Film: C-
The bar for horror has unfortunately risen so high that we are desensitized. Moderate successes are aped, often formulaic, and a stream of young faces that populate these films, phone in performances and desperately trying to manufacture frightened reactions to extreme gore, carefully timed audio cues and ogrish visuals. Is The Uninvited any different? It is actually, but it’s not any better.

A young girl named Anna (Emily Browning) is released from psychiatric care and reunited with her father (David Strathairn) and older sister Alex (Arielle Kebbel). The reason she was away from home was due to deep depression and mental anguish after her ailing mother died in a tragic accident. So it doesn’t help to see dad move on so quickly and carry on with his very young and fresh girlfriend, Rachel (Elizabeth Banks) who was, get this, her mother’s live-at-home nurse. Multiply suspicion and teen angst times two and you can guess where this plot is headed.

Alex begins to plant the seed in Anna’s head that Rachel is the cause of their mother’s death and Anna’s haunted visions allow this seed to grow like a Jack’s bean stock. Everything culminates to the ever-caring father leaving his children alone with Rachel for a weekend because, it’s just not enough that dead people within Anna’s circle and who is noticeably still haunted, he has a book tour to kick off. What does he care anyway, he’s got young hot tail waiting for him at home. Since he’s obviously not going to see the truth in Rachel, his daughters plot to reveal to him her true nature of being a first class bitch. They also live on an island with only one road in and out.

I’m being a little insensitive but it’s not far off. Truly the film isn’t as bad as I’m making it out to be. Acting is actually solid, the cinematography is nice, and the undercurrents of a real thriller are there thanks to the co-direction of brothers, Charles and Thomas Guard. Strathairn is fine as always, and Banks (who Hollywood is trying to sell as the girl who can play any part) turns in a nice performance as a girl-you-don’t-want-to-trust, but I was just disenchanted through most of the film. There’s just not enough here to make it memorable. Browning has that odd look for a child to make you feel suspicious and reserved, she’s great but that’s it. The night I watched it, I wanted to be scared shitless. I had hoped for some everlasting impressions that fester into deeper psychological digging, a post-film nightmare even, but his movie is so subdued it’s almost appropriate for daytime television.

Uninvited is a remake of the equally average but slightly edgier Korean flick, Tale of Two Sisters. It’s far less uncomfortable than the original with it’s handling of the father-daughter relationship that suggests a mild Oedipus complex. I’ve never been a big fan of Americanized remakes of Asian films, however, Uninvited does deviate enough to stand on its own and not be just another poor translation. It might have helped if the source material was bolder to begin with, though. Instead it takes the basic structure of Two Sisters and then knocks it all down in a clever and neat way, which, in case you haven’t watched many horror films in the last ten years is a wee bit trite these days.

Emily Browning and Arielle Kebbel in The Uninvited

Video: B+
The 1080p High Definition AVC-Encoded transfer is in 1.85:1 contrast ratio. Details like textures and scenery look fine. Contrast ratio was good, blacks were fairly deep and dark. Colors and skintones looked natural. This isn’t the sharpest picture quality with some noticeable grainy throughout the film but it’s overall acceptable.

Audio: B
Uninvited comes to your home theater through a 5.1 English Dolby TrueHD track. The HD audio is nice but it’s a little bit of overkill for what is otherwise a center channel heavy film. All of the scare effects burst nicely to help you jump out of your seat and some music / effects that travel to the rears. It’s nice, but nothing particularly special and a little underwhelming. There’s also a 5.1 French and a 5.1 Spanish Dolby Digital tracks available. Subtitles are available in English, English SDH, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Extras: D+
There’s just not much here but what is here is in high definition though and in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo.

Unlocking the Uninvited HD (19:00) – is a making-of special that goes down the list of usual things to discuss like the casting, the plot, but more importantly the comparison to the Korean original, Tale of Two Sisters and how they adapted this film in comparison to its predecessor.

Deleted Scenes HD (5:37) – 4 scenes cut that were unnecessary and actually humanizes Rachel’s character. The cuts were important because the point of view should remain on the protagonist.

Alternate Ending HD (0:50) – This ending doesn’t really change much of anything but it does take away some of the subtle ambiguity in the ending in case you can’t put two and two together.

Overall Shock Value: C-
Had you not known about Tale of Two Sisters, I’d recommend it as a weekday rental to replace your weekly crime investigation fix. In yet another Americanized horror remake, the filmmakers have a clear picture of what their story is. Still, The Uninvited lacks the fright factor that top-notch horror films have or the ambition of wanting to be better than something ordinary.

Ernie Estrella

Paul Rudd (Knocked Up) stars as Danny, an energy drink peddler who with his co-worker, Wheeler (Sean William-Scott) avoid jail time for having a meltdown on a high school campus. His girlfriend Beth (Elizabeth Banks) Instead they must complete 150 hours for Sturdy Wings, a mentorship program similar to Big Brothers and Big Sisters. Assigned to the two worst children, Danny must form a bond with socially inept Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) whose only interest is LARPing while Wheeler gets Ronnie (Bobbie J. Thompson), the most vulgar, gangsta-wannabe 10-year old you’ll ever come across.

