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Blu-ray Review: ‘The Uninvited’
David Harley has sent in his official review for Paramount Home Entertainment’s Blu-ray release of The Uninvited, their remake of the Korean horror film A Tale of Two Sisters that’s available now at retailers everywhere. While the movie gets a mixed review, can the extra features and high def quality give the release more of a pop? Read on and find out.
After a second viewing, my thoughts on The Uninvited (review) haven’t changed a bit. It’s still one of the better Asian horror remakes, boasting solid performances and an old-school haunted house film atmosphere with a bizarre visual or two thrown in for good measure. It’s just a shame that it’s not as complex or involving as the original and never breaks away from its straight forward, formulaic approach to the source material.
Dreamworks’ Blu-Ray release has a very solid 1080p encode, although the outdoor scenes tend to be darker than they should with a slightly overcast appearance to them that wasn’t apparent in theatrical prints. The interior shots are extremely detailed and crisp looking, with floorboard splinters and furniture textures being noticeable and prominent. Colors look natural, especially flesh tones and blacks, and the transfer never tries to compensate for the limited color scheme of the film by boosting them up to overly pronounced levels. The TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack really plays off of the film’s atmosphere, delivering a great surround sound experience. There are a lot of low key, subtle sounds used in the film – creaking floorboards and a ringing bell – and the sound mix properly presents them without making them overpowering. It also uses the soft musical tones and loud, jarring pieces that accompany the few jump scares in even proportions on the front and rear speaker channels.
The biggest disappointment with the disc is the pointless and, well, rather uninteresting bonus features that Dreamworks decided to throw on at, presumably, the last minute. How about an analysis of the film from the directors’ perspective? The behind-the-scenes is a bunch of floating head interviews that don’t reveal anything really noteworthy, save for some on-set stories and some indication there was actual thought put into the changes between the original and remake, although they never get past saying the original is hard to comprehend and they needed to make it palatable for modern American audiences. The film isn’t dumb but they make it sound that way with their explanation.
Special Features
Unlocking The Uninvited (19:00) – A fairly standard behind-the-scenes segment, with the directors, writers and producers talking about their impressions of A Tale of Two Sisters and the approach they took in remaking it. Cast members are interviewed at great length and the differences between The Uninvited and ATOTS are briefly mentioned – again, I would have loved to hear a reason for the changes besides for, “The original was hard to follow.” Aside from a gratuitous amount of spoilers, this EPK is exactly what you’d expect it to be: a bunch of people sitting around and scratching each other’s backs.
Deleted Scenes (5:37) – The four scenes presented here don’t offer up anything revelatory, though they do explore the relationships between Anna, Alex and Rachael a bit more. And, if you’re into Emily Browning and Arielle Kebbel, there’s an extended scene here with them walking around in their bathing suits. So, there you go.
Alternate Ending (0:50) – It’s fifty-seconds long, so don’t expect anything mind-boggling. The main twist of the movie isn’t affected by this snippet and it’s hardly worth watching unless you felt the second and less impactful twist thrown in during the last few moments of the theatrical cut was a little too obvious and you’d prefer to see it presented a little more subtly.
Film: 3/5
Blu-Ray: 2.5/5
Scream Factory brought Frank LaLoggia’s 1988 Halloween movie Lady in White to Blu-ray several years back, and now Vinegar Syndrome gives the film a 4K Ultra HD upgrade.
Vinegar Syndrome’s Lady in White 4K release is available now and shipping now!
Watch the trailer below and grab your copy from Vinegar Syndrome today.
This limited edition 4-disc 4K UHD/Blu-ray x 3 set comes with a spot gloss hard slipcase + slipcover combo (designed by Dylan Haley), includes a 40-page perfect bound book and is limited to 8,000 units. It is only available on their website and at select indie retailers.
