The Messengers

The house has been empty for five years, the family who lived there before vanished - up and left - no one knows what happened to them. Then, a new family comes. They're from the city. The father, Roy (Dylan McDermott) and his wife, Denise (Penelope Ann Miller) have decided to move their family of four from the "big city" back to Roy's roots at a farm. Upon arriving at the house, daughter Jess (Kristen Stewart) finds it a little odd. The house itself is covered with wild vines, and surrounded by odd acting crows.

Finding the house somewhat charming the family moves in and Roy chooses his crops: Sunflowers. While planting, Roy meets Burwell (John Corbett) who is a wanderer looking for a job as a farm hand, whom the family adopts as such, providing shelter and food. Together Burwell and Roy start plowing the fields. Then, Roy comes into the house with a hurt hand.

Denise drove Roy to the hospital, Jess stayed home with her younger brother Ben (Evan Turner and Theodore Turner). That night - alone to the house - Jess hears footsteps upstairs, and when looking to see if anyone is there, all hell breaks out. The banister of the stair case falls, the house starts to shake, everything that's in the house starts to fall smashing into windows, breaking glass. Grabbing her brother, Jess calls 911 and finds her brother missing. Looking for him she finds the door to her cellar open, but no Ben. Suddenly, hands shoot out and grab onto Jess in an attempt to pull her into the darkness.

Breaking free, she finds her brother, runs to the door - which is oddly locked - and then to a window where Burwell helps her out, confused as to why she's in such a panic. Upon looking back into the house, everything that was upset... was fixed.

The Messengers is a thrilling story about a city family torn apart by a terrible accident who moves to the country to start a new. Sure it has it's acting set backs - in the beginning Dylan McDermott drives down a straight road while moving the wheel back in forth - and sure it has it's typical horror movie/ any old movie set up - troubled city family moving to the middle of east Jesus no where to a house that has been abandoned for several years, but that's easily over looked.

The movie had me on end - which is hard to do seeing I'm a movie junkie and a horror movie lover - and the movie was beautifully directed by a pair of my personal favorite directors the Pang brothers [Oxide Pang Chun and Danny Pang] who have done The Eye, The Eye 2, The Eye 10, Sung Horn (Omen), and many others. In personal opinion I give this movie a 5/5.

If you're a lover of troubled teenagers with parents who won't listen to them because of troubles in the past, which pose as troubles when spirits start to haunt the house, then this is up your alley. If you're a fan of the classic story line of a troubled city family comes back to its roots with a life on the farm, then this is up your alley. If you're simply a fan of the absolutely fantastic actress - this movie proves it - Kristen Stewart, then this movie is up your alley. If you're looking for a good scare, this movie is up your alley. This movie will leave you - as it did me - in a giddy awe.

So I leave you with this If no one believes you, how do you warn them?