| The Messengers | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Pang Brothers |
| Produced by | Sam Raimi William Sherak Jason Shuman Robert G. Tapert |
| Written by | Stuart Beattie Todd Farmer Mark Wheaton |
| Starring | Kristen Stewart Dylan McDermott Penelope Ann Miller John Corbett |
| Music by | Joseph LoDuca |
| Cinematography | David Geddes |
| Editing by | John Axelrad Armen Minasian Tim Mirkovich |
| Studio | Ghost House Pictures |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures Screen Gems |
| Release date(s) | February 2, 2007 |
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | Canada United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $16,000,000 |
| Box office | $54,957,265 |
The Messengers is a 2007 American horror film, directed by the Pang Brothers, and produced by Sam Raimi. It stars Kristen Stewart, John Corbett, William B. Davis, Dylan McDermott, and Penelope Ann Miller. The film is about an ominous darkness that invades a seemingly serene sunflower farm in North Dakota, and the Solomon family—the owners of the farm—who are torn apart by suspicion, mayhem, and murder.
The film was released on February 2, with the DVD released on June 5. Although the setting of the film is in North Dakota, filming actually took place in the Qu'Appelle Valley near the small community of Abernethy, Saskatchewan, Canada. The graphic novel adaptation was published in January 2007 by Dark Horse Comics, written by Jason Hall, and illustrated by Kelley Jones. The prequel, Messengers 2: The Scarecrow, was released on June 21, 2009.
Contents |
A mother tells her son he has to be strong and that everything will be okay. As she packs a suitcase, she hears something coming towards the door and makes her son hide under the bed. The door bursts open and something throws the woman against the wall. The son, terrified, runs out of the room and into his equally scared sister. She grabs him and runs down the stairs. The boy hides under a table, but his sister is caught and pushed over the stair railings and is obviously injured. She then crawls to the boy and tells him to run, and then is dragged to the cellar, her nails clawing the floor. The boy runs into the kitchen and hides in a cabinet. It is dark except for a slit of light down his face. The light grows wider, and he is yanked out.
Five years later, the Solomon family from Chicago move into the house, hoping to start a sunflower farm. The teenaged daughter, Jess, is upset about moving away from her friends. She had once driven drunk with her younger brother, Ben, a toddler at the time, in the car. She got into an accident, seriously injuring Ben. He recovered, but does not speak. Jess' father, Roy, and mother, Denise, have a hard time trusting their daughter. Roy, who grew up in the next county and has previous farming experience, moved his family to the farm believing it will help heal the family.
Ominous events start occuring. The house always has crows flying around it. Some even attack Roy, but are driven off by a drifter named John Burwell, who Roy then hires to work on the farm. Ben sees the ghosts of the mother and children in the house, though they do not seem to frighten him. Jess is also aware of their presence but is unable to see them until they attempt to drag her into the cellar. The adults have no perception of the ghosts at all. One ghost, the sister, attempts to drag Jess into the cellar. Afterward, Jess calls 9-1-1 and the police arrive, but find nothing. They consider it a false alarm, and Jess' parents do not believe her either. While Ben witnessed what happened, still being very young and mute he is unable to confirm her story. Only Bobby, a teenage boy from town whom Jess befriends, supports her.
Jess and Ben have more encounters with the ghosts haunting the house. One attack occurs in the barn, resulting in Jess acquiring cuts and bruises. Jess sees a little boy inside the barn, arms wrapped around his legs, his back toward Jess. When she tries to ask him if he is okay, he does not reply. She moves closer to the boy. The boy turns and reveals his face, his eyes white, his skin pale and with grey cuts on his face. Later, Jess is rushed to the hospital. Her parents think her wounds are self-inflicted because she wants to leave the house and return to the city, and they will not believe that ghosts are haunting it. Because her parents do not believe her, tensions rise and Jess becomes determined to fix things.
Jess later discovers more details about the Rollins family, the house's previous owners. According to the locals, the Rollins lived in the house, but left suddenly six years before. However, at a local store Jess sees a picture of the family, with the father revealed to be none other than John Burwell, who has always been kind to her. As it turns out, John Burwell is actually John Rollins, the head of the Rollins family and the man who, in a fit of madness, killed his family. Frightened and anxious, Jess takes Bobby back to the house to warn her family before it is too late.
Back at home, Jess' mother, Denise, is putting Ben to sleep when she notices a blood spot on the wall coming back even though she has already cleaned it. This is where the mother, Mary Rollins, was thrown against the wall. Suddenly Denise sees the the mother's spirit emerging from the bloodstain. Terrified and determined to leave, Denise packs suitcases and places them on the front porch. John, after being attacked by crows, is confused and believes Denise is his wife Mary, trying to leave him in the same way Mary had, years before. He runs to the house to attack Denise, believing that she is his wife. Denise grabs Ben and runs into the cellar to hide from their attacker.
Bobby and Jess arrive, and Jess calls for her mother and father. John attacks them from behind with a pitchfork, knocking Bobby out in the process. Jess runs into the cellar and bolts the door. While John is looking for some way to get into the cellar, Jess finds Denise and Ben, and together further barricade the door, block all the windows and breaks the light bulbs so they can stay hidden in darkness. John is able to get into the cellar and looks around for the three, still believing they are his family. Roy arrives to help Ben and Denise, but is stabbed by John with the pitchfork. However, John's ghostly family arise from the their graves beneath the cellar and grab their patriarch. As his family vengefully pull him to join them underground, John grabs Jess' leg to save himself from sinking below. Jess' parents work together to save their daughter by pulling her free from John's grip before he sinks beneath the cellar with his family.
Thanks to Bobby, the police and paramedics arrive shortly after the attack. Roy is loaded into the ambulance and both he and Denise apologize to Jess for not believing her and promise to never doubt her again. As the film ends, things return to normal. The crows no longer attack, the ghosts stop appearing and Ben starts talking again. The family appears to be normal once more and the house and land look better than ever.
The Messengers placed first in box office receipts for the weekend of February 2-4, 2007. In its first weekend of release, the film grossed $14,713,321.[1] As of February 23, 2008, the film had grossed $54,957,265.[2]
The film received mostly negative reviews from critics. It holds a 12% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus being "The Messengers is an atmospheric but derivative rip-off of countless other horror movies."[3]. On imdb.com, it holds a 5.2 out of 10.[4]
A prequel titled Messengers 2: The Scarecrow was released on July 21, 2009. The Rollins Family are the film's main characters. It stars Norman Reedus and Australian actress Claire Holt.
A comic version of the film was published by Dark Horse Comics in January 2007.
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