The full Special Features package includes…
- 4-disc Set: 1x 4K Ultra HD (High Bitrate BD100) / 3x Region A Blu-ray
- 4K UHD presented in Dolby Vision High-Dynamic-Range
- Newly scanned & restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative
- Presented in three versions: 126-min Pre-Release Director’s Cut (UHD+BD), the 118-min Extended Home Video Cut (BD), and the 113-min Theatrical Cut (BD)
- New group commentary track with writer/director Frank LaLoggia, alongside actors Lukas Haas, Joelle Jacobi, and Len Cariou for the Pre-Release Director’s Cut
- New commentary track with Frank LaLoggia, moderated by Scott Neumyer for the Extended Home Video Cut
- New commentary track with authors Emma Westwood and Stephen A. Russell for the Extended Home Video Cut
- Archival commentary track with Frank LaLoggia for the Extended Home Video Cut
- “Learning How to Fly” (10 min) – an interview with actress Karen Powell
- “A Snapshot in Time” (9 min) – an interview with actress Lisa Taylor
- “Human Touches” (6 min) – an interview with actress Lucy Lee Flippin
- “Still Relevant” (16 min) – an interview with actress Rose Weaver
- “75% Listening, 25% Editing” (9 min) – an interview with editor Steve Mann
- “Welcome to Willowpoint Falls” (6 min) – a location featurette hosted by Benjamin Scrivens, founder of Fright-Rags
- “Dream Talking: Looking Back” – a visual group commentary for the Pre-Release Director’s Cut with Frank LaLoggia, and actors Lukas Haas, Joelle Jacobi, and Len Cariou (103 min)
- Deleted Scenes with introduction and optional commentary by writer/director Frank LaLoggia (36 min)
- Behind-the-scenes footage with introduction and optional commentary by writer/director Frank LaLoggia (16 min)
- Extended behind-the-scenes footage (73 min)
- Introduction from the 20th anniversary dvd release
- Promotional ‘industry sales’ trailer (7 min)
- 40-page perfect bound book with essays by film historians Molly Henery, Mark H. Harris, and Heidi Honeycutt (limited edition only)
- Multiple radio spots
- Theatrical trailer
- Multiple TV spots
- Workprint trailers (7 min)
- Still gallery
- Reversible sleeve artwork
- English SDH subtitles
1962. Nine-year-old Frankie Scarlatti enjoys a homespun childhood in a rustic Western New York town. The entire community gets into the spirit of Halloween, but then two bullies prank Frankie by locking him in his school cloakroom, leaving him trapped for the night. Alone and afraid, his slumber is interrupted when the ghost of a little girl appears, and Frankie witnesses the specter of her murder by an unseen assailant. Later, while recovering at home, the girl’s ghost appears to him again. With help from his older brother, Frankie begins investigating the circumstances of her death. He soon discovers that her murder was one of several unsolved crimes connected to a local child-killer. As the town’s bucolic veneer fades and long-buried secrets and tensions bubble to the surface, all of the clues to the mystery seem to point towards a huge mansion inhabited by a reclusive woman known as “The Lady in White.”
A nostalgia-driven ghost story wrapped within an intricate murder mystery and coming-of-age drama, writer-director-composer Frank LaLoggia’s passion project Lady in White remains one of the most beautiful and original American horror films of the 1980s. Featuring acclaimed actors Alex Rocco (The Godfather), Len Cariou (Executive Decision), and Sydney Lassick (Carrie, The Unseen), it boasts the first starring role by Lukas Haas (Mars Attacks, Inception) as well as breathtaking photography by Academy Award® winner Russell Carpenter (True Lies, The Lawnmower Man). Vinegar Syndrome is honored to bring this genre masterpiece to 4K UHD, newly restored from its original 35mm camera negative and presented in three versions: its pre-release director’s cut, its extended home-video version, and its original theatrical version, along with an abundance of both new and archival extras.
Paul Lê wrote here on Bloody Disgusting back in 2023, “Over the years, fans have described this film as gateway horror, but they liken it more to The Watcher in the Woods than, say, Hocus Pocus or Casper. There are chilling moments that warrant its PG-13 rating.”
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