The abandoned house in the middle of nowhere is par the course in the horror genre, and if you add the creepy abode to a story that seems borrowed from a slew of recent Japanese horror imports, you have a total recipe for disaster. Or, you could get a misleading trailer and a movie that is surprisingly scary – and therefore excellent.

Oxide Pang Chun and Danny Pang have made a number of horror films in their native Hong Kong, but The Messengers is their first film in America, and based on this first entry, the future is bright for them in this country. Backed by Ghost House Pictures, the company owned by horror legends Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, the Pang Brothers have produced a truly terrifying film in the vein of other Japanese crossovers like The Ring and The Grudge.

After a brief cut-scene, The Messengers begins with an exterior shot of the spookiest house since Norman Bates’ in Psycho. This creepy exterior should be enough to send anyone running in the other direction, as it has the perfect one-two punch for a terrifying home: It’s run-down and in the middle of nowhere.

The Solomon clan – Roy (Dylan McDermott, Unbeatable Harold), Denise (Penelope Ann Miller, Vanished) and their kids Jess (Kristen Stewart, In the Land of Women) and the cute little brother, Ben (Newcomers Evan and Theodore Turner) have headed to the country to start life again on an old abandoned farm after family friction in their native Chicago. Roy has been out of work for more than two years, so he heads to the farming he was part of as a child. Unlike his childhood farm, this place is creepy from the get-go, with strange noises and odd markings all over the home spooking Jess right from the beginning as she explores the dusty rooms.

The first 30 minutes of this film should be required viewing for all aspiring horror filmmakers – it perfectly blends foreboding suspense with “jump” scenes to bring the audience to the edge of their seats even as they rush to cover their eyes. As Jess wanders from room to room in the home, she encounters tiny, seemingly insignificant details that turn into so much more as the film progresses.

The story perfectly blends these small, passing details into a full plot later in the film, filling the audience in on the questions they have developed while also wrapping up the loose ends common to this genre. Instead of leaving the audience scratching their heads and trying to figure out the details of what exactly happened during the last two hours, The Messengers brings all of its elements together in a tidy 84 minutes.

Stewart brings a lot of depth to the normally shallow female lead in horror films. She displays way more talent than most scream queens exhibit, filling out the human qualities to this character with a troubled past. Her interactions with John Corbett, of My Big Fat Greek Wedding fame, show that he can do way more than play the cute boyfriend. His performance as Burwell, the hired hand and drifter, is without a doubt the best in the film, surprising given that his name does not appear in any of the advertising for the film.

Stylistically, this film blends the best elements of its Japanese counterparts, but adds an absolutely perfect horror score that heightens every emotion throughout The Messengers. Joseph LoDuca, a friend of Raimi’s since his 1981 film The Evil Dead, lends his veritable talent in the music department and brings amazing depth to what could have been empty scenes.

The one fault from this film comes with a slight lack in some later story development. As the plot furthers, more stories get intertwined, some of which lose a bit in the storytelling during the course of this film. The backstory of Burwell is the major lacking component, but even its lack of depth is overcome by the positive aspects evidenced through the rest of this film.

On the whole, The Messengers brings together all of the elements that make an excellent horror film: competent acting, a somewhat original story and a great score. The last element is something that is sorely missed in so many of today’s by-the-numbers horror films, and the fact that this element was not glossed over brings this film over the top. For some of the best thrills you will likely see this year, check out The Messengers.

Contact reporter Tripp Laino at diversions@dbk.umd.edu.