It’s been a long time since I saw a truly scary movie. It seems like the horror genre has become dominated by movies that call themselves scary but are really just gory (the Saw movies, the Hostel movies, etc.).  I love scary movies, jump outta your seat, hands over your eyes peeking through your fingers SCARY.  I can’t ride rollercoasters and I freak out if a fly gets trapped in the bathroom with me, so I get my adrenaline rush watching scary movies.

The Uninvited, which came out last week on DVD and Blu-Ray is a SCARY MOVIE. As in, prepare to keep your hands glued to your face (which might possibly be pressed into your husband’s shoulder as well).

The Uninvited is the story of Anna (Emily Browning, “A Series of Unfortunate Events”), a young girl who is just getting out of a 10-month stay in a mental institution after attempting suicide. Her bed-ridden mother had died in a fire, and when Anna is released by her psychiatrist with the suggestion that she “finish what she started” (he means working through her feelings about her mother’s death but boy do those words take on a different meaning), she learns that her father has become romantically involved with Rachel (Elizabeth Banks, “Scrubs”), the nurse who was caring for Anna’s mother.

Anna is also reunited with her sister Alex (Arielle Kebbel, “The Grudge II”) who is one year older and her best friend. At first Alex is upset about Anna going away and leaving her there to deal with the horrible Rachel, but they quickly resume their close friendship.  Rounding out the cast is the always terrific David Strathairn (“The Spiderwick Chronicles”) as their father Steven, who is just trying to resume his life and find some happiness after his wife’s tragic death.

So the question presented to viewers is this- is Rachel really a dangerous person trying to sabotage the family? Was Anna’s mother’s death really an accident?  Don’t watch the behind-the-scenes bonus feature before you’ve seen the movie, it’s got major spoilers. This bonus video clip courtesy of Paramount Home Entertainment won’t give anything away, I promise:

I liked this movie, the DVD itself was sorely lacking in extras, though. Besides the “making of” feature (which is interesting), there are just four deleted scenes and a short alternate ending. I would watch this DVD again if there was a commentary track to listen to.  It would have been nice to get a look at the original Korean film and see how the two movies compare and contrast.  Nevertheless, I recommend The Uninvited on DVD or Blu-Ray for lovers of scary movies.