The Messengers

Directed by the critical darling Pang brothers (Oxide and Danny), this dreary, torpid ghost story recycles themes and effects from no less than a half dozen fright films released over the last few years. The Messengers takes place on a sunflower farm in North Dakota, where city slickers Roy and Denise Solomon (Dylan McDermott and Penelope Ann Miller) have brought their children—teenaged Jessie (Kristen Stewart) and toddler Ben (Evan and Theodore Turner)—to recover from a family tragedy. The old farmhouse turns out to be haunted by malevolent spirits that only Ben can see, and before long the Solomons find themselves under siege. John Corbett costars as a hulking handyman whose mysterious past may hold a clue to the spectral rampages. The film serves up many slow tracking shots along the creaking, wooden farmhouse floors, with ghostly apparitions wafting through the halls and up from the cellar (this is the kind of flick in which wind chimes begin ringing even when the air is deadly still). The actors are game, but are hamstrung by contrived situations, while the supposedly shocking climax won't come as a surprise to anyone who has the slightest familiarity with the genre. Not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by star Kristen Stewart, writer Mark Wheaton, costar Dustin Milligan, and visual effects supervisor Bruce Jones, a seven-part “Exhuming The Messengers” featurette that includes “Script Evolution,” “Constructing the Set,” and “Exploring Visual Effects” (38 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a undistinguished ghost flick.] (E. Hulse)