Apparition

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.

this movie will disappoint a lot of people. it is tagged as horror, but - although there are ghosts in it - there are no scary moments or any gore to be found. if you watched this movie because of Ji-hyun Jun (understandable if you ever saw 'my sassy girl') then be warned - this film is definitely neither romantic nor a comedy.

to tell what the film is really about would spoil your experience watching it, the ghosts and other supernatural occurences are only there to highlight the message of the film, to show the feelings and inner problems of the main character. at its core this film is a drama - wonderfully played, directed and executed - concentrating on the inner world of the humans mind. slowly - like a lot of other asian pictures - giving the key scenes a lot more surprise. there are two points in the movie i had to rewind, because i just couldn't believe what i had just saw.

the feeling i got while watching it is similar to 'kairo' - a study in depression and loneliness. definitely no film you should watch alone - it is not frightening, but you will feel better with someone to hug.

one of the most unusual films i ever saw - earning a well-deserved 9 of 10.

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.

Uninvited isn't your typical ghost story though it has familiar South Korean horror themes like suicide and infanticide.

Honestly I found it to be a bit too slow at times, and it is a whole two full hours long. However, this subtle slowness eventually winds around you like some malicious seaweed dragging you slowly under the water.

The ending is heavy and bleak rather than shocking or horrifying. In some ways this film is more of a supernatural drama that draws upon subjects like childhood trauma and its impact on adult phobias and mental illness. I highly recommend it but don't expect the usual Korean horror flick.

The recent New Wave of Asian Horror has seen quite a few mediocre films released, however there have also been some true masterpieces amongst them, and The Uninvited is definitely one of the masterpieces.This is a genuinely dark, violent, disturbing, artistic horror film.

The key ingredient missing from most horror films these days is an emotionally charged story with characters that you can relate to and care for. In the case of the Univited, the true horror is based in human behaviour and the realities the characters have to deal with. While there is a supernatural element, the real nastiness is based in the humanity and psychology of the characters.

The Univited has possibly been mis-represented by it's own marketing, as they have promoted it as a supernatural horror, when in reality the film is more art-house and intellectual than it is horror. This probably accounts for some of the negative reviews, particularly in relation to the films slow pacing.

This is not a film that will make you jump in your seat a few times and leave the theatre laughing, but rather one that will chill you to the bone and leave you thinking.

I highly recommended The Univited if you have a darkly artistic streak, and are looking for a character driven film that abounds with atmosphere and chills.