The Messengers (2007)
The Messengers (2007)
Do you ever watch a film that makes you feel like, I've seen this before, but then you realize that you haven't. That is how The Messengers from 2007 was, the first time I watched the film, I felt like I'd seen it before, but then I realized that it was just a mostly unforgettable film, that is also quite reminiscent of countless other films from the past, to the point that it struggles to have its own identity. I don't want to give you the opinion that I don't like this film, because I am quite fond of it really, and I feel like it did a lot of things right, and to me a film doesn't have to be original to be great, as long as it is well done, and I do think that The Messengers is well done.
The Messengers is a 2007 paranormal/psychological horror film directed by the Pang brothers (twin brothers from Hong Kong named Danny Pang Phat and Oxide Pang Chun). The screenplay went through went through so many changes and rewrites, that the only thing that the final screenplay had with the original written by Todd Farmer was the fact that it took place on a farm, and the names of the characters. Farmer's original script would later be the basis for The Messengers 2: The Scarecrow which served as a prequel for the original film. The final screenplay that was used for The Messengers was written by Mark Wheaton. The film was distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, and was a box office success, grossing $55 million in the box office against its $15 million budget, however it received generally negative reviews from the critics, and holds an embarrassingly low score on film review sites like Rotten Tomatoes.
The Messengers stars Kristen Stewart as Jessica Solomon, Dylan McDermott plays her father Roy Solomon, Penelope Ann Miller plays her mother Denise Solomon, and Evan and Theodore Turner play her little brother Ben Solomon. John Corbett plays John Burwell/John Rollins a drifter who they take on for a hired hand on their sunflower farm, and Dustin Milligan plays Bobby who is Jess' only friend that she meets while in town buying seeds with her dad. The casting is pretty well done, though I think the highlights are fifteen year-old Kristen Stewart, and John Corbett. Kristen Stewart plays the troubled teenager really well, and as I watched it, I could feel her losing her grasp on sanity, as she is experiencing these hauntings and no one is listening to her, she plays that so well and so authentically that it is very believable, but she also doesn't cross into the line of over acting. then with John Corbett, he plays this kind drifter, who seems like just such an easy going and harmless guy, but then when his character snaps and goes off the rails, he plays that darkness so well and believable as well. Technically the cast are amazing in this film.
The movie was filmed in the Qu'Appelle Valley near Abernethy Saskatchewan Canada, not too terribly far from Regina Saskatchewan, even though the film takes place in rural North Dakota, but the location that they found does look like a location that you might see in western North Dakota, it isn't flat enough to be eastern North Dakota. The sets in the film were beautifully done, the house that is used was built for the film, and the barn was moved in from another location, and the sunflower field used in was planted on location for the film. To look at this film it is beautifully done.
The story of the film though isn't super original is also very well done, telling the story of a family from Chicago that goes through some traumatic issues ends up moving to rural North Dakota to make a go at being sunflower farmers (the father in the film grew up in North Dakota on a sunflower farm). But then when they move into the dilapidated farmhouse the teenage daughter starts experiencing some weird things, and come to find out the house is haunted, but are the ghosts a threat or are they a warning? Okay, it is a pretty great story, with a great cast, and it looks really good, so overall it really is a great film, and there really isn't anything to complain about, so to leave it at that, I really like this film, but... Where this film fails, and what the critics site as the reason for their negative reviews is the films lack of originality, it does feel like we have already watched this film before, and that is fair enough. So I guess the question is: Can an unoriginal film be a good film, if it is done well? I would argue that yes it can. So to me though The Messengers feels like a film that I have already seen dozens of times, and it relies heavily on typical haunted house tropes, it does have a nice twist with who the "bad guy" is (even though it is quite predictable), it is still done well, so I would say that this is still a good film, and I think that with Kristen Stewart's well done portrayal of Jess, that comes close to actually pushing this film from being a good film to a great film. I think the biggest flaw with the Messengers is that it is kind of forgettable, I have seen it multiple times, and still it doesn't really stand out in my mind. So if you are looking for a good fun horror film to watch, and not looking for something entirely new, but a film built upon tired and true tropes, then definitely check out The Messengers, it is definitely worth watching.
