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Teenager Jessica Solomon (Kristen Stewart) was in an almost fatal car accident while driving her
three-year-old brother Ben (Evan and Theodore Turner) home from school. She hid from her parents, but they soon discover that she had some drinks before that. Since
then Ben has not uttered a sound or say a word.
The father Roy (Dylan McDermott) decided to relocate the family from cosmopolitan Chicago to an isolated farm in North Dakota, hoping that the new place and way of life could help heal them from pain and resentment. However, hardly have they settled down when Jess and little Ben begin to see phantoms and hear strange sounds. These become eerier and more scary. The human-looking spooks escalate to being threatening. One of these materializes and harms Jess. Though trying hard to convince her mother Denise (Penelope Ann Miller) about the occurrences, and to abandon the house, she refuses to believe the girl, especially when the doctor treating her wounds declares that these are self-inflicted and she must have a psychological problem. In addition is her not having been honest about the car accident.
The Messengers manages to be a horror story that could be considered entertaining, especially for viewers who find fun in screaming and getting scared. The directors succeed in creating foreboding and suspenseful shots and sounds that are real for the audience. The story, though not something new is simple and straightforward. The hauntings and the intimidating sights, like the swarm of ferocious crows provide the spectacle of suspense and terror. The cast, especially Kirstern Stewart and John Corbett as the farm-help manages to keep the audience watching, despite the startlings sounds and scary visuals getting to be a little too many halfway through the reel.
All the hauntings and trouble suffered by the Solomons are caused by the previous house dwellers
who were unjustly killed and who are now after the still living murderer.
However, these vengeful beings are also up to harming and killing the present innocent residents so they could get to their slayer. On the plus side are such depictions as: Roy's sacrifice for his family's well-being; the need for husband and wife to be one in making decisions; Roy's concern for and talk with his daughter; and the signs of the family members love and caring for each other. Young viewers might not grasp the story content; the sounds and visuals plus some violence could overwhelm them.
(Date Reviewed: 9 February 2007)
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