The two pairs struggle to adjust to their forced arrangements but in time they build surface friendships with each other camping and other day long activities?anything to get through the ordeal as fast as possible. Wheeler finds that he and Ronnie have enough similarities to get by. They both act like kids and they love the ladies, well, parts of them. And Danny accompanies him to his LARP outings meeting other eccentrics like Kuzzik (Joe Lo Truglio) and perhaps the most creative casting of 2008 outside of Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder, Dr. Ken Jeong (Knocked Up) as the King. But like all good things, Danny and Wheeler mess up big again, and lose the trust of their “littles” facing the wrath of Galye Sweeney (Jane Lynch), creator of Sturdy Wings and violate their community service. Augie gets kicked out of his LARPing group, and Wheeler puts his little member before Ronnie. It all builds to a climax with Danny and Wheeler facing jail time again and risk it all to be good “bigs” by supporting Augie and forming their own LARP tribe, a tribute to the rock band KISS and head into Cos-play battle that looks like something out of a low-rent local renaissance festival.

Role Models is fast with the laughs and full of improvised lines that will have you rolling. Rudd has fast become this generation’s poster boy for young cynics, selfish and quick to douse any fun being had around them with dry wit venom. His performance is the anchor that holds the ship sturdy in seemingly unchartered waters. But the two young actors, Thompson and Mintz-Plasse (Superbad’s McLovin’) step up and will easily win you over. And as much as LARPing is poked at, I think even their biggest champions with a sense of humor would be proud at the loving care given to put a pretty positive spin on it. It might be the film most unlikely of films to win you over, but that’s what makes it so good.

Video: A-
Role Models hath a 1080 AVC-encoded MPEG-4 transfer and maintains the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio of the theatrical release. This isn’t the type of film where you’re looking for high definition to impress you, but it does. Colors are saturated at a comfortable level and skintones look pleasing and natural. There’s good contrast and shadows throughout the film whether it be day scenes in the sunlight or camping at night with campfires being the only source of light. Don’t bother looking to be distracted by any artificial enhancement or marring effects because there simply are none. Universal does a smash-up job here.

Audio: B+
On the technical side, Role Models does an admirable job at once again startling you in high definition with a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. By no means are we talking a sci-fi film here, but as a dialogue-driven film, most of the audio accurately placed in the center channel speaker and ramps up for big music moments and big scenes, but there some ambient background noise that gets pushed to the surround channels. Spanish and French 5.1 DTS tracks are also available.

Extras: B+

All of the featurettes are in high definition and in 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo.

Starting off, there’s anAudio Commentary with Director/Co-Writer David Wain and it’s worth a listen or two. He talks about the plot points, and where cuts were made and why, and working in the improvisation style. I think I would have liked one of the child actors on the bill just to have that second point of view who could ask questions and converse with Wain but this is not a bad place to visit fresh after watching the film.Rather than have several small featurettes, Universal gives you the option of U-Control Picture-in-Picture – which I’m beginning to really enjoy on the blu-ray format. It gives you a chance to go through the film again, and perhaps know a little more behind a scene and see final moment behind. Some of the many things to learn about are the truth behind the Minotaur, behind the camera stuff, interviews with cast and crew as they explore their own characters at different moments of the story. No doubt that much of this material will be split off into featurettes for the DVD, however the picture-in-picture experience is exclusive to blu-ray.

Deleted Scenes and Alternate Takes (49:49)- is a whopping mass of extra and extended takes which are showing up more on these outrageous comedy films. There’s lots of good stuff here to laugh at, and also some character developing of Ronnie’s mom who is revealed to be strongly attracted to Wheeler, but I think wisely the crew decided against that and all of the scenes relating to that. This is a blu-ray exclusive also.

Bloopers (3:55)- I’m not sure why they couldn’t fit these in either in the U-Control Picture-in-Picture or the Alternate Takes but these are your typical bloopers.

On the Set of Role Models ( 7:41)Co-writers Paul Rudd, David Wain and Ken Marino chat about the film and how it came together.

Game On: Creating a Role Playing World (9:43) is a good featurette about taking the bold turn in featuring LARPing and trying to be faithful to that world but having fun with it.

In-Character & Off-Script (8:07) – three little skit scenes with “Sturdy Wings Salutes: Martin Gary, Kuzzik: Proud Xanthian, Davith of Glencracken.

Ye Olde Crest Maker – a useless exercise in creating your own crest from 4 templates, not one of them is worth revisiting.

Overall Shock Value: B+

Comedy is such a subjective thing that I often caution recommending any comedic film to everyone. If you like vulgar comedies, and you’ve got a little geek in you, then Role Models gets my full endorsement. As for the unrated vs. rated, I could barely tell the three minute difference but there’s a little more nudity and a little more vulgarity. But remember that there’s enough “Aww shucks” sweetness at the end to balance all of that out. Role Models will come out of nowhere and please you. Any film that does that is a good one in my book and here it’s honored with bonus material that compliments the blu-ray format with multiple ways to view the film after the first run. So gather a bunch of your rowdiest drinking friends and watch Role Models. It”s so good you may even be inspired to make costumes and go LARPing afterwards. You never know.

Ernie Estrella