"The Messengers" - D

Ok ok ok .... I'm cheating little bit here. This is a review that I posted on the Urban Docent back in February. But, it may keep you from spending money and wasting time on this title during the Halloween season.

I promise something new tomorrow:

A group of us made the mistake of watching "The Messengers" late Saturday night. I hope that this review will keep you from treading our path of misfortune ....

I was kind of open to the flick because of its association with Ghost House Pictures and producer, Sam Raimi. Don't get me wrong — I wasn't expecting "Evil Dead," but I was looking for a little more than just pure garbage.

Plot Summary: This goofy, somewhat dysfunctional family leaves the big city behind to have a fresh start in their county's most sinister-looking homestead. Strange and scary things begin to happen with the children, and one of the family members goes the extra mile to resolve the secrets that have made this such an evil place to live.

Sounds kind of interesting, right? Well, this story would have been more enjoyable if there weren't these massive holes in the logic and behavior of the characters. There are a series of patchy plot points that all add up to even the least discerning film viewer saying, "Hey, what the heck was the point of XYZ THING THAT MADE NO SENSE?"

"The Messengers" is loaded with annoying, repetitive tools like blurry images suddenly sweeping in front of the camera accompanied by a loud music note. It goes for way too many schlocky "shock" tactics that so many similar films ran into the ground years ago. And by the time the film is over, you'll really wish a Raimi-like cellar sequence a la "Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn" was coming your way (but you'll only be disappointed).

I will, however, give the crew some credit for occasionally offering some nice cinematography. There are a few moments that you will be able to appreciate for their technical construction, but they are sadly few and far between.

Grade: D (for being more annoying than entertaining ...)