La maldición de las hermanas

While many people are just so put off by this film for many reasons, I was very surprised by how it actually turned out.

Although the original, "A Tale of Two Sisters", was an epic movie that delivered certain moods and feelings that this movie (and most other films to date) couldn't quite capture, this film was still just great.

One thing to understand was that this movie was completely westernized. Remakes such as "The Grudge" take place in Japan, but the main characters are replaced with an American or European cast, and sometimes the story just doesn't quite fit the way it should with that type of a cast. In this film, the "A Tale of Two Sisters" story is completely translated into an American setting, in the north in a small town. The characters are tweaked a little to accommodate the new setting, and so are some of the scenes and plot lines. This is where many fans of the original get upset and get their panties in a bunch.

If this film was truly remade true to the original, it would just be the original film itself being remade 5 years later with the same cast and same script. This film is honestly one of the best Asian-horror remakes that has been made in the past 3 or 4 years if not ever. The cast gives solid performances and there were little or no plot holes. There were actually less plot holes in this film than the original. Of course I liked the original more, but I'm just saying this film executed certain things that the first film didn't, just like the first film executed certain things this film didn't. They are meant to be similar but different, and that is what makes both of them worth seeing.

8.5/10

What worked: It's a beautifully shot and captured movie, with amazing natural space. The movie keeps its essence and mysterious till the end, which is a plus point, making it a watchable movie What did not work I must say the screenplay and narrative of the movie is weak, making it a dull watch because of the lack of substance. The movie is a simple thriller, with few thrills or exciting scenes. I would have loved the movie more if the movie had maintained the mood and climate of the movie. It's not a bad watch but an average watch Final verdict: it's an okay time pass movie

I typically find newer horror movies to be cheesy, humorous, boring, and above all: not scary. You know that feeling you get when a movie starts to take its toll on your patients and causes your eyes to wander around the theater? You don't get that at all with this film. This movie grabbed me from the beginning and refused to let go. The film's music score is extremely effective at creating a suspenseful and uneasy viewer sensation, which I think deserves full appreciation for the movie's ghostly flavor. Without any doubt, appropriate music in a movie is like butter on popcorn. Would Jaws scare you without the renowned theme music? The cast was nothing less then superb. Emily Browning was perfect at playing the "sad, quiet girl with horrible visions" role. I'm not going to spoil it for anyone, but the ending of this movie really twists your mind and makes you think. I found it to be an adequate yet abrupt closure for the story despite how it is following a certain trend with recent horror movie endings.

Anna (Emily Browning) returns home from a psychiatric institution after her suicide attempt. She's been struggling after her mother's death in a fire. Her mother was ill and the caretaker Rachel Summers (Elizabeth Banks) is now her father Steven (David Strathairn)'s girlfriend. Her sister Alex (Arielle Kebbel) is convinced that Rachel killed their mother. She keeps having visions of 3 little kids. Her boyfriend Matt is killed presumably in an accident after she sees him in a vision. Her father is getting remarried to Rachel. The girls discover that Rachel is using a false identity. Anna suspects her to be Mildred Kemp who killed the 3 kids in her vision and disappeared.

Emily Browning is great as a distressed teen and I like everybody in this. There is a moody ghostly sense through out the movie. This boils down to the ending. I completely understand if some people throw up their hands at the final twists. I personally scratched my head at first. In the end, I accepted it and like the movie. I could have easily gone the other way.

I haven't seen the original Tale of Two Sisters by Kim Ji-woon to begin with so I won't be able to do any meaningful comparisons. But if a remake is any indication of how the original is generally miles better, especially if done by Hollywood, hen it probably is worth my while to put the Korean horror movie in my to-watch list. After all, Kim Ji-woon's film is one of Korea's top box office draws when released.

There have been more misses than hits when Hollywood adapts what it thinks could be instant box office gold with its fountain of Asian content, and since there have been only a limited number of successful Asian horror releases in recent years, it had looked inwards and cannibalized on remaking its own shock/slasher films. This one took a long while to translate to The Uninvited, and I guess taking some 6 years indicated the filmmakers wanted to do things right instead of rushing through and come out with crap.

As such the directing duo of the Guard Brothers Charles and Thomas managed to find some balance between telling a psychological thriller, and moments where they can properly employ tricks from the usual formula book to scare an audience, with the usual light and shadows, smoke and mirrors, warped beings, decomposed bodies and jump cuts with ghouls staring down at you. Surprisingly it didn't rely on sound or lack thereof to add a further sensory dimension to set pulse racing, which I thought was a little let down in its moments to build up to the next "Boo!" If anything, the acting duo of Emily Browning (Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, with pouty lips to rival Angelina Jolie's, and given special attention too in this narrative) and Arielle Kebbel shine as skimpily clad sisters Anna and Alex respectively, who have to rely on each other as they uncover the truth behind the death of their mom (Maya Massar). It doesn't help of course with Anna just being certified sane and safe to be released from a mental institution, and their suspect happens to be their nanny-turned-new-step-mom-to-be Rachel (Elizabeth Banks) whom dad (David Strathairn) intends to marry. Given the short run time of under 90 minutes, the pace is kept compact with little room wasted to pump in unnecessary subplots (unless set up just to provide an additional avenue to unleash horrific mayhem), focusing very much of the relationship between the two sisters, and their strained one with their father. Emily Browning, as the lead, of course had enough latitude to showcase a double-head snake role in being "nice" to Rachel, in order for some fishing of information.

That isn't to say there isn't any loophole that a jumbo jet can't fly through. Even if you have no background knowledge gained from the original Korean film, it is easy enough for sharp-eyed viewers, or those whose cinematic staple is horror films, to stay one step ahead and deduce just what is exactly going on. Which makes me wonder just how much it'll take for shockmeisters to scare seasoned audiences since they're getting savvier, and easily bored with the same old bag of tricks.

If anything, The Uninvited would have piqued your interest in the original, which has a longer run time and in all likelihood, the exploitation of mood and atmosphere that are quite standard tools for horror films from Asia, which is sorely lacking in this version. Nonetheless it's still one of the better Western remakes of Asian horror attempted.