Why So Long?

Probably because Universal, which owns almost all the pre-1949 Paramount sound films, is very stingy about releasing its film library, or (as in this case) allowing Criterion, with which it has a release arrangement, to do so. This is particularly true of its Paramount films.

The studio repeatedly re-releases various versions of big sellers such as Hitchcock films, its classic monster films, and other popular or proven films, but when it comes to issuing different titles they take their time, to put it mildly. Even their Universal Vault MOD series comes out with just a handful of new titles only once or twice a year, a huge contrast with similar series like Warner Archives and Fox Cinema Classics, which come out with new releases every week or month, respectively. Universal is notorious for its reluctance to issue different titles even as it persists in reissuing the same limited groups of films over and over and over.

Anyway, the important thing is that The Uninvited is finally available, and from Criterion, the best of all possible worlds...though I'd like to know how long Criterion planned to release or worked on this film. It always seemed like an obvious Criterion title.