Review of The Messengers (2007) by Erica S — 22 May 2015

A weak script thwarted the American directorial debut of wildly talented Asian horror directors The Pang Brothers. Within the context of a pretty standard and also derivative story, the Pang Brothers manage to craft some truly scary and chill inducing scenes that rival their best films, such as "The Eye.

" A family moves into a North Dakota farmhouse that's haunted and the family inexplicably stays put (having never watched a haunted house movie before). Dylan McDermott is Pa, the underused Penelope Ann Miller is Ma, and a before she was famous Kristen Stewart is the real lead of the film as the teen daughter who first suspects something is awry.

There's also a younger brother who sees the ghosts early on, ALA "Poltergeist." The story cribs from pretty much every ghost story and had nothing original to offer story-wise, but The Pang Brothers infuse terrific style to one off scenes like when Penelope Ann Miller sees a scary stain on the wall or when Kristen Stewart is holding her younger brother in the hallway when she suspects there's something behind her but is too scared to turn around.

The cast, particularly Stewart, also get a lot of credit for elevating the weak material. Overall, it's worth watching for horror fans, but is disappointing that the Pang's were given such weak material for the American debut and have consequentially returned to the Asian market.