The Uninvited 2009

A.O. Scott, New York Times: It rummages around in familiar domestic genres looking for a reason to exist. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: The plot borrows as freely from Hitchcock and Henry James as from the Bard of Avon, and doesn't make scrupulous sense, though I'd have to see the film again, which I won't do, to make sure it doesn't cheat. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: The Uninvited goes through its motions efficiently, if soullessly. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: It's a slick, bloodless affair that's neither as suggestive as the classic general-audiences ghost stories of the past, nor as intense as a hard-R would allow it to be. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: By the end of the film, The Uninvited is genuinely compelling. But despite the scares along the way, the rest of the film doesn't make an especially compelling case for doing the work to get there. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: The Uninvited is a mess of styles and stolen ideas, including a plot twist that would make M. Night Shyamalan roll his eyes and dialogue straight from a CW scene generator. Read more

Amy Nicholson, Boxoffice Magazine: The fear isn't psychological; it's merely a creaky wooden house spook show easily left behind at the theatre exit. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: There's a substantial twist in The Uninvited, a pretty fair and reasonably scary remake of South Korean director Kim Jee-Woon's thriller A Tale of Two Sisters. Read more

Adam Markovitz, Entertainment Weekly: Horror standbys like mangled corpses and stone-faced children pop up regularly, but sibling directors Charles and Thomas Guard haven't quite nailed the genre's rhythms. Read more

Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times: The movie's source material invited a much more thoughtful interpretation. Read more

Chuck Wilson, L.A. Weekly: We've seen it all before, but that doesn't diminish the accomplishment of first-time directors (and brothers) Charles and Thomas Guard, who clearly believe that a creaking door is scarier than a gouged-out eyeball. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: What can I tell you about The Uninvited that you haven't already heard about every other instantly forgettable horror flick? Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: The story line is more crafted than it at first appears, but a big finish doesn't always make up for everything that came before. Until then, The Uninvited is basically 80 minutes of things jumping out and making loud noises. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: An effective blend of thriller and horror. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: A teenager's resistance to her father's new girlfriend provides the emotional underpinnings for The Uninvited, a spooky, if narcotic, psychological thriller adapted from a 2003 K-horror suspenser. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: The Uninvited is a flawed production, but gratifying in the way it delivers. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: When a movie like this is done well, it's uncommon. The Uninvited is done well. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: A horror-thriller that's neither horrifying nor thrilling. Read more

Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle: The Uninvited won't make anyone forget The Shining, but it's a nice throwback to the days when scary movies featured pretty good actors, a plot that holds together and a couple of creepy-looking ghost kids. Read more

Kara Nesvig, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Cheap thrills and a gimmicky twist at the climax keep The Uninvited in the realm of the subpar horror movie. Read more

Susan Walker, Toronto Star: The premise is seaworthy, but the execution flounders. Read more

Nigel Floyd, Time Out: As in the original, the film slyly manipulates the audience's perspective, and a brilliantly filmed climactic 'reveal' marks this British duo as a pair to watch. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Though not in the top tier of psychological horror flicks, The Uninvited is well-paced and offers enough jolts and twists to keep an audience sufficiently on the edge of their seats to offset the price of admission. Read more

Dennis Harvey, Variety: Weak even by the standard of uninspired recent Asian-horror remakes. Read more

Mike Mayo, Washington Post: Experienced horror fans will probably stay one step ahead of the game, but it's still a nice ride. Read more