Echoes - Stimmen aus der Zwischenwelt

Tom (Kevin Bacon) has hypnotized by his sister-in-law, played by Illeana Douglas, and from then on his life's a little....well, weird. He sees a ghost of a disappeared girl, and he's not the only one - his young son's been seeing the spectre for weeks. What unfolds after that is that Tom slips further and further into imminent madness. His wife Maggie (Kathryn Erbe) can't fathom his insanity, and it's driving her up the wall, as both of the men in her life are increasingly distant and non-communicative. So what happened to Tom when he was under hypnosis? His sister-in-law claims there's a door in everyone's mind that's never been opened, and it sure looks like Tom's door is wide open, with a big neon sign over it, inviting him to run through with abandon. What's behind all of this freakiness? There's a mystery afoot, but it turns out to be a little more standard and predictable than one would hope with the solid premise. Can't fault the actors, though - this is an unusual role for Bacon, who here comes off as a tough, strong, blue-collar kind of guy - he and his family are close to what one might call white trash, but they're never portrayed as being mean-spirited or hateful. This is just one of those cases where weird stuff happens to nice folk, kind of like the clan in "Poltergeist."

So this is a stylish psychological/supernatural thriller with game performances by a capable cast. It's watchable and full of chills, but the ending's a little pat.