Stir of Echoes

Stir of Echoes is a very good horror thriller in the traditional sense. It's the story of a guy who gets hypnotised and develops precognitive psychic abilities which he can't control.

Kevin Bacon is excellent and shows he can be a leading man, while the rest of the cast performs well. Sets, special effects and cinematography are all very good - nothing flashy but solid.

It has shocks and suspense, especially in the first half, and although it could be accused of being a little clichéd, it never strays too far into the 'seen it all before' category.

The second half of the film turns into a more traditional thriller but still holds up well, unlike similarly themed movies such as 'What Lies Beneath.' This is because it is pleasingly short, lasting around 90 minutes (the correct length for a film of this type). There are some plot strands that aren't explained, but this can be forgiven because of the film's running time.

Although not mind blowing, it has a decent payoff at the end and left me satisfied that I'd just watched a good movie. Not a great one, but a good one. Pick this one up cheap on DVD.

When I review a movie I don't go into plot; you can read that anywhere. I'm a screenwriter myself so I tend to write about idiosyncratic things that you'd not look for, but your mind sees. The film has a fresh story, is beautifully lit, artistically shot, and is worth the watch. In the trivia section, one of the contributors has it exactly correct: what they would do is slow the film speed down as much as possible and have the actress walk as normally as she can. Then they speed the film up to regular speed and all the little mannerisms come out in an eerie sort of ghostly ethereal way. It's not used much - Hitchcock would have loved this technique. Lots of fortuitous things happen, like when Bacon kicks a bucket through a window which was accidental but Bacon had the presence of mind to stay in character thus the shot made the movie. The direction was better than average the acting better than average. Ileana Douglas is always good Bacon is usually good or Erbe is underrated and too seldom cast so you had the makings already of a film that you knew had potential. Add the weird twist and Jennifer Morrison, AKA Doctor Cameron from the show "House", and you have a movie that is great to watch on a rainy Sunday afternoon. I recommend it.

Stir of Echoes (1999) tells the story of Tom, a middle aged man who, after being hypnotized, starts seeing things. This is the start of a suspenseful psychological thriller that sucked me in and did not let go until the credits rolled.

The acting by all the lead and supporting characters is more than adequate. Kevin Bacon is right at home in his role of a somewhat bitter individual who undergoes heavy changes throughout the film. He does a great job, as do the other actors. The film is shot in a sober and down-to-earth way, giving it a serious tone. Plot wise, the movie is also more than decent, with only a few small plot holes which will only bother the most scrutinous of viewers.

The movie's plot does however remind some viewers of other thrillers, mainly The Shining and The Sixth Sense (another 1999 release which overshadowed Stir of Echoes with a larger marketing campaign and larger overall budget). Some aspects of the story are indeed less than original, but the movie as a whole feels different and is very enjoyable.

Overall, the movie falls just short of greatness in its genre. I found the quality and depth of the story to be good, but not quite as good as some of the afore mentioned greats in the thriller/horror genres. even still, I recommend this film to every fan of thrillers and suspense.

This creepy thriller concerns about a family, when the marriage goes to a party into a calmed neighboring, happen weird events. Tom (Kevin Bacon, Sleepers) being hypnotized by his sister in law(Ileana Douglas), then, he winds up with clairvoyant abilities that link to disappeared teen girl(Jennifer Morrison, today famous by House). These faculties also have traumatized his young boy( similarly to kid in ¨The sixth sense, he isn't only one seeing dead), carrying the fear under his frail shoulders, but he can communicate with the deceased adolescent and presumed missing. Tom and son's visions lead to have problems with his wife(Kathryn Erbe, Law and Order) and friends(Kevin Dunn, secondary in Gozzilla). It leads to unexpected and breakthrough twist ending about what's happened before.

The movie packs suspense, tension, shocks, grisly horror and eerie scenes when the ghoul appear. The film takes accent as the suspense as well as the terror. Provides an imaginative, highly original and well-knit screenplay by David Koepp, also director, and based on novel by Richard Matheson. Sinister and mysterious atmosphere is finely made by cameraman Fred Murphy. Creepy music score fitting to the horror film by James Newton Howard, he's habitual maker of frightening atmospheres such as ¨Sixth sense, Devil's advocate¨ and composer of all films by Night Shyamalan. The motion picture is well directed by David Koepp, a famous screenwriter(Zathura, War of the worlds, Spiderman, Mission impossible) and occasionally director(Secret window,The trigger effect). The flick will like to terror fans because gets decent scares and intense sequences of horror.

The biggest problem with Stir of Echoes is the timing of the release. As we all know it was released at the same time as The Sixth Sense and the subject matter is coincidentaly very simular. This film not quite as good as the Bruce Willis classic because i dont think the twist is quite as dramatic. The thing that compares favourably to The Sixth Sense is that Stir Of Echoes is thoroughly entertaining from the first minute. Kevin Bacon Stars as a father who is hypnotised by his sister in law, which results in the opening of his mind to the spirit of a girl who was murdered in his house. His son already had the powers to speak to dead people and together they try to solve why the girl keeps contacting them. The young boy is brilliant in the roll as is Kevin Bacon and the whole film keeps you on the edge of the seat. The way this is filmed is stunning, especially when he is first hypnotised, i nearly went under myself! A Very entertaining movie. 8 out of 10.