Stir of Echoes (1999)

The only real problem with Stir of Echoes has nothing to do with the movie itself, but with unlucky coincidence. Adapted from a Richard Matheson novel, this film arrived around the same time as The Sixth Sense, and surface similarities made it suffer by cursory comparison and the competing film's phenomenal success. It's a pity, because this one features one of Kevin Bacon's best performances, in a psychological thriller that makes a lot more right moves than wrong ones. Bacon plays a blue-collar guy who laments his ordinary life, only to learn, when his sister-in-law (Ileanna Douglas) hypnotizes him, that he is a "receiver" capable of seeing spirits and split-second glimpses of past and future events. It's a torturous gift to have--especially since his friendly Chicago neighborhood possesses a dark secret--and Bacon plays the role with an appropriate mixture of obsession and internalized torment.

Similarity to The Sixth Sense applies only to the basic premise and the character of Bacon's young son. Otherwise, this is more of a hard-edged journey of self-discovery, marital crisis, and recovery, with Bacon's wife (played by the highly underrated Kathryn Erbe) involved in an underdeveloped subplot about a group of people who share Bacon's gift as paranormal "receivers." Furthering his career as a writer-director of intelligent thrillers, David Koepp makes a few missteps in pacing and thematic overkill, but overall Stir of Echoes is a sharp, sensitive thriller that unfolds to reveal a dramatically satisfying solution to its mystery. --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com

Stir of Echoes

Wish I had known about all the bad language before I had gotton the movie, aside from that, the plot was good and I enjoyed the story line in the movie. It was a bit predictable though. Kevin Bacon was good in the movie; played a good role as someone hounded by a ghost. A bit unrealistic that his wife would have put up with all the crap he was giving her! Guess it was real love! April 28, 2008

A solid supernatural thriller that many will enjoy.

Stir of Echoes is a supernatural thriller starring Kevin Bacon. When it was realeased in theaters it was percieved as a Sixth Sense wannabe but it is actually a very good film now that it can be viewed on its own. Based on the story by Richard Matheson (who was an influence on Stephen King), it is the story of average guy Tom Witzky (Bacon in an outstanding performance) who lives in a working class Chicago neighborhood and undergoes hypnotizm at a party. That experience changes him and now he has visions and intuitive feelings that understandably begin to creep him out, particularly since he did not believe in the supernatural until this stuff started happening to him. The mystery he uncovers is not that complex but it is still suspenseful to see unfold. His new insight drives him to behave in eratic ways putting stress on his wife and son but leading to eerie results. I think that family relationship is the most interesting part of the film. In hindsight this movie has only a couple of similarities with Sixth Sense: a kid who talks to the dead; a ghost that wants something from the living. But it also has much in common with Stephen King's work (and probably a number of other ghost stories). I think some of the photography prefigures the interest in Japanese horror films here in America. And setting the film in Chicago was an interesting choice as well. David Koepp wrote and directed the film. He helped Michael Crichton write the screenplay to Jurrasic Park which I was not a fan of but I think this is a film he can be proud of. It is a solid supernatural thriller that many will enjoy. March 28, 2008

Absorbing supernatural movie!

Tom Witzky (Kevin Bacon) who's just your basic working father in Chicago with a wife named Maggie(Kathryn Erbe) and a son named Jake (Zachery David). One night, Maggie's sister Lisa (Illena Douglas) believes in psychic communication as she challenges him to be hypnotized by her. It unfortunately gave some side effects to him as he has bizarre visions of violence and sees the spirit of a dead woman that died some time ago in the neighborhood yet he also sees her spirit. His son also has a similar power but only calm to spirits, Tom must find clues of the dead woman so he can get rid of his unwanted powers and find a way to let her spirit rest.

Intriguing and smart psychological supernatural horror thriller based on a novel by Richard Matheson is one of the most overlooked horror movies of all time. It was originally made in 1998 then released later in September 1999 on the month after the successful similar movie "The Sixth Sense", some folks and critics have compared to the other movie while some have declaired this to be the better of the two. Sure "The Sixth Sense" was an excellent movie in it's own right but this is a more involving and scary thrill-ride as it's truly the best horror movie of 1999 and a must see.

This Special Edition DVD contains very good extras like audio commentary, Deleted scenes, Screen test clips, Behind The Scenes/Final Shot Comparisons, Featurettes and Music video.

Also recommended: "Poltergeist", "The Others", "Silent Hill", "Final Destination Trilogy", "Saw II", "The Tenent", "Sixth Sense", "Making Contact (a.k.a. Joey)", "The Haunting (1963)", "The Shining", "Legend of HellHouse" and "The Ring (Japanese and American)". February 20, 2008

Great movie

I enjoy watching Kevin Bacon. This is one I watch over and over. I would recommend it to anyone who likes a good spooky movie. January 20, 2008

Finding that "open door"

Samuel Taylor Coleridge once described it as a "willing suspension of disbelief." If you read a book or see a movie that stretches the boundaries of reality, or so you believe, but the art compels you to enter into its dimension and you do so, you have willingly suspended your disbelief.

Are there ghosts? If so, can they visit their needs upon us? Can they grab our attention and demand justice? Is it possible for hypnosis to "open doors to the impossible?" Director David Koepp and his convincing cast make the viewer want to suspend disbelief and join them in this 94-minute excursion into the world beyond death.

As usual, Kevin Bacon, one of our best actors, delivers a convincing performance as Tom, the ultimate skeptic. His apology to Maggie for his ordinariness seems out of place at the time, but it foreshadows the unlikely event to follow: his dip into otherworldliness. Another seemingly incongruous scene places Jake (Zachary David Cope) and Maggie (Kathryn Erbe) at a cemetery, where Jake, by seeming happenstance, meets Neil, another open-door traveler into the other world. It is Neil's explanation that helps Maggie grasp the intensity of Tom's visions, but not understand them.

A spare economy of scenes makes each one pertinent to plot development, a sort of one-thing-leads-to-another-to-another-and so on. Maggie's visit to Neil causes her to put a knife in her purse. Her grandmother dies, removing Jake from his bed of feathers. Jake reminds his mother to take her purse, which, of course, puts the knife at hand for the ending. None of this is spoiler material. If you read this beforehand, it will mean nothing except a clicking into place as you view. Afterward, you will say, Aha!

Crime will out, especially when the echoes of the dead, once living, find an "open door" to stir through and demand help. Once satisfied, the dead can move on to wherever they go, calmly and peacefully. The door, however, remains ajar. And those voices, those echoes of the dead, know where those doors are. December 19, 2007

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