MovieChat Forums > The Uninvited (2009) Discussion > Did you like the uninvited or a tale of ...

Did you like the uninvited or a tale of two sisters better?


I just saw A Tale of Two Sisters for the first time and I actually liked the uninvited a little better. I thought it moved a little faster and the ending was much more dramatic. I know a lot of people will probably disagree with me but what do you think?

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I respect "A Tale of Two Sisters" because the idea had alot of potential, but I just didn't fell that the story was executed well enough to warrant it, and it's because of this that I didn't find myself particularly caring for any of the characters at any given stage. It really wasn't that scary either, and that's saying something considering I like to see myself as a giant fan of Japanese horrors and video games. "A Tale of Two Sisters" however just didn't give me that same unsettled feeling that I know other Japanese content can "The Uninvited" while by no means perfect, was considerately stronger in all areas; which leads to an extremely rare case when the remake ultimately out does the original.

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Neither of you know what you're talking about. For starters, A Tale of Two Sisters is a Korean film, nto a Japanese one. The ignorance!

Secondly, A Tale of Two Sisters is an actual piece of quality cinema. The Uninvited is a hack-job made for teenagers, no better than the Shutter remake, which was also terrible.

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Thanks for saying that! A Tale Of Two Sisters is a masterpiece.

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Hi

A Tale Of Two Sisters is a masterpiece.
Indeed it is.

Janghwa, Hongryeon is better cast, better written, better directed, well.. just better.

The remake was so badly acted it looked like a school play, the dialogue was terrible, and was dumbed down beyond belief.

I think all the people saying this film was better are doing so because they watched the remake first and it ruined the real version. This is EXACTLY why remakes piss me off, people say 'if you don't like remakes just don't watch them' but they DO harm the original because they always blow the story and usually in a very sloppy way.

~Mex

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Did you ever notice that people who believe in creationism look really un-evolved?

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This is EXACTLY why remakes piss me off,
Tale of Two Sisters ripped off Lucy Comes to Stay so...

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I don't know what movie are you referring to, but ATOTS is a modernized adaptation of a very old Korean folktale.

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Right!

I wouldn't even call The Univited a "remake." It's more of an American ripoff.

A Tale of Two Sisters is an excellent film, and The Univited lacks the ambience and emotion of A Tale of Two Sisters. I felt crushed for Soo-mi at the end of A Tale of Two Sisters, but I was pretty much emotionally uninvolved at the end of The Uninvited.

Ji-Woon Kim knows how to make a great film.

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Wholeheartedly agree.

I get it up, I get it up in the dark, I make her feel I'm not a holy man

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I agree with GoodRed...A TALE OF TWO SISTERS is far superior filmmaking and i honestly thought THE UNINVITED was ultimately average...the acting was average...the direction was average and the atmosphere that A TALE OF TWO SISTERS had was gone...there was no suspense or even a slight feeling of discomfort throughout the course of THE UNINVITED...

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yeah i agree with you.
the atmosphere in A TALE OF TWO SISTERS is just too heart touching and too original. acting wise, i found the Korean version a lot better. in every department korean version is better than the Hollywood one. THE UNINVITED is also not that bad.
6.5 for THE UNINVITED
9.5 for A TALE OF TWO SISTERS

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I was able to catch The Uninvited yesterday on AMC. Ok- to tell the truth, I didn't know it was a remake of ATOTS. I never rented it because I thought it was a teenage-y bad horror. movie. Not having any expectations - and not comparing it to ATOTS- I really liked it!! It way exceeded my expectations.

I think the movie stands up very well on it's own. I think I may have had too many prejudices toward it if I knew it was a remake of ATOTS. Having said that- it is a good movie/ good times by itself.

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I am completely with GoodRed on this. "Tale of Two Sisters" may actually be a masterpiece. The performances are extraordinary but only so-so in "Uninvited". And again, correct, the target for "Uninvited" was the US teen scene. Korea is making some of the finest cinema in the world today, and "Tale of Two Sisters", is no exception.

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Korea is making some of the finest cinema in the world today


I agree! I love Korean films. I got into watching them a few years ago and am glad that I did.

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Why are people not entitled to their opinions without it making others so angry?


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A Tale of Two Sisters is a Korean film, into a Japanese one. The ignorance!


You do realize that S. Korea is merely a hundred miles across a channel from Japan and less than 50 if you count Tsushima Island, right?

Yes, they're different countries, but it's like the difference between the USA and Canada or Norway and Sweden or Britain and Ireland -- not much.

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[deleted]

I thought the Uninvited was was pretty good!

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I'm huge K-Horror fan, I think South Korea knows how to do horror movies the best. So naturally I prefer A Tale Of Two Sisters over the remake. Generally I try to stay away from remakes because more time then not they well just suck in comparison to the original works. However my Brother rented The Uninvited and I was actually pleasantly surprised, it turned out to be good. I would have to say that this is one of better Hollywood remakes I've seen.

Now I can only hope that my favorite movie Oldboy can see a decent remake since Hollywood were trying to get the rights to it. I'm still a bit worried about that one though.

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I enjoyed the Uninvited better as well, I thought the Korean version wasn't as "tight" as the American version. I was pretty disappointed actually, after hearing all the raving fans made of A Tale of Two Sisters. I thought the American version was more thought provoking while the Korean version was a bit of a mess. That being said, the Korean version was more artfully done in terms of cinematics and mood. Reminded me a bit of the Helter-Skelterness and mood of The Shining, the "Haunted House" and all.

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There's no comparison. The original is better. Most remakes of any kind suck. They can never capture the magic of the original. There's no subtlety at all in the remake. It's also ridiculous, with the younger sister a head taller than the older sister, strutting around wearing a bikini, and having a foul mouth.

