"The Messengers" comprises a handful of decent visuals, but the movie as a whole categorically fails to build up the necessary suspense to deliver a good scare and thrill its audience. Loaded with an idiotic plot and strikingly dreadful acting performances, this mediocre horror show will most likely find its audience only among easy-to-please teenagers.

Following a stylish, yet unnecessary prologue depicting a brutal family murder, "The Messengers" introduces us to the Solomons. The family has fled the big-city life to start over at a remote North Dakota farm. The setting is one commonly seen in horror flicks: a huge house and old barn with squeaking doors and floors, threatening crows and a sea of sunflowers providing the necessary isolation.

The newfound peace, however, is quickly disrupted when 16-year-old daughter Jess (Kristen Stewart) and her little brother Ben start to see obscure apparitions invisible to the eyes of their parents. Terrorized by fear and the presence of evil, Jess embarks on a risky hunt for clues about who these ghosts are and what they are after.

Directed by brothers Danny and Oxide Pang, who picked up international fame with the dazzling hit movie "The Eye." "The Messengers" shows substantial weaknesses in the script department. Any attempt to shape a vibrating story or intensify the atmosphere is continually undermined by dominating predictability and absence of logic.

The plot is also annoyingly repetitive, and tries to startle the spectator mostly with well-intentioned "boo" moments. Unfortunately, most of those fall flat. This is not because of the way they are set up, but because there are just too many. Sadly enough, by the time the ghosts have made their first appearance, it becomes very easy for the audience to anticipate their every move. Blame the script.

The final part of "The Messengers" picks up some pace, but the explanation it intends to give for the whole mystery lacks any subtlety whatsoever. The climax of the movie is rich in loud action but very poor in creativity. Clearly, we have been there, seen that too many times already.

As for the acting, Kristen Stewart (who played Jodie Foster's daughter in "Panic Room") offers the only notable performance in the film. She depicts fear and emotions quite well, and is the only character of interest. Her parents, Dylan McDermont and Penelope Ann Miller are disappointing. They are not credible as a couple and speak too slowly.

The Pang brothers are dab hands at setting up a satisfyingly dark atmosphere via their camerawork, no doubts about that. But in the "The Messengers," they rely far too much on good visuals and a clean editing. The importance of a solid story is thus neglected. The result we are left with is tedious. In the end, all "The Messengers" does is carelessly copy from horror classics and newbies such as "The Amityville Horror," "The Grudge" and "The Birds." How original!

Grade: C