**Various mild spoilers, but then again, you’ve seen A TALE OF TWO SISTERS, right?**

This will probably come as a surprise to no-one, but yea, the Tale of Two Sisters remake is pretty inferior to the sublime Korean original.  Don’t get me wrong, for the most part The Uninvited is a handsomely mounted classic horror film - sweeping overhead opening, creepy-ugly ghost girls, large empty mansion - so the Guard Brothers were more interested in remaking The Shining?  Maybe.  But really where things are hamfisted in this reproduction (taking not only the story, but also, taking the title from a different Korean flick)  is that it goes for ‘more explanation’ and far, far lest primordial texture.  The ‘creepy ghost’ moments are probably the most unsatisfactory element of an otherwise restrained production.  They change the signature ‘kitchen’ haunting to be on the girl (which admittedly makes more sense, but vastly wrecks the tone of that scene).  Where this ‘better understandable plot’ fix helped (for the most part) Gore Verbinski’s The Ring remake, remember that that film added perhaps the 2nd creepiest moment in all of the various Ring films - the crazy horse on the ferry.  The Uninvited adds a boat accident and a sheriff, but both are simply filler and clunky filler at that.  Maybe because I knew the basic story (which I’d argue for the most part is not the drawing point of A Tale of Two Sisters), but a certain huge ‘Whoa’ element in the film seemed clumsy and contrived (and I have to imagine that observant first-time views who hadn’t seen Tale would notice this, the film ain’t subtle about it).  And of course there had to be some explosions in the film, a ‘virginity moment, and plenty of bikinis.  This is probably a culture thing, but the girls are a fair bit older in the Uninivted than in A Tale of Two sisters, and it takes some of the power away.  Most offensive however, simply embarrassing, really, is the ‘wah wah wah’ name-drop ending. 

Some positives include the three leads: Emily Browning, David Strathairn (who admittedly can sleep walk through this and still keep it classy) and most importantly Elizabeth Banks.  She has come along way from masturbating with a shower-head in the 40-Year Old Virgin, and relishes her chance to play the passive-aggressive bitch-queen (think Marla from Fight Club, but in a triple strand of pearls), but simply lacks the quiet menace of the superb Jung-ah Yum (See below); And hen is also the big change of the way the kitchen sink is handled.

So, nobody completely embarrasses themselves here (and actually, the more I think about it, the script has a few witty ‘middle fingers’ to the tropes of the now thoroughly faded J-horror explosion while also getting a dig or two against old fashioned ‘psycho in the house’ American horror.  Or maybe it is just my imagination.

vs

i actually didn’t think much of the Korean original. you probably won’t believe this, but i guessed the twist in the story within two minutes. the rest of the 88++ minutes became a bore for me. they made it way too obvious, almost to the point of being coy.

and also ...

WARNING MAJOR SPOILER
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how could she have hanged herself in the closet? it doesn’t even look high enough. actually no closet is high enough.

Still looking forward to this one. The original used to be one of the few Korean new wave flicks I actually liked. Never gave much about the plot and even less about the explanation at the end, but the atmosphere was spot on.

Still have to wait a month or 3 before I can catch this in cinemas here.

Bingo.  It was the atmosphere and formal style that made the original zing!

The Visitor - February 2, 2009, 3:43am

i actually didn’t think much of the Korean original. you probably won’t believe this, but i guessed the twist in the story within two minutes. the rest of the 88++ minutes became a bore for me. they made it way too obvious, almost to the point of being coy.

I absolutely agree. I just didn’t get what people loved about A TALE OF TWO SISTERS so much. Atmosphere was not enough in this case.

Came off better than I expected there. Tale I love to bits, first time through I didn’t care to let my brain wander off and guess at any eventual outcomes and I think that made me a little more appreciative of the overall swing. I might well see this - tomorrow I’m daring to see the Sassy Girl re-do so I might as well double up.

Well I liked the theme of ‘A tale of two sisters’. Its an awesome exploration of the relationship between two sisters.

I found a poster for reference.

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2009 movie trailers

David Cronenberg’s THE FLY.  One of the best remakes ever made.

Kurt Halfyard - June 2, 2009, 12:13pm

David Cronenberg’s THE FLY.  One of the best remakes ever made.

 
Hahaha why am I not surprised?
 
 
Oh and Visitor? Hanging yourself in a closet is one of the most painful ways to commit suicide, they often found people having scratched the complete inside of the closet to bits in their agony. Height doesn’t come into account: some people even hang themselves lying down in their beds! The only thing you need is a noose and a heavy weight, and make sure you can’t reach the weight anymore with your fingers once you drop it.
 
Even a half-tight noose that exerts little pressure on your throat can strangle you if you’re in an uncomfortable enough position, yet fall asleep (after a few days or so…).
 
Like I said, not exactly painless but it does do the trick eventually.

Ard, you seem to know waaaaaaay too much about this.

Kurt, you can’t just shoot people and claim it’s a suicide. Better make it convoluted and horrible. That baffles the police until they rule the victim did it himself.
 
And if the deaths are more horrible, so be it: that’s a bonus because I only kill people I hate.

 
 
Which is all nonsense, of course. The reason I know about this is because one of my favorite Dutch writers committed suicide that way, and I’ve been having nightmares ever since I read about it. He was depressed (duh!) but if you’re going to off yourself, I’d use a pleasant way, not such a torterous one. Brrrrrr….

My neighbor is a pathologist (and often does forensic pathology), and she has tonnes of useful recommendations.  The cliche about wacky senses of humour in that profession is absolutely true.

That’s funny, my neighbor is the local, the local… what do you call the guy who collects the bodies when people die? He also digs graves and helps with the funeral service.
 
And he too can throw remarks that derail ANY conversation, easy as pie!

The Visitor - February 2, 2009, 3:43am

actually no closet is high enough.

 
Well, guess what:

Local media report that veteran actor David Carradine has been found dead in a Bangkok hotel room - apparently having hung himself in a closet using a curtain cord.

Dammit, I’m content with being right, I don’t need celebrities to prove my point! 

Ard Vijn - June 4, 2009, 12:36pm

The Visitor - February 2, 2009, 3:43am

actually no closet is high enough.

 
Well, guess what:

Local media report that veteran actor David Carradine has been found dead in a Bangkok hotel room - apparently having hung himself in a closet using a curtain cord.

Dammit, I’m content with being right, I don’t need celebrities to prove my point! 

ah, but you see, David didn’t just hang himself. he also hanged his little friend. maybe the pain was too much of a shock and he passed out. hmm.

haven’t checked this thread in a long while, and was surprised and amused to see discussions about the how’s and why’s of suicide! disturbing.