The Messengers (2007)

Directors:

Oxide Pang Chun
Danny Pang

Writers (WGA):

Mark Wheaton (screenplay)
Todd Farmer (story)

Release Date:

2 February 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

There is evidence to suggest that children are highly susceptible to paranormal phenomena. They see what adults cannot. They believe what adults deny. And they are trying to warn us.

Plot:

An ominous darkness invades a seemingly serene sunflower farm in North Dakota, and the Solomon family is torn apart by suspicion, mayhem and murder.

Plot Keywords:

Sunflower | Farm | North Dakota | Supernatural | Murder

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Kristen Stewart	...	Jess
Dylan McDermott	...	Roy
Penelope Ann Miller	...	Denise
John Corbett	...	Burwell
Evan Turner	...	Ben
Theodore Turner	...	Ben
William B. Davis	...	Colby Price
Brent Briscoe	...	Plume
Dustin Milligan	...	Bobby
Jodelle Ferland	...	Michael Rollins
Michael Daingerfield	...	Police Officer
Tatiana Maslany	...	Lindsay Rollins
Shirley McQueen	...	Mary Rollins
Anna Hagan	...	Doctor
Blaine Hart	...	Charlie

Also Known As:

Scarecrow (International: English title) (working title)
The Untitled Pang Brothers Horror Project (USA) (working title)
Totem (International: English title) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, disturbing violence and terror.

Runtime:

USA:90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color | Black and White (flashback scenes)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | UK:15 | Australia:M | USA:PG-13 (certificate #42010) | Hong Kong:IIB | Singapore:PG | Ireland:15A | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | France:-12 | Argentina:13 | Netherlands:16 | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-15 | Italy:VM14 | Portugal:M/16 | Germany:16 | Chile:14 | Brazil:12 | Malaysia:18PL | South Korea:12

Filming Locations:

Canada Saskatchewan Production Studios, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

Company:

Screen Gems

Trivia:

Scout Taylor-Compton auditioned for the role of Jess.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Ben is sitting at his table eating, the mom is washing dishes. In the first shot of her washing the plate the water is dark brown like coffee. Ben gets up and walks off and when it goes back to her washing dishes the water is clear.

Quotes:

Jess: Dad, I'm really scared. Can't we just go home?
Roy: Jessica, this is home. You need to get used to that.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "HypaSpace: (#6.25)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

All My Dreams Are Coming True

leaves me not really offended, though never impresses either, it's just a mediocre horror movie

I don't think that I would completely write off the Pang brothers, Oxide and Danny, as they don't completely go into the self-indulgent post-modernism that has panged, no pun intended, the horror filmmakers of late. Only once or twice did I see that they might jump into 'Saw' territory. But even having not seen the majority of the Japanese horror movies that have give rise to the over-abundance of 'ghosts-in-my-house' wave (and, likewise, to their American counterparts), there isn't too much with surprise or shocks in The Messengers. I'm sure they're self-conscious of the films they're paying homage/ripping off (the one scene involving the crows and their rendezvous with John Corbett'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. It's never too stupid though; I didn't have a disliking toward any one character, with the exception being maybe towards the end with Corbett (I don't think I'm spoiling much there), and it'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.

But there's also the muddle that comes in dealing with the supernatural side of things, amid the average scares of 'what did I hear in the other room, I'll go check'. For one thing, the variations on who the ghosts and demons in the house are- if they'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. There's fair acting from the family (Kristen Stewart of Panic Room fills in the teenage-girl niche, and there's competent work from McDermott and Miller; Colbert is a little creepy, but I guess that's the point; William B. Davis's bit part is the best real surprise of the movie), but it's all at the mercy of a standard script that might'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. In the end, the Messengers is nothing new, and won't contribute much at all to the horror genre at large, but I wouldn't throw it in my 'I hate this movie so much' bin either, as it only continues to that non-threatening realm of the kinda-creepy PG-13 haunted house picture.