It’s not that there are more ghosts in this film than elsewhere, it's just that the people living nearby seem unusually aware of them. The Uninvited was directed by Lewis Allen and adapted for the screen by Frank Partos and Dodie Smith from Dorothy Macardle’s novel Uneasy Freehold. The cast includes Ray Milland, Gail Russell, Ruth Hussey, Donald Crisp, and Cornelia Otis Skinner. Victor Young composed the music, and Charles B. Lang served as cinematographer. "They refer to these areas of Devonshire, Cornwall, and Ireland—where the land rises against the western ocean—as the haunted shores. Mists collect here... sea fog appears... and unsettling tales circulate..." The Uninvited is a wonderful, traditional ghost story that successfully combines romance with a gentle comedic tone; it’s definitely a film of importance. It represents a moment in cinema when it was demonstrated that a ghost story could be genuinely unnerving. The genre has long been lacking in true classics—films that have staying power and can still elicit chills upon repeated viewings. With a new special edition DVD recently released, and figures like Martin Scorsese and Guillermo del Toro supporting its merits by including it on their lists of favorite scary movies, The Uninvited continues to prove its value as an enduring classic within the sub-genre. The storyline is fairly standard. Set in 1937, Milland and Hussey portray a brother and sister who discover a house situated on a cliff while taking a vacation along England’s southwest coast. They manage to acquire the property at an unbelievably low price, despite being warned about previous incidents there. This leads to a mysteriously locked room that is shockingly cold when opened, pets refusing to use the stairs, and then the hauntings begin... So far, it follows a familiar pattern, but as the story develops in the second half of the movie, the lightheartedness fades, revealing more background information and a few unexpected twists. The plotting isn’t careless; it's well-crafted, with a strong mystery element that complements the eerie happenings. "If you pay attention to it long enough, your senses become heightened. You develop unusual instincts. You learn to recognize a particular coldness—the first warning sign. A coldness that is more than just degrees Fahrenheit, but an absence of warmth from within the living." This film avoids visceral shocks and obvious scares, which was perhaps expected for its time. Instead, it relies on atmosphere (Lang’s work earned him an Oscar nomination for his noir-inspired photography) and a fear of the unknown—the sound of a woman sobbing in the dark is enough to send shivers down your spine. Surprisingly, we do see spectral figures, and they still have impact, creating the desired effect; who needs computer-generated imagery when you can have ethereal spookiness floating above the ground? Similarly, who needs a conventionally handsome actor fighting against evil when Ray Milland can handle it with an understated elegance? The cast is very effective, with Russell making a significant impression early in her career, and Young’s score is both sinister and tender—the song “Stella by Starlight” would become a well-known standard. A true ghost story for those who favor a subtle atmospheric approach over loud, chaotic scares. 8/10

Source on TMDB