… and the message is, if you build an effective ad campaign around a cheesy horror movie, people will go to see it even if it’s absolutely awful.

“The Messengers” took the number one spot at the North American box-office this weekend, despite being so laughably bad at the horror-movie stuff that the guy from “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” is the scariest thing in it. Word of mouth didn’t kill it on Friday night; the reviews, which didn’t start to appear until Saturday because Sony didn’t screen the film for the press, barely dented its insidious momentum.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised; the same combination of critical avoidance and aggressive TV spottery dragged “Epic Movie” to the top only last week.

Honestly, though, I thought horror fans were more discerning. Didn’t they just shun “The Hitcher”? And wasn’t that supposed to be a good sign?

People, people. I can’t help you if you don’t let me in.