RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Found a Bug? Squash It! Report Bugs Here
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / The Messengers
The Messengers

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Visit Official Site External Icon
Bookmark and Share

The Messengers (2007)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
11 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:81

Fresh:9

Rotten:72

Average Rating:3.6/10

Consensus: The Messengers is an atmospheric but derivative rip-off of countless other horror movies.

Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for mature thematic material, disturbing violence and terror.

Runtime: 1 hr 31 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Theatrical Release:06-04-2007

Synopsis: Twin filmmakers Danny and Oxide Pang's creepy 2003 feature THE EYE earned them enough kudos to make the leap to Hollywood, and their first effort is the creepy chiller THE MESSENGERS. A... Twin filmmakers Danny and Oxide Pang's creepy 2003 feature THE EYE earned them enough kudos to make the leap to Hollywood, and their first effort is the creepy chiller THE MESSENGERS. A Chicago-based family comprised of Roy (Dylan McDermott), his wife, Denise (Penelope Ann Miller), their teenage daughter, Jess (Kristen Stewart), and young son, Ben (played by twins Evan and Theodore Turner) try to put the hard times behind them with a move to a picturesque farmhouse in North Dakota. Jess quickly becomes convinced that the house is haunted after some peculiar occurrences while she's alone there with young Ben. But Ben can't articulate what he's seen, and Jess's story is met with skepticism by her parents. It soon becomes apparent that past family tensions are slowly boiling to the surface. Meanwhile, the ghosts keep coming, and the Pang brothers never keep their audience waiting for long before another nerve-jangling scene shudders into view. But as the ghosts torment their new residents, Jess does a little research on the old farmhouse and discovers a few secrets that may just hold the key to why this is all happening. Packed full of CGI effects and a few moments that may cause a jump or two, THE MESSENGERS is a horror movie aimed at a young audience and not horror aficionados, as indicated by its PG-13 rating. [More]

Starring: Dylan McDermott, Penelope Ann Miller, John Corbett, Kristen Stewart

Starring: Dylan McDermott, Penelope Ann Miller, John Corbett, Kristen Stewart

Director: Oxide Pang, Danny Pang

Director: Oxide Pang, Danny Pang
Screenwriter: Todd Farmer
Producer: Sam Raimi, William Sherak, Jason Shuman, Rob Tapert
Composer: Joseph LoDuca
Studio: Columbia Pictures

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
  • Trailer
    >
    Exclusive Clip
    >
    Dylan McDermott
    >
    Kristen Stewart
    >
  • Penelope Ann Miller
    >
1 - 4 of 5

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Reviews for The Messengers

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Derivative but enjoyable horror flick with stylish direction, an intriguing mystery and strong performances from its cast.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
04/05/07
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Gaping plot holes, a tacked-on ending and a twist that belongs in a different movie.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
04/03/07
Jamie Russell
Jamie Russell
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Many of the images feel over-familiar, and the shocks a mite too forced.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
04/05/07
Nigel Floyd
Nigel Floyd
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's pretty ordinary genre stuff.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
04/07/07
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's like a movie premonition — you've seen it all before.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/06/07
Simon Crook
Simon Crook
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The scares have been booby-trapped brilliantly throughout it.

Full Review Source: Moviehole | comment Comment
06/18/07
Clint Morris
Clint Morris
Moviehole

Viewers who prefer to see blood splattering and internal organs being sliced and diced will be disappointed.

Full Review Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette | comment Comment
02/03/07
Daniel M. Kimmel
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

The Pang Brothers' sense of style often overcomes the lack of substance in this derivative scarefest.

Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | comment Comment
02/02/07
Edward Douglas
Edward Douglas
ComingSoon.net

The Messengers is still worth seeing for the strength of its first half and for the consistently solid performances, but the sense of unrealized potential is tough to ignore.

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
02/02/07
Jim Hemphill
Jim Hemphill
Reel.com

The worst part of this film is its advertising; don't let the studio's lack of faith in their own ghost story ruin a clever little thriller for you.

Full Review Source: MovieCrypt.com | comment Comment
02/07/07
Kevin A. Ranson
Kevin A. Ranson
MovieCrypt.com

The first half is very well done, making it one of the best haunted house movies since The Grudge.

Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | comment Comment
02/02/07
Kevin Carr
Kevin Carr
7M Pictures

With The Messengers, the Pang brothers devise scenes so scary that they stain the imagination and never scrub out.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
02/05/07
Matt Zoller Seitz
Matt Zoller Seitz
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The Messengers does deliver on jump scares, compelling characters, top-notch acting from the entire cast, nice atmosphere and excellent cinematography augmented by a lush color palette.

