- Starring
- Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey, Donald Crisp
- Writers
- Dodie Smith, Frank Partos
- Director
- Lewis Allen
- Rating
- n/a
- Running Time
- 99 minutes
Overall Score
Rating Summary
Ghost stories were not treated seriously in the 1930’s and 1940’s. At the time, whenever a film dealt with the subject, it was always used in a comedic fashion. Ghosts were played for laughs, not scares until The Uninvited. It was such a groundbreaking film that it inspired a lot of movies that followed it.
The Uninvited follows two siblings, Roderick and Pamela Fitzgerald (Milland and Hussey), travelling through the seaside and falling in love with a house by the hills. They purchase it for a small amount from an old man named Cmdr. Beech (Crisp) who doesn’t tell them everything that has happened there. They quickly become friends with Cmdr. Beech’s granddaughter, Stella (Gail Russell), who shares a strange connection to the house. Soon they realize that there are more inhabitants in the house than just the living, and Stella is the bridge that connects them all.
The Uninvited was Allen’s first feature as a director, and it is an impressive visual feat. The story has lost a bit of its power as more ambitious, complex horror films have surpassed it but it still works wonderfully today because it is a simple story that doesn’t try to force itself onto us. And it still gives us a few surprises. The best part of the storytelling here was how it allows us to connect to the material. Stella’s connection to the house comes from a traumatic past , she lost both her parents , making us care deeply for her. Because of her, we want to know what happens next. The story becomes weirder and weirder, with some bone chilling moments, especially the moaning in the night. Little by little, the script shows us that the film is not nearly as simple as a mere haunted house story as there’s more to this story than meets the eye. Everything works very well, even if it may not come as much of a surprise now as opposed to back then.
Additionally, The Uninvited balances drama with humor well. The mood is always chilly, but the story still finds little moments to lighten up and make us laugh. Milland’s Roderick is the driving force in that department, and his chemistry with Russell’s Stella is quite effortless. In the end, Russell is actually the standout among the actors as she sells all the strangeness the script asks us to believe in, and she does it with grace and talent.
The best part of The Uninvited was its cinematography. Charles Lang does a terrific job, creating such fantastic sets, filled with dark and shadow. It’s very climatic work, that creates an otherworldly atmosphere throughout the entire picture, giving us the chills in every scene. To add more interesting images, the house is only lit by candle lights, creating beautiful frames.
Lang’s work is quite exciting to watch, and the main reason to put The Uninvited on your list.
*still courtesy of IMDb*
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