It doesn't compare one iota to this masterpiece:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-0gQROb8mc

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I have a younger brother who is 6'4, has a foul mouth and struts around in a bikini all the time. That punches holes in your arguments.

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I see. Oddballs run in your family. My condolences.

There are always exceptions but if you utilize them in a film then don't come cryin' to me, Hollywood nutjobs, when your audience starts laughing and hissing at your absurdity.

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I am sure you will be the first one they call when things don't go their way. What's the number? 1-800-JACKASS?

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Hongryeon Janghwa.Tale of two sisters is in my opinion a much better movie.I agree that though infinitely more convoluted,it actually presented some intellectual fodder.I guess Uninvited was much more cliched,Arielle Kebbel(Alex) can't really act(no offense but she's more of a teen actress like in American Pie,Band Camp where she fit in well).The result was the degradation of a flawed masterpiece to commercial crass.I don't know what's with PG-13 movies being labelled horror(cases in point being Messengers and One Missed Call).Put in Psycho 3(with all the trashbags),Beautiful Mind,and Secret Garden and you get Uninvited.

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I personally liked this version better. Nothing pisses me off more than everyone always saying that Japanese cinema is superior to American cinema. Anytime any Japanese movie is remade into an American movie everyone always says. Oh, the original is better. Isn't that almost always the case regardless of the origin (Japanese/American). Remakes rarely are better than the original. And there's a reason they're remade in America,...they sell better.

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"A Tale of Two Sisters" is a South Korean film, NOT Japanese. Get your facts straight!

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Who cares, it's Asian. Okay that was mean.

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Hi

Nothing pisses me off more than everyone always saying that Japanese cinema is superior to American cinema.
Janghwa, Hongryeon is Korean NOT Japanese, it's idiots like you that are too lazy/stupid to think that are responsible for these bad dumbed down remakes being churned out by hacks.

~Mex

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Did you ever notice that people who believe in creationism look really un-evolved?

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No, the reason they are remade in America is because you yanks are too stupid and lazy to read subtitles

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I'm a huge Asian horror fan and saw AToTS first years ago.
I honestly didn't know Uninvited was an American adaptation until a ways into the film...

Honestly, The Uninvited was better imo. I'm surprised to say it because usually American adaptation of Asian horror films fall flat...but the story was better executed in the American version.

I credit AToTS for the story but I thank The Uninvited for pulling it together more cohesively.

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A Tale of Two Sisters is better by a long-shot for me. The acting, the complexity, the cinematography, the set, the drama of the twists make the movie for me, and the remake was weaker in every regard. Even watching the "Making Of" on the ATOTS DVD makes you appreciate it, because so much d*mn work went into making it. I mean sure the film hard to understand at first, but when the end happens all the "lolwut"'s you were thinking throughout are all cleared up. (at least for me)

I think whichever you see first is the one you like more, because they both rely largely on the twist to surprise you (although the original has two twists), and once you know the twist of whichever you saw first the drama of whichever you see second is totally dumbed down.

That being said I loved how the stepmom in ATOTS was also made up by the "crazy" sister (seeming how its the older in the original, and the younger in the remake) up until the very end. It just added to the film's subtle demeanor.

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You make a good point when you say the first one you see will be your favorite because afterwards you know what the twist is. I happened to see The Uninvited first and then got interested in seeing the original. Knowing the twist going into it, I probably didn't have the same kind of appreciation for A Tale of Two Sisters that I would have had if I had seen it first.

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I understand where you're coming from, but I saw Vanilla Sky before Abre Los Ojos (Open Your Eyes) and STILL liked the original way better. Though I knew the twist, it was still more interesing executed.

I loved A Tale Of Two Sisters. and I'm not gonna watch The Uninvited, ever.

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Knowing the twist going into it, I probably didn't have the same kind of appreciation for A Tale of Two Sisters that I would have had if I had seen it first.


Eh. Like I said earlier in the thread, I don't think Su-Yeon being dead was meant to be the twist. It was jsut a plot point used to get to the next part of the story - The split-personality of Su-Mi and what it represents.

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I like both movies, because they picked the same main story and run with it in different ways. Unlike the remakes of Ju-on , Shutter and Rec that just replaced the main ,or all cast with americans, without really adapting the story to their target audience.

In the original Korean movie the plot twists are way better disguised, and there's a lot more tension between the daughters and the stepmother, also the sisters' relationship is closer.

Meanwhile in the remake the stepmother is better explored as a real and normal person because she's not a projection made by the protaganist, like in the original , and the father also interacts more with the characters.

Another thing that's interesting between both movies is how in the original the protagonist was the strongest and more independent sister and in the remake she's the fragile one. The endings are also very different the original it's more disturbing and sentimental, in the remake it goes High Tesion for PG13, although I felt sorry for the stepmother.

In the end the original is better as a whole, but the remake entretaning too, and unlike pulse that tried the same approach and failed miserably.

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I like "the uninvited" better. okay, I know the korean version is much better in many ways: nice filming, nice music, etc. but the question is which one we like better, not which one is better. I like how entertaining "the uninvited" is. Its fast and kinda straightforward. To me, it makes more sense than the original.

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[deleted]

Exactly the point I was trying to make.
Perhaps it's the language barrier (I only watch subbed...I hate dubs) which can make Asian horror a bit more difficult to follow at times... But it also has a lot to do with the fact the Asian films tend to focus a lot on atmosphere and setting the tone...couple that with their meticulous attention to detail and things can get lost in translation (no pun intended...or yes...intended).

Uninvited, as I mentioned was a bit more "cohesive"... We can call it "dumbing down", "rushed" and/or "contrived" (my words)... but sometimes that's all you need. Uninvited cut out all the atmosphere, back story and detail and just told the story flat out... which I can appreciate.


still love A-horror...it's my jumpoff.

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