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The Uninvited [VHS] | | |
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One of the spookiest ghost stories ever put to film, The Uninvited is also one of the few classic haunted-house movies to treat the subject with respect and seriousness. Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey play a brother and sister who leave the city to live in a beautiful old house dramatically perched on a cliff overlooking the Cornish coast. As they discover some of the house's peculiarities--the unexplained chill that settles in certain rooms, the aroma of mimosas that wafts through the house, flowers that wilt when brought inside--they are told by local girl Gail Russell that the house is haunted, by the spirit of Russell's mother no less. The rationalist city folk first scoff at the idea but as Milland slowly falls in love with the frightened girl he investigates the legends and discovers some startling hidden truths. Donald Crisp costars as Russell's humorless, hard-bitten grandfather who forbids her visits to the house. Handsomely shot against the beautiful Cornish countryside, director Lewis Allen wisely suggests more than he shows and the uneasy tone and quietly restrained direction looks forward to such films as The Haunting and The Legend of Hell House. Though Allen ultimately reveals a suitably spine-tingling apparition, some of the film's best moments are chilling in their simplicity: nocturnal moans, slamming doors, and the dog's whimpering fear of the upstairs. --Sean Axmaker
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 128
 HARD TO SEE THE UNINVITED....IN THE DARK February 8, 2010
bittersweet (witch city salem ma)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
THE UNINVITED.....1944
it's not difficult to recognize "the nutz and bolts" mechanics here...in your face nuance....(not so subtle changes in light and shadow)...in fact...i thought i would go partially blind several times just trying to put visuals with dialogue...this picture was so dark that i feel it should have been called DARK SHADOWS...in any event...other than it's share of darkness it was a clever ghostly/who done what?..
WINDWARD HOUSE....a beautiful vacant old stone villa perched high above the sea....in a fishing village called biddleton in devonshire england.....the day...exactly???....the 10th of may 1937......
when i first got a glimpse of it's facade with all that paned glass.....i immediately thought of the tall expansive windows in RANDOM HEARTS....those hospital windows that seem to imitate eyes looking out onto the world or maybe into the soul......and then we get to appreciate the interior....among other things...that magnificent spiral staircase and the massive crystal chandelier that seem to take such prominence in not only the grand center hall but in the very heart of our ghostly tale of witchery~ ...symbolism? ....why i haven't a clue ...
brother and sister....RICK and PAMELA FITZGERALD...(ray milland and ruth hussy)....stumble upon this charmer quite by accident one day while hiking back to their car........they both fall in love instantly with her...and end up purchasing the house from and old stalwart called COMMANDER BEACH...who..by the way....just happens to have a lovely twenty-two year old granddaughter by the name of STELLA MEREDITH.....
strange occurrences start to take place even before they move their belongings in...a lovely bouquet of wildflowers wither and die before our very eyes as we we see PAMELA set them down on a table in the room where RICK will set up his music room....the two remark how icy cold the room seems to be even on a warm sunny afternoon....after they move in....almost immediately PAMELA starts to hear voices of a woman crying uncontrollably just before dawn...and bobby the terrier runs just ups and runs away....yikes!!!!
when LIZZY FLYNN...the maid arrives at the house....her cat...upon exploration...senses something evil this way cometh and arches it's back as if it has seen a ghost on ALL HALLOWS EVE!!!!......will curiosity kill the cat as it ascends the grand staircase???? ......i think by this time.....we pretty well know something is a rye when poor LIZZY won't stay the night in the place!!!
we soon discover that not all at WINDWARD HOUSE is as it appears!!!! no!!!...years ago...STELLA MEREDITHS mother...MARY MEREDITH fell to her death from this very cliff...(marked by a dead tree)...
strange dark things continue....like the night STELLA and RICK spend in intimate conversation in his music room...RICK tries to impress her by playing a new composition on his baby grand entitled..."STELLA BY STARLIGHT"......all of a sudden!!!..the candles dim and flicker....RICK appears to be under some kind of spell!!!.....STELLA becomes afraid and bolts from the house...running towards the cliff....RICK catches up grabs her and saves her from a certain death!!!!!
soon.....RICK and PAMELA and SCOTT...the friendly young attractive single town physician.... decide to hold a seance one dark spooky night at WINDWARD to call upon the spirit of STELLA'S dead mother...in hopes that the experience would convince the young girl to stop her unhealthy fixation with channeling her mother......
the cast of characters expands with the introduction of nurse HOLLOWAY...who is seemingly an evil witch herself and just happens to run the clinic where STELLA is sent by her grandfather who is at his wits end!!!....apparently only NURSE HOLLOWAY can treat STELLA for what ails her.....
the plot thickens when we find out from the evil HOLLOWAY that there was a love triangle between STELLA'S father...dead MARY and the intensely evil...CARMEL CASADA...a spanish gypsy...who....through revelation..we find is lovely STELLA'S real birth mother!!!..
