Halloween is over but that doesn’t mean you have to put off seeing the thriller “The Univited” for another year.
The movie opens with young Anna, played by up-and-coming actress Emily Browning, who has been in a mental institution and is prone to having graphic and disturbing dreams.
She is released to the custody of her dad, played by David Strathaim. Mother died in an explosion in the cottage by the lake, that had been converted into a sickroom..
Anna doesn’t appear to be cured of her mental problems, but her analyst, played Dean Paul Gibson, says she has conquered her demons and can go home.
On the way home, she learns her mother’s all-too accommodating nurse, played by the alluring Elizabeth Banks, has become Dad’s new companion.
The Banks character just wants to be friends and have a warm, loving family. Ah, but Anna is immediately suspicious and when she decides to go for a swim, meets up with her older sister, played by Arielle Kebbel.
They catch up on what’s going on, they swim, they laugh. When Sister asks Anna why she didn’t respond to her letters, Anna says she didn’t get any.
Did Dad stop the letters. Did Nurse?
Dad is oblivious to the dark side of the Banks character and won’t hear criticism. Banks invites Anna to go shopping, have lunch.
But Anna knows better. The sisters go snooping and come up with some startling information.
Much of this well-crafted, suspenseful film keeps your adrenalin going. You enjoy the horror and supernatural aspect so much, you just wonder how it is all going to end.
One reason Anna knows there is something wrong with the nurse is she gets a vision from her dead mother.
Before the plot has a chance of slowing, Anna has another dream or vision that has you rivited to your TV screen.
Who is the Banks character really? What are her designs? What dark secrets does she have and what happens when she is confronted?
And then, what happened at the boathouse? What caused the explosion?
We see snippets through Anna’s nightmares, but we really aren’t certain the details.
Often movie directors and screenplay writers work to set the mood, make sure there are exciting scenes from the previews but run out of steam for the ending.
Whoa! I doubt if you will see this ending coming. At least I didn’t. And I wasn’t disappointed.
Kudos also goes to Strathairn, who plays the concerned father who stays in control and tries to mediate the situation and not be critical. You might remember him being very real as Edward R. Murrow in “Good Night and Good Luck.”
And Browning, the 20-year-old Australian actress, well, I would see a movie just because she’s in it. She doesn’t play the part as a screaming, annoying kid.
Her work is subtle and believable.
It is a horror film and some of it is disturbing, but it’s a great movie to watch, whether it is Halloween or not.
THE UNINVITED
• Directed by Charles and Thomas Guard
• Screenplay by Craig Rosenberg and Doug Miro
• Rated PG-13 for violent and disburting images, thematic material, sexual content, language and teen drinking
• Runtime: 87 minutes
• 3 1/2 stars out of 4
WEEKENDER / Entertainment
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