4 inyong shiktak

This is not really a horror film; form-wise it has more in common with a mystery or drama. The intent is not to scare or gross out the viewer, but to examine the central themes and characters.

On that level it's fairly successful. There is a lot going on in the movie, and as another reviewer has mentioned, the focus tends to wander, so it's often hard to determine exactly what the movie is trying to say. Sometimes that works to The Uninvited's advantage; I like movies to have a little ambiguity in them where I can apply my own imagination, and there are several deliberately ambiguous moments here.

At other times, it's more of a distraction, as we wait in vain for the story to return to and possibly resolve an earlier theme. Instead, the film moves on to examine other ideas, and while they are usually interesting ideas, the inevitable result is that by the film's conclusion it seems like there's a lot left unresolved. I don't mean "loose threads" in the usual sense of plot elements that are unexplained (although there are a few of those), but more like bigger themes that seemed like what the movie was about at the beginning of the film and didn't at the end of the film.

The acting is decent, overall, but the two leads both play the sort of shell-shocked, alienated characters that are hard to relate to even if we're sympathetic to begin with, and most of the other characters are not terribly fleshed out. The direction is good although the pace is slow (unnecessarily slow at times).

(Parenthetically, one shot used in The Uninvited seems so obviously ripped off from Ringu that I figure it's got to be an homage, but the movie seems like it takes itself too seriously to throw in a Ringu homage.)

Overall, a worthy but flawed effort that is much more complex and rewarding than most Asian horror movies of recent years.

Jeong-won is an architect who one day - while going home on the subway - takes notice of two small girls who sits next to him. When he reaches the end-station he gets of, but the two girls remain seated. Later he learns that the girls were dead and from then on a series of events start to take place.

Basically Jeong-won has his life shattered by disturbing events that may be happening around him or in his head, or both. Watch it and judge for yourself. But the theme of this movie isn't whether the events are real or not. The movie tells a story where religion, psychology and supernatural elements mix together in an elegant cocktail of mystery, fear and love.

The story is great and very well told. You're told enough to make it all coherent, but there is also room for interpretation which makes the movie a personnel experience. The movie doesn't deal with good and evil in absolute terms, but deals with the fears and anxieties that we all harbor to some extent. And it deals with the dilemma of helping people to reconcile with a part of themselves that should have been left forgotten, or should it?

The true essence of the story isn't revealed until relatively late, compared to other movies who set the tone right from the beginning. To begin with I thought it was a simple ghost-story, but I was wrong. So if you don't like such twists, then consider yourself warned.

Quietness is probably the key word to the acting and the style of the movie. The actors succeed in making the characters very believable. Several of the scenes are beautifully made with the right camera angles, the right lighting, colors and so on. The ambiance is dripping with a mysterious silence and calm.

There are no cheap scares of the traditional Hollywood kind (which is a combination of fast editing combined with the explosion of a symphony orchestra). Instead the scary parts - or more properly for this movie - the chilling parts are shown in a forthright manner and what they depict is usually enough to get the heart rate up. When a movie is capable of giving you the chills without having to resort to loud noises or sudden events, then it is truly scary, and some of the scenes will stay with you for some time. A quality which separates true horror from the superficial scares which you can just shrug of after the movie.

However, this isn't a full blood horror movie. The horror scenes are just to few and the general horror-level isn't high enough. See this movie if you like a great story, riddled with mystery, fear and psychological deepness. I liked it a lot and I probably have to see it again in order to enjoy its elegant complexity.

The Uninvited starts out very slow, with a hesitating, introverted main character, which all puts a test on your patience, but hold on and you will be rewarded with a genuinely horrifying viewing experience, which lets you forget all previously seen so-called horror movies by US studios.

I do not like gore or cheap shock scenes that make you jump for a moment, but prefer subtle, realistic psychological horror instead, and this is what The Uninvited delivers: A sense of true horror with one specific sequence that is so disturbing and surreal in its whole execution, but realistic and gripping at the same time, you will not be able to shake off this creepy atmosphere out of your head afterwards.

Having said this, The Uninvited has a few flaws. The pacing is extremely slow, the storyline has too many sub-plots, most of which felt unnecessary to the main plot, and some images seem borrowed from other horror films. Nevertheless, if you are looking for a subtle, slow-burn horror with a stark, disturbing center-piece, you should give The Uninvited a try.

CAUTION: This movie is very very long and very very slow! Although it is a very good movie, and well worth seeing, I would strongly advise that you do not watch this movie just before bed time. Watch it when you are fully rested, or you will fall asleep.

Another cautionary note, is that IMDb should remove the categories, Horror and Thriller, because this movie is strictly a Drama, and a very slow moving one at that. It does have some ghosts in it, maybe 2 or 3 scenes in the beginning, but they are really not that scary, nor are they really meant to scare. And they are long forgotten once you have reached the 90mins mark.

It is a very sad movie with most of the characters going through some really deep trauma, so if you are looking for something upbeat, look somewhere else.

This is a very good movie though. With some terrific performances by the actors and a very good effort by the director. Definitely worth seeing. Just be ready for something sad, slow and long.

Like other IMDb'ers who have commented on The Uninvited, I expected the film to be a supernatural tale along the lines of The Eye. Instead, the movie turns out to be a rather depressing (and somewhat overlong) study of fractured psyches, depression and dealing with death. This movie is more about people who are haunted by the ghosts of their pasts, rather than by real spooks.

Whilst travelling home from work, Jeong-won, a man with no memory of his childhood, witnesses the death of two small children (poisoned by their mother and abandoned on a train). Soon after, he begins to see the dead kids in his apartment and leaves in a panic.

He meets Yeon, a narcoleptic who is a witness in an infant murder case and who is also able to see the ghosts. Together they unravel the shocking secrets of his past.

An extremely slow moving movie with a sometimes confusing plot, The Uninvited is certainly hard going. Replete with suicides, accidental deaths and murder, and with some genuinely shocking scenes that will sear themselves into your memory, this isn't exactly a feel-good movie. With absolutely no lighter moments to lift the mood, be prepared to feel 'down' after the credits have rolled.

And if you think I'm exaggerating, see if you can watch the scene with the 'truck/child interface' without wincing!

The look of the film is amazing and there are some lovely sweeping camera movements which are technically superb. The cast give excellent performances given the difficult subject matter. Unfortunately, the dreadful pacing of the film spoils what may have been a really great film. The tale meanders aimlessly in parts and really drags, making it almost as difficult for the viewer to stay awake as it was for poor old Yeon.

Not exactly essential viewing then, but still worth having a look if this kind of thing floats your boat.