The Messengers

Rating:	★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Horror

When the Pang Brothers released “The Eye” in 2002, they were hailed as visionaries, heroes of Asian horror cinema. Together with “The Ring” and “The Grudge”, we all marveled at how fellow Asians could send chills down our collective spines. Now, Danny and Oxide Pang have directed their first American movie, “The Messengers”. I’ll admit that I was curious about this film due to what I had heard about the Pang Brothers’ reputation. Having never really sat down to watch “The Eye”, I felt that I could give a pretty unbiased opinion of “The Messengers” while also hoping for a scary movie that would at least creep me out in the dark. Sad to say, I left the cinema disappointed.

The film begins with a flashback as members of the Rawlins family are cowering in fear in the face of unseen attacker(s). Each family member is pulled violently from one another and we’re left wondering what creepy crawlies have attacked them. Fast forward to the present as Roy (Dylan McDermott) and Denise (Penelope Ann Miller) move from the Chicago to rural Wisconsin. They’re bringing along Jess (Kristen Stewart), their daughter who had a recent run-in with the law and son Ben (twins Evan and Theodore Turner), a child who has been rendered mute. Roy has been unemployed for years and is moving the family to try out farming. Unfortunately for them, they’ve moved into the Rawlins’ old home.

Of course you already know what happens from there. Family moves in. Oldest daughter starts noticing creepy things happening in house. Deaf-mute kid starts seeing all the creepy stuff nobody else can. Parents don’t believe daughter. Parents hire mysterious stranger to help in the harvest. Oldest daughter starts to think she’s losing her mind. Blah-blah-blah. See, that’s what’s wrong with “The Messengers”, we’ve seen it all before. Sure, the effects have improved and the sound effects are nastier, but it’s the same old horror flick!

I watched this with my pal Oliver and I’ll admit it, we were creeped out early in the movie. We were twitching in our seats and getting jumpy in the parts where you’re supposed to react accordingly. Unfortunately, around 75% into the movie, there’s one big reveal that completely took the fear out of the film. And for that one thing to do that, it just completely deflated “The Messengers” for us. That’s not just disappointing, for a horror movie, that’s downright criminal. A good horror movie should have you scared for at least 90% of the film, not just 75%.

And they didn’t even explain who it was the title was referring to! Who are “the messengers”? Was it the crazy crows? The dead Rawlins family? Ben the kid who sees ghosts? There was never even an implied explanation for it!

The Pang Brothers are obviously good in their craft of making horror movies. They have a good feel for manipulating what the audience can’t see and use sound effects to heighten tensions. Too bad that their script had such a glaring loophole that I felt just left a giant donut in the middle of the movie. With that in mind, here’s hoping the brothers learn from this experience and that their next foray into horror leaves no looming plotholes.