So here's the synopsis. A long time ago, an awful murder occurred in this country farm house, and since then, no one in the area will go near the place. Now, in the present, a new family moves in and it seems like the murdered former residents are trying to tell the new owners something.
At first, the only person that can see these ghostly messengers is the family's 3 year-old boy. But as the movie progresses, the teenager of the group finds it hard to ignore the signs and feelings she gets from the house.
From a story point of view, The Messengers has a good bit of potential. Execution, on the other hand, left something to be desired. The movie is pretty much nothing but a series of jump scares that get pretty predictable.
From a visual and stylistic point of view, the jump scares are done pretty well. There are a lot of scenes that have the ghosts being barely visible until the point of the scare. Scenes like the hands grabbing at the characters from the dark or the legs appearing under the sheets are very striking and effective, but like I said above, the very frequent use of jump scares makes these scenes feel cheaper than they are and it lessens the overall feel of the film.
The Messengers is a film that is worth a rent, but not really anything more. On the plus side, the film's PG-13 rating shows that it isn't gory and would probably fit best in a sleepover with the lights off (after all, jump scares are only truly effective in groups in the middle of the night).
