Kudos to horror maestros Oxide and Danny Pang for making it to Hollywood! After scaring us shitless with The Eye movies and the less successful Re-Cycle, they caught the eye of American producers who signed them up to direct a few films in Hollywood.
Unfortunately, their American horror debut The Messengers won't earn them much respect from ordinary moviegoers or horror fans. Despite an interesting concept that children can see ghosts which adults cannot and a strong first hour, the film turns into a bizarrely stupid spook-show in its last 30 minutes.
The Messengers stars the lovely and intelligent Kristen Stewart, whose city-dwelling family has just decided to move to the rural fields of North Dakota for some peace of mind. However, the house that they're settling into is haunted, and Kristen and her younger brother soon begin to see spectral visions of bodies and limbs that their parents (Dylan McDermott and Penelope Ann Miller) cannot see.
As can be expected, the Pang brothers are very good at generating the shocks. Indeed, some moments are ingeniously designed to rattle your nerves. However, the film just falls apart in its last stretch and you feel baffled, cheated and frustrated by its sheer stupidity.
Dykes may dig Kristen, who is extremely attractive, but there isn't much here for the gay boys.