Full Review Source: Sci-Fi Weekly | comment Comment
02/01/07
Staci Layne Wilson
Staci Layne Wilson
Sci-Fi Weekly

The message of this creepy-ghost thriller is that no matter how talented the Hong Kong filmmakers may be, they'll invariably be forced to make their first American movie an unimpressive, generic creepy-ghost thriller.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
02/02/07
Alex Markerson
Alex Markerson
E! Online

the running motif of crows run amok has too much of Hitchcock's THE BIRDS about it to stand on its own, even in the Pang's capable hands. Then again, any script that dared use that motif was setting itself up for a fall, and that's exactly what it got

Full Review Source: Killer Movie Reviews | comment Comment
02/05/07
Andrea Chase
Andrea Chase
Killer Movie Reviews

Sadly, the movie just doesn't deliver chills.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
02/07/07
Andrea Gronvall
Andrea Gronvall
Chicago Reader

While [the Pangs] display some of the visual style that has distinguished their Asian films, nothing could compensate for the derivative, ill-plotted script.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles CityBeat | comment Comment
02/11/07
Andy Klein
Andy Klein
Los Angeles CityBeat

Yet not even the Pang brothers' sense of panache can redeem what is a lame script by Mark Wheaton.

Full Review Source: KPBS.org | comment Comment
04/21/07
Beth Accomando
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org

Patchwork filmmaking designed by a corporate mentality devoted only to the defense of the lowest common denominator. The viewer is assumed to be stupid and easily duped.

Full Review Source: CinemaBlend.com | comment Comment
05/05/08
Brian Holcomb
Brian Holcomb
CinemaBlend.com

For every one moment of genuinely built suspense, the Pang Brothers chase it with at least three follow-up scenes of either out-loud stupidity or baffling tedium.

Full Review Source: OhmyNews.com | comment Comment
02/02/07
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
OhmyNews.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
all

Latest News for The Messengers

February 07, 2008: Box Office Guru Preview: Fool's Gold Hopes to Shine in Battle of New Comedies
Hollywood plays the race card this weekend opening a pair of star-driven comedies, one for white moviegoers and the other for black audiences. Matthew McConaughey and Kate... More...

January 31, 2008: Box Office Guru Preview: Montana Hopes to Win Super Bowl Trophy
While Brady and Manning duke it out in Phoenix, the $15 movie ticket aims to conquer the multiplexes over Super Bowl weekend. That's the admission price that theaters are... More...

April 28, 2007: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
More...

February 26, 2007: Box Office Guru Wrapup: "Ghost Rides" High Again at #1
Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage ruled Oscar weekend with his skull-on-fire motorcycle actioner "Ghost Rider," which held steady at number one in North America for... More...

See All

More DVDs

Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
14% 14% The Ugly Truth
98% 98% Up
36% 36% G.I. Joe: The Rise of …
52% 52% The Taking of Pelham 1…
45% 45% Ice Age: Dawn of the D…

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
36% 36% Angels & Demons
68% 68% Funny People
25% 25% Four Christmases
45% 45% Shorts

More New Releases…

What’s Hot On RT

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

5 facts straight from the cast.

Disney Animation

Disney Animation

We chart the studio's classics.

Avatar

Avatar

An exclusive look at the human hardware.

Eric Bana

Eric Bana

The Star Trek star talks cars with RT.

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Weekly Ketchup: Zombieland 2 in 3D?
51
  • First Look (Sort Of) at New Nightmare's Freddy Source: ShockTillYouDrop.com
24
  • First Look at Shrek Forever After Source: USA Today
48
  • Woody Harrelson Will Battle Zombies in 3-D Source: Moviehole
26
  • Natalie Portman Says Kat Denning Is in Thor Source: MTV
34
  • Disney Restructuring Has Broad Implications Source: Los Angeles Times
10
  • Joel Silver Talks Ninja Assassin, Sgt. Rock, Lobo, and More Source: Collider.com
1
  • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
128
  • Idris Elba Joins Thor Source: Hollywood Reporter
112
  • Jackass 3D Coming in 2010? Source: Collider.com
32
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: New Moon Shatters Records
181
  • Total Recall: John Travolta's Best Movies
92
  • Ban Them All! 10 Infamously Controversial Movies
76
  • Friday Harvest: The Road, Avatar, and more!
73
  • 5 Facts About The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
69
  • Critics Consensus: Flee From Ninja Assassin
45
  • Five Favorite Films With Zombieland Director Ruben Fleischer
22
  • Weekly Ketchup: Zombieland 2 in 3D?
17
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
16
  • Duncan Jones Reteams With Kevin Spacey
2
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
16
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
11
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
21
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
21
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
8
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
  • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel
28
  • Duncan Jones talks Moon, Sam Rockwell, and Mute
14
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • The Messengers at Rotten Tomatoes
  • The Messengers at IGN
  • The Messengers at AskMen

Fresh Links

Featured
RT on YouTube
RT on YouTube External Link

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

RT on Twitter
RT on Twitter External Link

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.