"The Messengers" is a routine serving of haunted-house hooey with all the modern touches — skittering "Grudge" ghosts, a plot of supernatural vengeance taken out on the innocent, cheap jolts created by sound effects, edits and a wide-angle lens.

But it's a fascinating tech-nical exercise, as Hong Kong twins the Pang Brothers (Oxide and Danny) shoot and edit the heck out of it. The camera swirls around the would-be farmer-father (Dylan McDermott), the new hired hand (John Corbett of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"), mother (Penelope Ann Miller), daughter (Kristen Stewart) and little Ben (Evan and Theodore Turner, marvels both).

There isn't much of a script to work with, and for the occasional pull-out-the-stops moment, it never really builds toward its finish.