The Messengers (2007)
Director: Danny Pang, Oxide Pang
Movie review
From Time Out London
Although Danny and Oxide Pang’s first English-language movie is a cut above most Hollywood supernatural thrillers, it inhabits an awkward aesthetic limbo. A gothic ghost story, it harks back to the stylish creepiness of their breakthrough Hong Kong movie, ‘The Eye’, but is constrained by an over-worked generic plot.Seeking a fresh start, Roy Solomon (Dylan McDermott ) moves with his wife and three kids to a remote North Dakota farm. Drifter John Burwell (John Corbett) helps plant sunflowers and becomes a trusted employee. Then, as harbinger crows swirl about, two of the children see pale-skinned spectres scuttling across the ceiling and floating down hallways. But one stays mute and the other’s visions are dismissed as attention-seeking.Mark Wheaton’s genre-savvy script and the Pang brothers’ fluid visual style generate some powerful scares and involving emotional undercurrents. Yet many of the images feel over-familiar, and the shocks a mite too forced.Author: Nigel Floyd
Time Out London Issue 1911: April 4-10 2007
User reviews of this film
-
- Craig said...
- Posted on Mar 27 2008 17:33 My God I fell to sleep. I gave it one star because the ending--despite the bad film made sense!
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Elena said...
- Posted on Mar 27 2008 17:31 You will rarely see me say this but this movie was complete and utter smelly s**t. It was so bad it was just awful. How can the actors and actresses feel proud when they say they were in it. Im not saying scary movies need gore because they dont-but there wasnt anything about it at all! Who is scared of a psycho farmer with a rake and a couple of crows that attack when you're getting the weekly shop out of the car boot! the kid was gormless and the girl was gormless and even the gollum creature was gormless. I went to sleep and kept skipping ahead scenes in this. If you are an insomniac craving sleep then by all means buy it-it will do you good! No rating!
- Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Danny Pang, Oxide Pang
Producer: Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert, William Sherak, Jason Shuman
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Dylan McDermott, Penelope Ann Miller, John Corbett full cast
Genre(s): Horror, Thrillers, Drama
Rated: 15
Duration: 90 mins
UK Release: Apr 6 2007
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Hippies who work for The Man
To celebrate George Clooney comedy 'The Men who Stare at Goats', we look back at six memorable onscreen hippies who fought the system from within
Roland Emmerich's guide to disaster movies
Ahead of the release of '2012', Roland Emmerich offers his ten tips on creating the perfect global catastrophe
Grant Heslov: interview
Grant Heslov, director of 'The Men who Stare at Goats' talks about his old pal George Clooney, his interest in the paranormal, and his fond memories of working on 'Happy Days'
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?
Time Out ponders the influences behind James Cameron's anticipated space-opera on the basis of the trailer
Michael Jackson's This Is It: review
Kenny Ortega's posthumous concert film is a rousing eulogy for one of pop's great enigmas
Michael Haneke: The man behind the menace
From Cannes to Munich to London, Dave Calhoun tours Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner, 'The White Ribbon'
Lone Scherfig talks 'An Education'
Danish director Lone Scherfig was an unlikely choice for a very English affair like 'An Education'. Cath Clarke meets her
How Jane Campion brought John Keats back to life
Time Out gets Romantic with the ‘difficult’ New Zealander about her new film, 'Bright Star'
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations












What do you think?
Post your review now