677 The Uninvited

Discuss releases by Criterion and the films on them. Threads may contain spoilers!
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
Jeff
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:49 pm
Location: Denver, CO

677 The Uninvited

#1 Post by Jeff » Mon Jul 15, 2013 12:24 pm

The Uninvited

Image

A pair of siblings (Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey) from London purchase a surprisingly affordable, lonely cliff-top house in Cornwall, only to discover that it actually carries a ghostly price; soon they’re caught up in a bizarre romantic triangle from beyond the grave. Rich in atmosphere, The Uninvited, directed by Lewis Allen, was groundbreaking for the seriousness with which it treated the haunted-house genre, and it remains an elegant and eerie experience, featuring a classic score by Victor Young. A tragic family past, a mysteriously locked room, cold chills, bumps in the night—this gothic Hollywood classic has it all.

Disc Features

- New 2K digital film restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
- New visual essay by filmmaker Michael Almereyda
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Farran Smith Nehme

User avatar
Ashirg
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:10 am
Location: Atlanta

Re: 677 The Uninvited

#2 Post by Ashirg » Mon Jul 15, 2013 6:22 pm

They should include those two radio adaptations included on Exposure Cinema release.

User avatar
Fred Holywell
Joined: Thu Jun 10, 2010 11:45 pm

Re: 677 The Uninvited

#3 Post by Fred Holywell » Mon Jul 15, 2013 7:51 pm

Ashirg wrote:They should include those two radio adaptations included on Exposure Cinema release.
Good idea -- and here's the original trailer. Not too late to shove that on there, too, Criterion.

EDIT: Here are links to both the "Screen Guild Theater" radio dramatization from August, 1944 (scroll down to #188), and the "Screen Directors' Playhouse" one from November, 1949. (We'll do our own extras, if Criterion can't be bothered.)

User avatar
Siddon
Joined: Sun May 08, 2011 7:44 am

Re: 677 The Uninvited

#4 Post by Siddon » Thu Jul 18, 2013 4:47 am

Always great to see horror titles show up with Criterion. Hopefully Night of the Demon/Curse of the Demon is next.


User avatar
dwk
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:10 pm

Re: 677 The Uninvited

#6 Post by dwk » Fri Aug 16, 2013 11:31 am

More stuff has been added to this release. In addition to the Lewis Allen interview that I mentioned in the previous post, which will be in the booklet, the newly added special feature are:
* Two radio adaptations, from 1944 and 1949, both starring Ray Milland
* Trailer

User avatar
The Narrator Returns
Joined: Tue Nov 15, 2011 6:35 pm

Re: 677 The Uninvited

#7 Post by The Narrator Returns » Fri Aug 16, 2013 11:40 am

And it's still at $30. That's one hell of a bargain.

User avatar
Minkin
Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2009 11:13 pm

Re: 677 The Uninvited

#8 Post by Minkin » Fri Aug 16, 2013 3:18 pm

dwk wrote:More stuff has been added to this release. In addition to the Lewis Allen interview that I mentioned in the previous post, which will be in the booklet, the newly added special feature are:
* Two radio adaptations, from 1944 and 1949, both starring Ray Milland
* Trailer
Amazing! That trailer really is superb. Trailers always seem to be extras 101, thus all the more confusing when left off..
Radio adaptations too! Those are always fun.

Though I'm sure many had expected more from such a great title, I think we can all be happy with how this turned out. Glad Criterion was able to turn this around from the initial anger upon release, and end up with a snazzy package!

User avatar
colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: 677 The Uninvited

#9 Post by colinr0380 » Fri Aug 16, 2013 3:58 pm

That initial omission was strange since the radio adaptations and the trailer both appeared on the recent UK DVD, so at least the Criterion edition is now going to port all of those extras over (while still leaving out the stills and poster gallery).

User avatar
vsski
Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2011 3:47 pm

Re: 677 The Uninvited

#10 Post by vsski » Wed Sep 18, 2013 7:19 pm


User avatar
greggster59
Joined: Mon Sep 25, 2006 1:37 pm

Re: 677 The Uninvited

#11 Post by greggster59 » Mon Oct 28, 2013 10:11 pm

I watched this over the weekend and it is a nice minor addition to the Criterion canon.
I haven't seen this since it played on local television when I was a kid and I remembered that it scared the hell out of me.

I'm happy to say that the film still retains its ability to get under my skin. I hurried to get the lights on after it ended.
It is a far from perfect movie. Acting, some of the plot twists, a bit of 40's theatricality and intention humor can be distracting at times. It is the look and sound of the film that make it work. The atmosphere is so forbidding at times that the lighter bits do provide a slight ease in the tension.

User avatar
warren oates
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2012 12:16 pm

Re: 677 The Uninvited

#12 Post by warren oates » Tue Oct 29, 2013 12:52 pm

I'll have to disagree. I appreciate the craft of the visuals. But, seeing it for the first time now, the film itself doesn't feel remotely scary or even creepy to me. The Gothic atmospherics seem very dated. And the narrative is just so overwrought it's hard to get into. Not the least because the character most afflicted by the haunted house, who ought to be the protagonist, isn't even really trying all that hard to figure out its mystery. Instead a kind of high-spirited Thin Man-esque brother sister duo leads the way.

User avatar
HerrSchreck
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:46 am

Re: 677 The Uninvited

#13 Post by HerrSchreck » Tue Oct 29, 2013 2:12 pm

I have to agree. It's no secret that I'm a sucker for all species of ghost stories: expertly made studio horror, B-paradise drive in crap, and everything in between and below from any era fore and aft. But The Uninvited runs for me like a relatively benign and flat studio melodrama with a lot of moans and darkness that never really gel into an eerie whole. I never got many chills-- even when a little tyke-- from this film.

User avatar
jbeall
Joined: Sat Aug 12, 2006 9:22 am
Location: Atlanta-ish

Re: 677 The Uninvited

#14 Post by jbeall » Sat Jun 07, 2014 4:47 pm

The protagonists' inconsistent-to-nonexistent British accents were particularly noticeable, and I'm not sure what "groundbreaking seriousness" the blurb is referring to, especially since it resolved into a romantic pairing-off comedy at the very end. (However, I was wondering about the brother and sister's relationship, so it's probably good that they both found romantic partners...) Tonally, it was all over the place, which probably prevented any suspense from ever building up in a way that would've gotten me invested in the plot.

Numero Trois
Joined: Sun Sep 20, 2009 5:23 am
Location: Florida

Re: 677 The Uninvited

#15 Post by Numero Trois » Wed Aug 20, 2014 4:39 am

Highly recommend the included radio adaptations which are both more successful than the movie. Their concision keeps focus on the stellar vocal performances (including Ray Milland) rather than the frothy plot, making for a highly vivid listening experience. That was part of what was wrong with the film itself- its not bad, but past a certain point there's an increasing reliance on character declarations and arbitrary plot mechanics to resolve the mystery. The script may work when performed out loud or read but it simply does not when left intact as filmed.

Certainly some parts work better than others. The sequence where the siblings hear the spirit moaning for the first time at the top of the staircase is quite effective. But as the film advances many of the supernatural details and character actions feel more and more contrived. Even back then it shouldn't have been too much to expect more rigor from a film of this type.

Post Reply