February 1, 2009". Box Office Mojo. 2009-02-02. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
  20. ^ http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily&id=uninvited.htm "The Uninvited" US Gross
  21. ^ http://urbancinefile.com.au/home/boxoffice.asp
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