In my write-up of My Bloody Valentine, I expressed my belief that mainstream American horror movies are bankrupt, and that we literally "outsource our horror to Asia." Just think about the meaning of that statement for a minute.
Sure enough, as the credits rolled for The Uninivited, a superbly crafted horror flick from Lionsgate (who else) that came out this week, I saw that it was a remake of a highly successful Korean movie from 2003. I felt a little bit let down to find this out, because I had enjoyed the movie so much.
Actually I wasn't sure about liking it at first. It started with a dream sequence (a minus in my book), and it seemed to blend both reality (suspense) with fantasy hallucination (horror) in a rather confusing and clumsy fashion.
But I had jumped the gun. It turns out everything in the movie is done for purpose, and probably the less I reveal, the better. Even telling you that Angel Heart (1987) is one of my all-time favorite horror movies might be giving away too much.
One of the reasons I had anticipated this movie so much was Pittsfield native Elizabeth Banks, since I've become a huge fan of hers over the last year. Finally I got to see her as the villain, and I savored every creepy darkened appearance of her in this movie, as she becomes increasingly deranged with every scene. Or does she?
The movie features yet another appearance of the culturally taboo subject of intergenerational love. Here it is fittingly used as one of the sources of the horror.
The Koreans really know how to look inside the dark areas of the human soul. Someday we Americans might able to do that too.
(Seen in Leominster, in a heated auditorium, a couple hours before Super Bowl XLIII).
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