7.6 | / 10 |
Users | 4.7 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.8 |
Seeking respite from the bustle of London life, writer Roderick Fitzgerald and his sister Pamela move into a neglected clifftop mansion and set about making it their home. However, it isn't long before an unnerving presence makes itself felt: an eerie chill lingers in the rooms and distant wailing is heard at night. Despite Roderick's cynicism, it becomes increasingly clear that the house is haunted—but why in such a snug haven would the dead trouble the living?
Starring: Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey, Donald Crisp, Dorothy Stickney, Barbara EverestHorror | 100% |
Mystery | 28% |
Romance | 16% |
Supernatural | 10% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Lewis Allen's "The Uninvited" (1944) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; two radio adaptations, from 1944 and 1949, both starring Ray Milland; and new visual essay by filmmaker Michael Almereyda, featuring an interview with cultural anthropologist Erin Yerby. The release also arrives with a 26-page illustrated booklet featuring: Farran Smith Nehme's essay "Spirits by Starlight", and Tom Weaver's "An Interview with Lewis Allen". In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A"locked".
Are you here?
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Lewis Allen's The Uninvited arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray release:
"This new digital transfer created in 2K resolution on an ARRISCAN film scanner from a 35mm safety duplicate negative made from a nitrate composite fine-grain. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed using MTI's DRS and Pixel Farm's PFClean, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for small dirt, grain, noise management, jitter, and flicker.
Scanning supervisor: Russell Smith.
Colorist: Lee Kline/Criterion, New York.
Film scanning: Universal Studios, Universal City, CA."
Excluding a couple of extremely light vertical lines that appear on the right side of the image frame early into the film, the presentation is very pleasing. Where there is an abundance of natural light, detail and clarity are very good. The outdoor shots, in particular, look very good. The darker footage also boasts pleasing depth. Also, there are no big contrast fluctuations. The best news, however, is that there are no traces of problematic degraining and sharpening corrections. I should also mention that there are no traces of fading. Unsurprisingly, when projected from start to finish the film remains tight around the edges and the balance between the blacks, grays, and white is never compromised. Finally, there are no serious compression issues to report in this review. All in all, this is a very competent presentation of The Uninvited that should make its fans quite happy. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.
Unsurprisingly, dynamic intensity is quite limited. However, clarity is very good while depth is sufficient. The presence of the ghosts inside the house is also easily felt. The dialog is stable, free of problematic background hiss, and easy to follow. For the record, there are no pops, cracks, audio dropouts, or distortions to report in this review.
Based on Dorothy Macardle's novel Uneasy Freehold, Lewis Allen's The Uninvited works best if seen very late at night. It has its fair share of obvious flaws, but its atmosphere is indeed terrific. Criterion's technical presentation of The Uninvited is very good. Also included on this release is a very interesting visual essay by filmmaker Michael Almereyda. RECOMMENDED.
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