 October 1st. (2)
The Uninvited (1944)
Ray Milland and his sister, Ruth Hussey, purchase an old house on the Cornish coast and find it to be haunted.
Made as just a filler or B-production, The Uninvited quickly became much more than that with all it's elements coming together to produce a genre classic.
The cinematography is terrific utilising the windswept Cornish cliff tops brilliantly but it's the sound design that truly stands out. We see and practically feel every breeze, and every ghostly noise - especially the sobbing - seems to be in the room with us. The hauntings are brilliantly conceived throughout culminating in a hugely impressive final manifestation at the top of some stairs. There's also a bit of dark humour as Milland in attempting to justify what is happening to sis is really trying to hold back his own terror and convince himself nothing is to be feared at all.
A final mention to the score by Victor Young, whose main theme Stella By Starlight was covered by Miles Davis on his jazz masterpiece Kind of Blue and when Young wrote lyrics to it was recorded by Frank Sinatra among others.
Superb from beginning to end.
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