so not only was the mansion haunted by MARY'S malevolent ghost..with icy cold dank and damp unwelcoming vibrations...but also by the benevolent ghost of CARMEL...who..not only provided a lingering sweet scent of mimosa whenever she hovered...but made pages gently flip over in the old doctor's case book on the desk..candles flicker and die...but also was the one who sobbed uncontrollably in the night......
fini....RICK decides to take the bull by the horns....confronts and banishes MARY'S evil spirit from the mansion once and for all.... then he and STELLA fall deeply in love..PAMELA and SCOTT fall deeply in love....the cat can sit on the steps of the grand staircase at long last...and lick it's paw contentedly.....the ghosts have found their rightful resting places to dwell and everyone lives happily ever after.......
oh!....all that is with the exception of NURSE HOLLOWAY...who lastly we see gazing despondently up at an oil of MARY...high above the plaster fireplace...mumbling weirdly out loud......."all is straight now.....no frayed edges....no lose edges...all smooth edges".........
if there is a sequel...we'll probably fine NURSE HOLLOWAY committed to her own clinic...starting at that portrait above the fireplace....
 Guaranteed: A Spooky Good Time Watching This Gem February 6, 2010
Baron Sardonicus (Pennsylvania)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"The Uninvited" invites us in, and we gladly enter this world. That opening scene is just perfect with the narration and scenery. Who could resist that introduction? It's practically tantalizing.
I enjoyed the Oscar-nominated black and white cinematography by Charles Lang, with its deep, dark blacks and it's bright, light whites. And Victor Young's lush, romantic score produced a popular hit, Stella by Starlight.
The setting is wonderful: the lovely and tumultuous seaside of the Cornish coast. This is perfect atmosphere for a ghost story. "The Uninvited" has all the trappings of a delightfully spooky cinema experience: cold rooms, sudden breezes, noises in the night, books turning pages by themselves, the sound of a weeping phantom, strange fragrances wafting about, and things that go bump in the night. Plus, this movie has a mystery threaded throughout it that keeps our curiosity high. There are things we don't know here, and we want to find out the secrets.
I like the fact that a hint of comic relief is thrown in for good measure, with some fun banter between the characters, and also when Ray Milland tells his sister not to be frightened, and he then dashes into his bed and pulls the covers over his head!
Few films pull off a good, creepy séance . . . "The Changeling" from 1980 with George C. Scott and Trish Van Devere is the best example I've seen so far (if you've never seen that movie, I recommend it for some effective, old fashioned haunted house chills). This is a good séance, too.
Miss Holloway is a standout character; she's one of those grand sinister women of classic film. I think she's the cousin of the Evil Queen from Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", full of icy haughtiness. These sinister women are always trying to come off normal, acting polite and oh-so-very proper (though deep down they're bonkers and easily capable of evildoings). Holloway reminds me so much of Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca, a film made just four years earlier. Holloway reminisces about her darling Mary the same way Danvers moons over the wicked Rebecca. This could make an excellent college thesis topic: Evil, Demented, Gothic 1940's Cinema Lesbian Characters Who Pine Over the Dead. (I'm only half joking, really.)
This movie and the excellent anthology "Dead of Night" are easily the best scary films of the 1940's. Runners up include "I Walked with a Zombie", "The Body Snatcher", "Cat People", and "The Seventh Victim"-- all Val Lewton productions. Oh, and I'm forgetting Universal's "The Wolf Man". That's pretty good as well.
(And a DVD release of "The Uninvited" would be lovely. We've waited long enough.)
REAL Suspense filled NOT "horror" by today's standard February 5, 2010
L. A. Cummings (Cutten, CA United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is one of the VERY best suspense movies ever produced. The dialog is smart and lively, with humanity and humor in just the right places. Excellent performances by ALL the wonderful, and talented players, including the house-on-the-cliff and the ocean below. If you're looking for blood and guts, or what passes for a horror film in 2010, go elsewhere. But if you desire truly thrilling, edge of the seat mystery, this is THE one to see.
The Uninvited November 5, 2009
L. Stuart
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
For me, this is THE classic ghost story of all time. It's an amazing period piece of the 1930's, as a brother and sister up from London on vacation discover a deserted mansion atop the ocean cliffs. They fall in love with the place, and are able to buy it for "a song." Turns out the place, and the movie plot, is full of mystery, murder, and ghosts which will intrigue and frighten in a mental and spiritual way that no horror movies can match today. Or, few even matched back then.
It also has a fine love story, on several levels, and some nice comedy to boot.
You'll have a great time with this one, and I think it will be a favorite for you if you love classic gothic tales of suspense. I can't wait to get the DVD when it's available too.
Great movie for Halloween! Without the modern need to resort to bloodbaths. October 31, 2009
Walter R. Kowalczyk (Chicago, IL USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
1944's "The Uninvited" with Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey is my favorite movie to watch on Halloween. It's one of the best haunting movies ever made and a great example of how a film can be scary without resorting to bloodbaths, or any blood at all; just through suspense, mood, a few simple effects, good writing and good performances.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 128
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