Desperate for a fresh start after a tough two years in Chicago, the Solomon family retreats to a desolate sunflower farm in North Dakota. But the calm of farm life is shattered when 16-year-old Jess (Kristen Stewart) and her 3-year-old brother Ben begin to see nightmarish apparitions throughout their new home – visions that nobody else can see. As the visions grow darker, they become fear-inspiring experiences and Jess’ parents (Dylan McDermott and Penelope Ann Miller) start to question their daughter’s sanity. Now, Jess must find a way to save her family and win
| Copyright:
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2007, Sony Pictures |
| Video Format:
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Widescreen (1.85:1 aspect ratio) |
| Audio
Tracks: |
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English
French
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| Subtitles: |
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English
,
French
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| # Discs: |
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1 |
| Run Time: |
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90 minutes |
| Other: |
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AC-3
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Closed-captioned
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Color
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Dolby
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Dubbed
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DVD-Video
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Subtitled
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Widescreen
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NTSC
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messengers
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August, 25, 2008
The movie Messengers was predictable, which made it not very scarey.You figure out the ending long before it ends and that ruins the movie. BP
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Nothing Original, but well executed
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August, 22, 2008
This is a haunted house story, plain and simple - but it's refreshing to see one with a decent cast and so well executed. The story is nothing new - family from the city move to country to escape their family problems... house they get turns out to have a past, and may be haunted.
There are no big gore moments, but plenty of atmosphere created by carefully NOT showing you everything for much of the movie, so that when something is seen, the effect is maximized. The ending is not much of a surprise, but the tension mounts thanks in particular to a good turn from Kristen Stewart as Jess, the teenager.
All in all, quite routine, but efficient enough to be worth a watch if you like the haunted house genre.
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Barely 3 stars, sat through it with a teen
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August, 07, 2008
When I see a horror movie, it has to have something that grabs me- great special effects, strong story line, great characters...SOMETHING. This movie told a story but it wasn't compelling.
Basically, a family moves to the country to "start over" and their daughter is clearly in trouble but you don't know exactly why or what she has done. There is tension between the parent and the teen daughter. Pretty typical for some movies in this genre - harsh parents, misunderstood teen. Nothing original there.
Then there are the usual creepy happenings, ghosts that can be seen only by the youngest member of the family, who (conveniently) doesn't speak due to past trauma. I kept wondering why the kid didn't speak but only found out later the reasons why he was mute. That was confusing.
Finally, when everything finally comes together and all the mysteries are solved, it isn't enough to make for a compelling movie. There is the usual blood and gore and violence but none of it added up to a scare fest worth sitting through. You can do much better.
Having noted that, all the actors were competent in their roles. I just don't think they had much to work with here. Too bad, because Penelope Ann Miller is a favorite of mine and I generally root for Dylan McDermott too. Next time around, I hope they have better scripts.
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