Lee (Marguerite Moreau) and Helena (Brittany Curran) aren't sisters, but they do bond over a baby… not Rosemary's, but the idea involving the infant is similar to the 1968 horror classic. It's an ambitious undertaking, especially these days in which horror fans are more astute and better-informed (not to mention opinionated) than ever. Welcome to the 21st century.
Bringing the devilish story into present time by incorporating video surveillance, cell-phones and pop-psychiatry, writer/director Bob Badway does an excellent job of making the slight twists and somewhat novel approach seem fresh. For instance, our heroine's handicap isn't agoraphobia… it's fear of wide-open spaces. Clinging to the safe and solid walls of her lonely, isolated home, Lee makes us feel downright claustrophobic and in need of the very thing she dreads. When she has to deal with demons and must risk her life to save the helpless baby, we feel her fear and determination. When she realizes nothing is what it seems, we too are thrown into uncertainty.
That's a testament to Moreau's Atlas-like performance, for it is she who carries this movie from start to finish. The writing is strong (fine dialogue, some scary reveals), and the cinematography is steady and stylish even in the moments when other DPs might have fallen back on darkness and shakiness.
The story doesn't get demonic for quite a while; in the beginning, it's a slow build (think: House of the Devil) showing us the dynamics of the unholy trinity upon which the film focuses: Good-girl Lee has recently married film documentarian Nick (Colin Hay), who may or may not be a good guy. Then there's his production assistant, pretty young Helena who's definitely not all-good. Most of the action takes place inside the home (Uninvited is a low-budget production, clearly — but the quality does rise above most direct-to-DVD flicks).
While there is a lot to like about Uninvited (why, why, why did they name it Uninvited?… not only is there the taint of the blah Tale of Two Sisters remake , but there are a million others movies named Uninvited and ALSO - it's not a very apt title for this), it's far from perfect. It's entertaining mostly in the first 45 minutes to an hour as it builds, but then it nosedives into tedium so bleak and endless it's too late when the big, bad showdown and shocker comes. The makeups for the minions of Satan vary, but mostly they are not good and that's a bit of a letdown too.
In the end, Uninvited has more in common with The Devil's Rain than it does Rosemary's Baby.
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