★ 8 / 10
That's not because there are more ghosts here
John Chard
That's not because there are more ghosts here than other places, mind you. It's just that people who live here about are strangely aware of them. The Uninvited…
That's not because there are more ghosts here than other places, mind you. It's just that people who live here about are strangely aware of them.
The Uninvited is directed by Lewis Allen and adapted to screenplay by Frank Partos and Dodie Smith from the novel Uneasy Freehold written by Dorothy Macardle. It stars Ray Milland, Gail Russell, Ruth Hussey, Donald Crisp and Cornelia Otis Skinner. Music is by Victor Young and cinematography by Charles B. Lang.
"They call them the haunted shores, these stretches of Devonshire and Cornwall and Ireland which rear up against the westward ocean. Mists gather here... and sea fog... and eerie stories..."
Wonderful old fashioned ghost story that neatly blends romance and a light comedic tone into the pot, The Uninvited is very much a movie of significance. It marks a point in cinematic time when the ghost story proved it could be played for true unnerving impact. It remains a sub-genre of horror that is sorely lacking in bona fide classics, spookers that have longevity, the ability to raise the goose flesh no matter how many times they are revisited. With a new special edition DVD recently released, and the likes of Martin Scorsese and Guillermo del Toro championing its cause by putting it on their lists of favourite frighteners, The Uninvited is proving its worth as an old sub-genre classic.
Plot is pretty conventional stuff. It's 1937 and Milland and Hussey play a brother and sister who fall in love with a cliff side house they stumble upon whilst holidaying on the southwest coast of England. Sure enough they snag themselves the house at a ridiculously cheap price, this even though they are warned of some previous disturbances at the address. Cue a mysteriously locked room that when opened reveals itself to be deathly cold, pets that will not go up the stairs and then comes the hauntings... So far so formulaic, then, but as the story begins to unravel in the second half of the movie, where the light touch is left behind, a fizzer of back story comes to the fore and one or two extra surprises leap out of the narrative. This is not lazy plotting, it is well constructed, the mystery element is strong and sidles up nicely with the spooky goings on.
"If you listen to it long enough, all your senses are sharpened. You come by strange instincts. You get to recognise a peculiar cold that is the first warning. A cold which is no mere matter of degrees Farenheit, but a draining of warmth from the vital centres of the living."
This is a spooker that, unsurprisingly for the time, is devoid of visceral shocks and blunderbuss like scares. This is more about atmosphere (Lang was Oscar nominated for his noirish photography) and fear of the unknown, where the sound of a sobbing woman in the darkness chills the blood. Perhaps surprisingly for the time? We do get to see spectral images, and they still work and create the desired effect, who needs a computer generated image spitting blood when you can have ethereal spookiness floating eerily above the ground? While we are at it, who needs a beefed up pretty boy actor fighting the good fight against evil when you can have an elegant Ray Milland doing it with a glint in his eye instead? The cast are very effective, with Russell really making a mark so early in her career, while Young's score is both sinister and tender (the song Stella by Starlight would become a popular standard) at all the right times.
A genuine ghost story for those who prefer the sparing atmospheric touch to the noisy carnage approach. 8/10
Read full review
★ 8 / 10
Fantastic classic ghost story!
The_Void
The Uninvited has been right at the top of my must see list for years now and any film with that amount of build up is liable to disappoint; but that is not…
The Uninvited has been right at the top of my must see list for years now and any film with that amount of build up is liable to disappoint; but that is not the case with this film, as The Uninvited really lives up to it's billing as one of the best ghost stories ever committed to celluloid! The film works because it is not over reliant on any one element of it; there's enough human drama to be interesting but not overbearing while the story is important but doesn't get in the way of the drama and this is all wrapped up in a thoroughly foreboding atmosphere. The plot focuses on an old house by a cliff side. Brother and sister(!) Roderick and Pamela Fitzgerald take one look at the house and fall in love with it instantly and after speaking with the house owner, a Commander Beech, agree a price to buy the house. The deal is initially unwelcome by the Commander's granddaughter Stella as it was once her mother's house, who died when she was three years old. However, she soon starts up a friendship with the brother and it's not long before they realise that something is not quite right with the house.
The film is directed by Lewis Allen and he does a really good job with it. Much of the film takes place at night and this allows him to deliver a thoroughly chilling atmosphere and the way that the house is soaked in shadows is creepy in the extreme. The characters walk around with only candles to light the way and this fits in very well with the blood curdling screams of the unseen phantoms! The film stars the great Ray Milland, and he delivers a great performance; owning the screen with a charismatic swagger and helping to keep things interesting. The film also stars the beautiful Gail Russell as the love interest. The ghost plot almost takes a backseat at times to the developing love story between Milland and Russell's characters, but this is not a problem since the film always remains intriguing. The ghost story is not particularly complex but it has more than enough about it to carry along the film and the atmosphere. It all boils down to a suitable ending and overall this really is a brilliant little ghost story and one that should be a must see for all horror fans!
Read full review
95%
TOMATOMETER
· 22 reviews
80%
AUDIENCE
· 2.5K ratings
7.2/10
13.8K
•••
The Best ghost movie ever!!! A solid motion picture classic. Do not miss this film.