Review by Colleen Wanglund

In this ghost story directed by Lewis Allen and based on the novel 'Uneasy Freehold' by Dorothy Macardle, THE UNINVITED tells the story of Roderick “Rick” Fitzgerald (Ray Milland) and his sister Pamela (Ruth Hussey) who stumble upon a beautiful old abandoned house while on vacation. They go to see the owner Commander Beech (Donald Crisp) and discover it’s for sale at a very cheap price although his granddaughter Stella doesn’t want to see it sold. Rick and Pam buy the house and settle in only to find the house is haunted. Over the next few weeks Rick and Pam learn from neighbors, Stella and Dr. Scott (Alan Napier, who some may remember as Alfred the butler on the old Batman TV series) the history of their new home. It once belonged to Stella’s mother and father when Stella was very little. One tragic night when Stella was only three her mother fell to her death from a cliff on the property. Some believed it to be suicide as Mary’s husband was having an affair with one of his models (he was a painter). Now it seems as though Stella’s mother Mary is the ghost whose cries can be heard in the house just before dawn.

One night the Fitzgeralds, Dr. Scott and Stella hold a séance to contact the ghost and find out what it wants. After being told that the ghost is Stella’s mother and is there to protect her Stella goes into a trance and begins speaking in Spanish. Then the ghost of Mary appears to them but Commander Beech shows up and the spirit’s visit is over. Beech sends his granddaughter to stay at a healing center run by Mary’s oldest friend Miss Holloway. It is during Stella’s stay at the center that Rick, Pam and Dr. Scott find out the truth about who is haunting the house and what it is they really want. They also discover that Stella’s life is in danger and race to try and save her.

THE UNINVITED is a very good and complex bit of movie-making by Lewis Allen and it has a great twist ending (which always makes a movie for me). What I like about this movie is that it actually contains two ghosts, one good and one evil…and they are real ghosts. There are elements of comedy and romance in THE UNINVITED but it stands on its own as a straight-up, good-old-fashioned ghost story. With so many horror movies (both good and bad) coming out of the studios in the 1940s this is sort-of an anomaly. There are no monsters—supernatural or alien—but a couple of very creepy and very “real” ghosts trying to get what they want. The story is a believable and intelligent one and climaxing in something that was considered taboo for entertainment at the time. THE UNINVITED is definitely one to add to your Netflix queue or your DVD/Bluray collection.