The Messengers (2007)

The Messengers: Directed by Danny Pang, Oxide Chun Pang. With Kristen Stewart, Dylan McDermott, Penelope Ann Miller, John Corbett. An ominous darkness invades a seemingly serene sunflower farm in North Dakota, and the Solomon family is torn apart by suspicion, mayhem and murder.

“I donu0026#39;t think that I would completely write off the Pang brothers, Oxide and Danny, as they donu0026#39;t completely go into the self-indulgent post-modernism that has panged, no pun intended, the horror filmmakers of late. Only once or twice they jump into u0026#39;Sawu0026#39; territory. But even having not seen the majority of the Japanese horror movies that have give rise to the over-abundance of u0026#39;ghosts-in-my-houseu0026#39; wave (and, likewise, to their American counterparts), there isnu0026#39;t too much with surprise or shocks in The Messengers. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIu0026#39;m sure theyu0026#39;re self-conscious of the films theyu0026#39;re paying homage/ripping off (the one scene involving the crows and their rendezvous with John Corbettu0026#39;s character is like a chummier mash of The Birds and North by Northwest; Shining and Close Encounters references seem a little more than clear to me too), yet they also succumb to having their film be really affect-less. Itu0026#39;s never too stupid though; I didnu0026#39;t have a disliking toward any one character, with the exception being maybe towards the end with Corbett (I donu0026#39;t think Iu0026#39;m spoiling much there), and itu0026#39;s the sort of typical family-moves-into-a-creepy-house story that decides to hit the usual bases without going rapidly wrong on the marks.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut thereu0026#39;s also the muddle that comes in dealing with the supernatural side of things, amid the average scares of u0026#39;what did I hear in the other room, Iu0026#39;ll go checku0026#39;. For one thing, the variations on who the ghosts and demons in the house are- if theyu0026#39;re the family that used to live there, or if they might be the whatevers that killed off the family striking back at the new family in the house. Thereu0026#39;s fair acting from the family (Kristen Stewart of Panic Room fills in the teenage-girl niche, and thereu0026#39;s competent work from McDermott and Miller; Colbert is a little creepy, but I guess thatu0026#39;s the point; William B. Davisu0026#39;s bit part is the best real surprise of the movie), but itu0026#39;s all at the mercy of a standard script that mightu0026#39;ve been better, damn if I say it, as a half hour TV episode or something. Only sometimes, too, are there some potential unintentional laughs to be had, mostly towards the climax and with the very randomly placed crows that can only come in a pretty inexplicable flick such as this. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn the end, the Messengers is nothing new, and wonu0026#39;t contribute much at all to the horror genre at large, but I wouldnu0026#39;t throw it in my u0026#39;I hate this movie so muchu0026#39; bin either, as it only continues to that non-threatening realm of the kinda-creepy PG-13 haunted house picture.”