Cinema review
Directed by Oxide Pang and Danny Pang
Starring Kristen Stewart, Dylan McDermott, Penelope Ann Miller, John Corbett
Release date 6 April 2007

The Solomon family attempt to put their troubles behind them when they move into an old farmhouse in North Dakota. But the house has a troubled past, and three-year-old Ben and sixteen-year-old Jess begin to see dead people…

A slow-burning ghost story in the mould of The Others or Stir of Echoes, what The Messengers lacks in originality it more than makes up for in stylistic flair.

The Pang Brothers’ previous efforts were slick and accessible, and their talents translate well for their American debut. Like their Hong Kong hit The Eye, most of the horror hinges on scenes of protracted silence punctured by loud shocks. Even though you know what’s coming, the scares are so well-executed that they still manage to catch you out almost every time.

The directing duo mostly steer clear of having characters stalked around in the dead of night, instead getting horror mileage out of shimmering sunflower fields and circling crows. But the film is most effective in its early, subtler moments like the flash of feet underneath a duvet cover or the re-appearing blood stain on a bedroom wall.

The Solomons themselves are a fine, if unremarkable, set of characters, whose troubled past and familial exchanges do at least feel natural and unforced. Panic Room’s Kristen Stewart does well as Jess, turning her into a believable teen trying to restore her parents’ faith in her, and she’s backed up by solid support from McDermott, Miller and Corbett.

It’s a film that can’t really sustain its thin plot for the entire running time, and it lacks the killer pay-off of The Sixth Sense. But with some decent special effects and expert pacing, The Messengers works as a reasonably effective mainstream chiller. Matt McAllister

VERDICT: 7/10
Slightly generic but exceptionally well-made ghost story.

For an interview with Kristen Stewart click here