Daily Skiff

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"The Uninvited" is the latest in a long line of Asian horror remakes, which has become a genre all its own. The cinemas have been flooded with Korean remakes (K-horror) and Japanese remakes (J-horror), and I'm starting to wonder if viewers have exhausted these remakes at the expense of original horror films like "The Strangers" and "Teeth."

The story revolves around Anna (played by Emily Browning) who has returned home from a psychiatric facility to find her widower father has been engaged to her mother's former nurse (Elizabeth Banks), who may have had a role in the wife's death. Along with her older sister Alex (Arielle Kebbel), Anna investigates her future stepmother's past all while having visions of her vengeful mother.

Knowing the shaky track record of these remakes, the film could be a success like "The Grudge" and "The Ring" or it could be a flop like "Pulse" or "One Missed Call." One plus is that it's based on a horror film well-received by both critics and audiences in South Korea called "A Tale of Two Sisters." On the other hand, the film has not been screened for critics, which is usually a bad omen for a film's success in the states.

Maybe "The Uninvited" can buck the trend of recent remakes like "The Eye" and "Quarantine" and offer some style and substance without getting lost in translation.

This marks feature film debut for brother directors Charles and Thomas Guard, who have previously directed several short films.

Lead actress Emily Browning rose to fame after starring in "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" alongside funnyman Jim Carrey, and Elizabeth Banks has
been a reliable star with recent comedy hits like "Role Models" and "Zack and Miri Make a Porno." Let's see how they try their hand at horror and suspense.

"The Uninvited" is rated PG-13 and opens in theaters today.

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