Ceticultsot Beautiful, moving film.

Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict

Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Asad Almond A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Dalbert Pringle (*Movie quote*) - "How very curios!"Believe me, f-f-f-folks - I really, really, really did try to stifle my impatience with this particular ghost/haunted house story from 1944. I really, really, really did.Yep. In all honesty, I tried to cut this one some serious slack due to it now being 70+ years old.But - (IMO) - The Uninvited (though it did have a lot of potential to be a truly frightening movie experience) came close to being an utter failure in its genre.Yes - There were a couple of choice moments of eerie spookiness that sent goosebumps running up and down my spine - But - For the most part - This haunting of "Windward House" story just didn't deliver enough satisfactory chills & thrills to hold my undivided interest.As usual - (Coming from this particular era in Hollywood movie history) - This film's main focus zeroed in on the budding (and boring) "boy-meets-girl" romance that (predictably) transpired between 2 of the story's leading characters.

Hitchcoc This is the prototype ghost story. A couple falls in love with an old house, situated on the craggy shore of the ocean in England. They decide to buy the house an get it for a song. Of course, it isn't long before strange visions and smells start to present themselves. Ray Milland begins by resisting belief in the haunted mansion, but it isn't long before he is fully involved. Ruth Hussey goes from being charmed by the place to nearly giving her life to it. There is great suspense her as they begin to unravel what is going on around them. Many films have been made (as well as TV shows) using an old house and the spirits of bygone eras, but this one is superb in its visual attractions and the fine acting.

classicsoncall This film worked a lot better for me as a mystery than the purported scary ghost story it was set up to be by Turner Classic Movie host Ben Mankiewicz when I watched it this morning. The story holds one's attention level well enough, but I never got the impression that there was something really ominous about to happen. Roderick 'Rick' Fitzgerald (Ray Milland) sort of dropped that ball when he ducked under the covers like a grown up scaredy cat.Probably the scariest aspect of the film turned out to be old Miss Holloway (Cornelia Otis Skinner, even that name sounds scary) as the proprietor of the Mary Meredith retreat - 'Health Through Harmony' - that was a good one. It was more than a little fitting that the biddy went a little bit crackers of her own after sending Stella Meredith (Gail Russell) on her way back to the Windward homestead. And speaking of Stella, didn't it seem like she wasn't even the slightest bit astonished when she found out that her mother wasn't her mother, but that she was the daughter of the gypsy mistress? I think that would have freaked me out just a little bit if it happened to me.Say, you know, and I don't know why stuff like this intrigues me, but how do you think the film makers got the squirrel to act squirrelly enough to pull off the scene with Bobby the pooch. The rodent hit his marks perfectly across the floors and up the chimney, just like a real pro. I mean, you can't teach or direct a squirrel to do what you want them to do like a dog, so I'm just a bit puzzled by it all. As well as Rick sticking his hand under the dresser to find the animal, geez, what a dumb move that was.Well, I may sound a little flippant here with my review but I actually liked the picture well enough to recommend it for classic movie fans. Once again, the horror or scary aspects of the film are not what drives it, but the odd, almost sinister motivations of characters like Commander Beech (Donald Crisp) and the aforementioned Miss Holloway. The Commander was actually quite a creep when you get right down to it, at one point he even stated that his granddaughter Stella wasn't as beautiful as her mother. In retrospect, I wonder who he was talking about?

jfgibson73 This movie has a good setup. The house on the cliff is very picturesque with the waves crashing against the rocks below and the expansive staircases. I think that when it was made, it must have been very impressive visually as well as for including Ouija boards and vengeful gypsy spirits. However, it does not hold up for several reasons. The story, which may have covered new territory at the time, feels very simplistic and light-hearted. Comparisons get made between the Uninvited and 1940's Rebecca, but that story feels so much more layered and sinister. At the beginning of the The Uninvited, the characters are enjoying a seaside vacation, and that is the tone that persists. Midway through the movie, when a young woman's life is in danger from the influence of a hateful ghost, we get a scene where she hides on the floor of a car so she can get a ride to church and not be seen by her grandfather. The film is trying to establish life or death stakes, but the characters may as well be discussing their breakfast toast. I didn't necessarily dislike it, but it was not what I expected from the descriptions I had read.