The Messengers

Pure thrills are very few and incredibly far between in this horror flick. To save their daughter (Kristen Stewart) from drugs, alcohol and irresponsibility, two parents move the family to a middle-of-nowhere dilapidated farmhouse. There, Dad (Dylan McDermott) plays farmer with his sunflower crop while Mom (Penelope Ann Miller) plays Little Miss Homemaker while burping dumb one-liners uncontrollably. When the delinquent daughter insists that their home sweet home is haunted by rotting corpses, Mommy and Daddy turn a blind eye. To compound the inanity, writer Mark Wheaton blindsides viewers with an unnecessary twist involving an unrecognizable John Corbett as a hired hand turned homicidal maniac. Some of the scare tactics are effective, with a combination of creepy walking dead people and music exploding without warning. However, the extremely bland and painfully trite screenplay is the most frightening aspect of this film.