Asian brothers Danny and Oxide Pang jumped at the chance to go to Hollywood and work for executive producer Sam Raimi on The Messengers. Unfortunately there was an obvious clash of styles, that resulted in this "bodge job" of a haunted house flick. Lucky for the studio suits, any old rotten horror film can open at No.1 in America. Unfortunately, ticket sales plunged sharply in subsequent weeks.

Miscommunication

Watching the 'Making Of' featurette, you'll soon understand why the film is so messy. No fewer than twelve producers are revealed to have involvement and many of those line up here to assure us the film is "scary" yet "character driven". It seems, though, the actors were more confused by the Pang twins who are almost identical. John Corbett (Burwell) insists, "They're like the same person only one's called Danny and the other's called Oxide." The co-helmers appear to be of one mind as well, although word from screenwriter Mark Wheaton hints at a long and torturous process of development. "We wanted to put more scary elements in this movie," one of the Pangs innocently explains (we can't tell which one).

The Bearer Of Bad News

A few 'webisodes' are cobbled together in a 25-minute reel, offering a superficial overview of production. Much of the coverage (re. casting and the design of the house) is already discussed in the 'Making Of' featurette. However, there is also a closer look at visual effects. We see how the Pangs were able to direct a flock of hostile crows (traditionally the bearers of bad news) using a combination of sophisticated animatronics, CGI and, um, hand puppets.

A brief word on music is thrown in (apparently as an afterthought) and for some reason cameras follow Wheaton to his local DVD store - presumably to buy something other than this film. It has its moments, but overall The Messengers isn't worth writing home about.

EXTRA FEATURES

The Messengers DVD is released on Monday 13th August 2007.