Echoes

3.5 / 10.

It was interesting and had an okay mystery, but in the end I didn't like it. Also, I didn't like it because it's not well explained and has nothing to do with sleep paralysis. The acting was okay, but it's not horror.

So it's not a fantastic film, but I did enjoy it. A slow start to the film, but it kept my attention and hot me thinking.The only thing annoys me about it, is the way it was ended was left open for a prequel, which would of been interesting to see where the writer would of taken it.

Scenic Joshua tree locations and modern architecture accent Echoes, a stylish supernatural thriller. In yet the latest horror happening featuring, what else, a writer summoning up the occult, independent filmmaker Nils Trim blends stalker elements with phantasmagoria and tribal mythology in this Southwest supernatural whodunit. In it, Anna (Kate French) is an aspiring writer who suffers from a few minor, common psychological issues, such as partially waking from chronic nightmares only to experience ghastly hallucinations while trapped in a state of sleep paralysis. OK, maybe that's not so minor or common.

But heavily medicated Anna has a solution that she thinks will provide good therapy for her condition: spend several days alone, mostly in her underwear, at her boyfriend's curtain-less glass house, It's OK, nobody will see her and fixate upon her -the only other person around for miles is a shadowy, lurking, unshaven man with no fixed address or US citizenship, who's squatting in a decaying trailer a few hundred meters away. There will be plenty of peace and quiet. too. This plot of land, renowned for the perplexing, fatal disappearance of its previous owner, is so isolated from civilization, there's not even any cell phone reception.

Makes sense.

What could possibly go wrong with this idea?

Well, plenty as it turns out, when Anna promptly runs afoul of an apparent wendigo -a particularly malignant one -who fixates upon and sets out to possess her. Plenty of strange occurrences ensue, some of which demand that we accept characters' unlikely choices, and forgive lengthy exposition at the end revealing a complex and melodramatically sensational back-story explanation. But then this is horror, and horror tales and movies often require that we accept melodramatically sensational back-stories, because if we insist upon being too logically demanding and analytic, we might reject the ideas of monsters and ghosts altogether.

So we shall allow Echoes to take its artistic license with the credible, we will enjoy its unusual twists and unpredictable, if not illogical turns, because in addition to having some tense moments which are really scary (an increasingly rare commodity in horror movies), Echoes showcases arresting locations and surreal dream sequences emphasized by striking cinematography.

Viewers may recognize actor Steven Brand, who plays Ana's boyfriend, from The Scorpion King, and the HBO series The Mind of the Married Man, and Kate French from horror movies Sutures and Channeling. Perhaps the most interesting cast members in Echoes however are cute Oxley, the dog who plays Ana's canine companion "Shadow," with almost human expressiveness, and in a sense, the boyfriend's modernist glass house itself, which features prominently in the film and bears a strong resemblance to the historic Stahl House, a Los Angeles landmark used as a location in numerous films, photo-shoots and ads.

Not an outstanding story in itself except for it's concept Sleep Paralysis, but solid and a good classic revenge story. Except Billy Wirth and Steven Brand, the cast was unknown to me, but holds up the performances pretty good throughout. Lead actress is at times hard to empathize with and would have liked to feel more depth to her particular performance, but generally believable. Sleep paralysis is an intriguing phenomenon and first time I have seen this in a feature. Found myself researching for quite a while after watching the movie and was surprised this phenomenon has not been played out in a movie until now. The music is tasteful and interesting choice of house where the story plays out. Definitely has the look, pacing and feel of a European movie. The most action happens towards the end, which I would have wanted a bit more of throughout. Not a bad movie, quite unique of its kind today, so I would personally recommend it.

Interesting premise, poor execution. Anna Parker (French) is a writer who is at the mercy of sleep paralysis that brings about frightening visions. On the advice of her boyfriend Paul (Brand) she takes a trip to a house in the desert, where her visions become more "frightening." In actuality, there are no scares here, just a series of scenes that move at a tortoise's pace and does nothing to hold the viewer's attention. You'd get more frights from a rerun of "Pee-Wee's Playhouse." This is a Netflix film, and the quality of that service has become mediocre at best, and just think: these are the folks who knocked Blockbuster out of the game.