The Messengers is a 2007 paranormal/psychological horror film directed by the Pang brothers (twin brothers from Hong Kong named Danny Pang Phat and Oxide Pang Chun). The screenplay went through went through so many changes and rewrites, that the only thing that the final screenplay had with the original written by Todd Farmer was the fact that it took place on a farm, and the names of the characters. Farmer's original script would later be the basis for The Messengers 2: The Scarecrow which served as a prequel for the original film. The final screenplay that was used for The Messengers was written by Mark Wheaton. The film was distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, and was a box office success, grossing $55 million in the box office against its $15 million budget, however it received generally negative reviews from the critics, and holds an embarrassingly low score on film review sites like Rotten Tomatoes.
The Messengers stars Kristen Stewart as Jessica Solomon, Dylan McDermott plays her father Roy Solomon, Penelope Ann Miller plays her mother Denise Solomon, and Evan and Theodore Turner play her little brother Ben Solomon. John Corbett plays John Burwell/John Rollins a drifter who they take on for a hired hand on their sunflower farm, and Dustin Milligan plays Bobby who is Jess' only friend that she meets while in town buying seeds with her dad. The casting is pretty well done, though I think the highlights are fifteen year-old Kristen Stewart, and John Corbett. Kristen Stewart plays the troubled teenager really well, and as I watched it, I could feel her losing her grasp on sanity, as she is experiencing these hauntings and no one is listening to her, she plays that so well and so authentically that it is very believable, but she also doesn't cross into the line of over acting. then with John Corbett, he plays this kind drifter, who seems like just such an easy going and harmless guy, but then when his character snaps and goes off the rails, he plays that darkness so well and believable as well. Technically the cast are amazing in this film.
The movie was filmed in the Qu'Appelle Valley near Abernethy Saskatchewan Canada, not too terribly far from Regina Saskatchewan, even though the film takes place in rural North Dakota, but the location that they found does look like a location that you might see in western North Dakota, it isn't flat enough to be eastern North Dakota. The sets in the film were beautifully done, the house that is used was built for the film, and the barn was moved in from another location, and the sunflower field used in was planted on location for the film. To look at this film it is beautifully done.
The story of the film though isn't super original is also very well done, telling the story of a family from Chicago that goes through some traumatic issues ends up moving to rural North Dakota to make a go at being sunflower farmers (the father in the film grew up in North Dakota on a sunflower farm). But then when they move into the dilapidated farmhouse the teenage daughter starts experiencing some weird things, and come to find out the house is haunted, but are the ghosts a threat or are they a warning? Okay, it is a pretty great story, with a great cast, and it looks really good, so overall it really is a great film, and there really isn't anything to complain about, so to leave it at that, I really like this film, but... Where this film fails, and what the critics site as the reason for their negative reviews is the films lack of originality, it does feel like we have already watched this film before, and that is fair enough. So I guess the question is: Can an unoriginal film be a good film, if it is done well? I would argue that yes it can. So to me though The Messengers feels like a film that I have already seen dozens of times, and it relies heavily on typical haunted house tropes, it does have a nice twist with who the "bad guy" is (even though it is quite predictable), it is still done well, so I would say that this is still a good film, and I think that with Kristen Stewart's well done portrayal of Jess, that comes close to actually pushing this film from being a good film to a great film. I think the biggest flaw with the Messengers is that it is kind of forgettable, I have seen it multiple times, and still it doesn't really stand out in my mind. So if you are looking for a good fun horror film to watch, and not looking for something entirely new, but a film built upon tired and true tropes, then definitely check out The Messengers, it is definitely worth watching.
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