Villainess Review: Anna Ivers & Mildred Kemp (The Uninvited)

I remember actually seeing The Uninvited at the big screen, doing so on the very weekend that it came out. The film was released on January 30, 2009; I saw it the day after (January 31), and I remember that date because a) it was three weeks after The Unborn (a horror film) was released, b) it was one week before The Pink Panther 2 (which featured a very amazing villainess) was released, and c) it was Super Bowl Weekend--I saw this film one day before watching the Pittsburgh Steelers win Super Bowl XLIII.

The film centered on Anna Ivers, a young woman who had been in an institution since the death of her mother 10 months prior. Though Anna stated that she had no memory of that day, she did reveal that bits and pieces were coming back to her, making her statement before she was discharged and picked up by her father, Steven. Before leaving, Anna was taunted by a female patient, who told Anna that she would be back, and afterwards, Anna reunited with her older sister, Alex.

The sisters vented over their father's new relationship with Rachel Summers, who served as a live-in nurse for their mother. Meanwhile, Anna also reunited with her boyfriend, Matt Hendricks, who informed Anna that he had seen what happened on the night of Anna's mother's death, after which Anna arranged a meeting with Matt. However, Matt was nowhere to be found, and even worse for Anna, she had a terrible vision of Matt appearing to her with a broken back. Sure enough, Matt was found later in the film...dead and with a badly broken back.

All the while, Rachel's chilly demeanor towards Anna leads her and Alex to suspect that something was off with their potential stepmother. Their online search for Rachel led them to a woman named Mildred Kemp, who was revealed as a nanny who murdered her charge's three children. The sisters concluded that Rachel is actually Mildred Kemp, though any attempts to warn Steven are ignored. As for Rachel, she attempted to sedate Anna, whose attempt to warn the police failed when she felt the effects of the drug. Anna later saw Alex wielding a knife, and after waking up, she saw her sister covered in blood, as Alex had killed Rachel.

Anna later informed Steven that Alex had killed Rachel, but it led to this shocking response from Steven: Alex was dead; having been killed in the same fire that killed their mother. Anna didn't believe it at first, but suddenly, Alex was gone and Anna was the one holding the knife and covered in blood. Afterwards, a series of flashbacks ended up revealing the entire truth: on the night in question, Anna was at a party with Matt, only to brush off Matt's advances and head back to the house. Once there, she spotted Steven having sex with Rachel, all while Steven's wife was ill and bedridden, and in a rage, Anna actually planned to kill the illicit couple. Her plan was to burn down the house with Steven and Rachel inside, and she was approached by Alex as she filled the watering can with gasoline.

However, after Anna slammed the door, a candle fell and ignited a trail of gas that ended at the boathouse, which was where her mother and sister were. As a result, the fire ignited and killed Alex and her mother, and afterwards, Anna was institutionalized; diagnosed with schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder, while having no memory of what happened. Anna saw a hallucination of Alex following her release, and regarding Matt, the villainess killed him by shoving him off a cliff, doing so due to his knowledge of that night 10 months prior. As that reveal scene unveiled, Anna stabbed Rachel to death due to her delusions, and as she returned to the same institution, she told her therapist that she "finished what she started," before being greeted by the same aforementioned female patient, who was revealed as the actual Mildred Kemp!

Anna Ivers: While watching this film, I remember being thoroughly shocked that Anna Ivers was a villainess, and such a deranged one as well. As shown in the climax, Anna's response to seeing her father's affair was to kill both him and his mistress by burning down the house with them in it, truly showing the depths of Anna's insanity. Her twisted attempt not only failed, but it ended up getting her mother and sister killed, and regarding her blocked memory of that night, it could have been attributed to guilt on her part. But there's one problem with that: Anna continued killing. Not wanting her evil secret exposed, Anna created a fantasy where Rachel was the true villainess, and later killed both Matt and Rachel to continue her delusions and misplaced blame.

Anna Ivers was played by Australian actress Emily Browning, and what we see is Browning portray Anna's innocence and vulnerability to perfection at the start. However, when the mask is removed and Anna is revealed as a murderous psychopath, we see Browning act out Anna's cold and twisted demeanor very brilliantly, especially in that part of the flashback where she kills Matt. Overall, Browning gave an amazing performance; this film is why I'm a big fan of hers. Emily Browning also played Babydoll in the action packed film, Sucker Punch, and she also appeared in the Showtime series, The Affair.

For Anna Ivers' profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki, click here.

Mildred Kemp: Based on the description alone, Mildred Kemp was immensely insane. Mildred worked as a nanny for Dr. Harrison Wright, but she became infatuated with her charge after he became widowed. As for her murderous actions, they were committed because her advances were rebuffed, and even though we only see Mildred in two brief scenes (with the latter revealing her true identity), those scenes are enough to viewers to know that she was truly a maniacal psychopath.

Canadian actress Heather Doerksen played Mildred Kemp, and though her scenes were brief, we see amazing acting from Doerksen in her brief interactions with Browning's Anna. Doerksen's done the villainess thing before; she played another maniacal murderess, Tracy Reed, in an episode of The CW's short-lived series, Reaper. Doerksen also appeared as Gryla in four episodes of Netflix's Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and most recently, she appeared in what would be the two-part series finale of the cancelled Disney Channel series, Gabby Duran and the Unsittables.

For Mildred Kemp's profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki, click here.

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