THE MESSENGERS

"Why won't you believe me?"

Moving away from Chicago and leaving all her friends behind, Jess (Stewart) was finding it difficult adjusting to life on a farm in North Dakota. Her father sees it as a new start for his family, grow sunflowers but the farm they have invested in has a dark history. As crows circle overhead, Jess notices that her baby brother Ben is always looking and pointing at things in the shadows of the house but when she starts to see them as well, Jess realises that they might not be safe.

Hollywood's fascination with horror movies continues but this time they have employed two of Asian's shining lights in the genre to bring their vision to a Western audience, with frightening results.

Asian filmmakers Oxide Pang Chun and Danny Pang burst onto the scene in 1999 with action hit 'Bangkok Dangerous' but it was 'The Eye' in 2002 that brought them to the attention of Hollywood and Sam Raimi and Ron Tapert's new horror production company, 'Ghost House Pictures'. For their first foray into Western pictures the brothers have brought their own unique style and ability to create a really terrifying scare.

Ghost stories have always being a way for a filmmaker to play with an audience and create an air of tension that will have you cowering in fear. The Pang brothers are masters at this and 'The Messengers' has these moments in abundance. There are moments in the movie that are genuinely creepy but they are made all the more frightening by the presence of Ben, the baby who points at the deathly spirits that inhabit the house. Every time you see his figure rise, a cold shiver will run down your spine as you know something is coming.

The story might not break any new ground in the genre but the performances and the creative inventiveness of the Pang brothers make the film a lot scarier than it should have been. Kristen Stewart is quickly becoming a young actress to take notice of. After making a real splash with 'Panic Room', she has continued to make an impression on Hollywood and this lead role will give her even more attention. John Corbett makes a welcome return to the silver screen in a very different role for him. There is also good support from Dylan McDermott and Penelope Ann Miller as her unbelieving parents.

'The Messengers' keeps up the Pang brother's reputation of being able to supply a good quality scare. This movie is genuinely creepy and one that will have you cowering in your seat, covering your eyes as the ghosts invade the farm. Fear is their ally and they use it extremely well.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Widescreen 1.85:1 Anamorphic with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the transfer is good.

BONUS FEATURES

Trailer (2.26 mins)
Watch the cinematic and Internet preview for the film.

Webisodes (26.07 mins)
Directors Oxide Pang and Danny Pang, producers J.R. Young, Jason Shuman and Rob Tapert, line producer Rhonda Baker, director of photography David Gedder, production designer Alicia Keyman, screenwriter Mark Wheaton, visual effects supervisor Bruce Jones, visual effects makeup artists Louise Mackintosh and Russell Cate, special effects animatronics artist David Scott and stars Kristen Stewart, Dylan McDermott and Penelope Ann Miller contribute to Webisodes entitled 'Pang Vision', 'On Set with Kristen Steward', 'Set Breakdown', 'Mark Wheaton: Screenwriter', 'Evolution of a location', 'Crow Attack Part 1/2', 'Script to screen' and 'Sound of horror', these mini featurettes appeared on the website for the movie.

Exhuming the Messengers (37.49 mins)
Directors Oxide Pang and Danny Pang, producers J.R. Young, Jason Shuman and Rob Tapert, line producer Rhonda Baker, director of photography David Gedder, production designer Alicia Keyman, screenwriter Mark Wheaton and visual effects supervisor Bruce Jones, and stars Kristen Stewart, Dylan McDermott, John Corbet, William B. Davis and Penelope Ann Miller, this longer featurette covers most aspects of the film's production. Looking at the Pang brother's style, the evolution of the script, the construction of the house, the crows, the visual effects and it takes a look at rising star Kristen Stewart.

Feature Commentary
Screenwriter Mark Wheaton, visual effects supervisor Bruce Jones and stars Kristen Stewart and Dustin Mulligan bring a chatty and fun commentary for 'The Messengers'. The four talk about how they became involved in the project, what it was like working with the Pang brothers, the evolution of the story and the script and tales from the filming of the movie.

Trailers
Previews of 'Dead Mary' and 'The Last Sect'

OVERALL

The DVD treatment for 'The Messengers' is very good. With an excellent commentary and two making of featurettes, which cover all aspects of the film, fans of the movie will be very pleased with this DVD.

DVD

The Eye

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2007