Stir of Echoes (Special Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Kevin Bacon does fine in a Richard Matheson ghost story
Review: "Stir of Echoes" succeeds because of the talents of a pair of individuals who are under-appreciated in Hollywood. First, there is Richard Matheson, whose novel is adapted here by writer-director David Koepp. Just in terms of novels that have been made into movies Matheson has on his resume "I Am Legend," "What Dreams May Come," "Bid Time Return" (filmed as "Somewhere in Time"), "Someone Is Bleeding," "Hell House," and "The Shrinking Man" (which the babysitter is reading in this movie). There we can talk about 16 episodes of "The Twilight Zone," the scripts for the television movies "Duel" and "The Night Talker," and the screenplays for "House of Usher" and "The Pit and the Pendulum." Matheson should be mentioned in the same breath with Rod Serling and Stephen King, and have his name appear before the title, but after all these years I am left with the feeling that the only ones who have always recognized Matheson as being that good are fellow writers like Serling and King.

The other person whose reputation with audiences is not as good as it is with his peers is Kevin Bacon. The actor held his own with Oscar winners Sean Penn and Tim Robbins in "Mystic River," and while there were certainly reviews that noted how well he did in his less flashier role, you know that most audience members cannot think of him with (a) figuring out how to get from whatever movie they are watching to one in which he starred, (b) humming the theme from "Footloose," or (c) both. In "Stir of Echoes" it is Bacon's performance of a working stiff that grounds Matheson's ghost story in the world of the living, which is what makes it chilling.

There is a sense in which "Stir of Echoes" is a combination of "The Sixth Sense" and "Mystic River," but simply on the level where we have a ghost story set in a working class neighborhood. Tom (Bacon) is married to Maggie (Kathryn Erbe), and they have a five-year-old named Jake (Zachary David Cope). They never notice that their son talks to somebody who is not there and asks questions about whether it hurts to be dead. One night at a party Tom agrees to be hypnotized by Maggie's sister, Lisa (Illeana Doulgas), who plays around with the idea of being a New Age mystic. When Tom comes out of his trance he is not quite sure what happened while he was under. But when he starts seeing the ghost of a young girl (Jenny Morrison), he knows it has something to do with being hypnotized and eventually Lisa confesses that she did make a post-hypnotic suggestion that she thought would improve her brother-in-law.

Tom's life starts coming apart as he becomes obsessed with finding out what the ghost wants, especially once he learns that her name is Samantha and that she was a girl from the neighborhood who disappeared the year before. Tom never wanted to be famous, but he is bothered by the fact that his life is so ordinary. Well, those days (and nights) are behind him now. It is up to his wife to have a chance encounter with the person, Neil the Cop (Eddie Bo Smith Jr.) who explains what has happened: a switch has been thrown and Tom is now a receiver. If he does not do what the ghost requires, then he will never be free. But Tom does not understand what is required and risks losing not only his job, but his friends and family.

The rule in films such as this one is to express madness by going over the top, but Bacon heads in the opposite direction. As he is confronted with nightmarish visions he becomes more withdrawn. Characters haunted by ghosts are rarely so soft spoken. Bacon's choice is perfect for both the character and the story, for when Samantha is able to communicate a single word, "Dig," it reinforces the idea that the truth of this tale is buried not only with Tom's house, but within himself as well. His acceptance of what he is being asked to do has elements is more than weary resignation, for he understands that there is a wrong to be righted.

How good of a ghost story you think "Stir of Echoes" ends up having to do with how far ahead you get of Tom in his quest to put everything together. Once Tom starts digging he spends a lot of time digging in the wrong places, and while he is busy doing that pieces start to fall into place. Koepp plays with us a bit with regards to what is really happening to Tom and his visions. The ones from the past are easy to figure out, but there are also looks into the future that can fake you out, which can be annoying as well. But Bacon's performance makes up for these flaws and even if the endgame of "Stir of Echoes" takes the story back to familiar ground, it is still a lot better than most of the horror films I have seen since this 1999 film came out.

Rating:
Summary: Sixth Sense of Kevin Bacon
Review: Although it doesn't seem as original as The Sixth Sense, Kevin Bacon carries it off. A fun scary popcorn thinking flick.

Rating:
Summary: Intense psychological thriller
Review: Although it was branded as a variation on "The Sixth Sense", "Stir of Echoes" (based on Richard Matheson's terrific novel "A Stir of Echoes" I guess the "A" got lost on the way to the box office)focuses on what director/writer David Koepp does best. Koepp's film createa an intense psychological thriller where everyone believes the main character is crazy except us. We know what he knows and, as a result, we fear for his sanity almost as much as his loved ones because we know he isn't insane.

Kevin Bacon gives a startling and powerful performance as a Tom Witzky a regular family guy who, after being hynotized by his sister-in-law (Illeana Douglas) begins seeing visions that suggest a murdered girl's ghost is trying to communicate with him. He's driven to try and uncover who committed the murder but, more importantly, help put her soul to rest before he loses his mind and his family. Koepp's film eschews conventional "horror" film conventions because it isn't a horror film at all.

Overlooked when it was first released, "Stir of Echoes" has one of Bacon's best, most intense performances. The imaginative, sharp direction also highlights Matheson's haunting ghost story. This new special edition has most of the features of the earlier release plus a number of new featurettes including "The Mind's Eye: Beneath the Trance", "Sight of Spirits: Channeling the Paranormal", "Special Effects Featurette" plus deleted scenes, a production design featurette and other extras. We also get Director David Koepp's original commentary track from the previous edition, the music video "Breathe" by Moist and the two making of featurettes.

The transfer itself appears to be a new transfer with slightly better image quality than the previous edition. The exceptional soundtrack also has a new 6.1 DTS commentary plus a Dolby Digital 5.1 EX remix of the soundtrack as well. The sound is crisp without a hint of the compression that frequently mars most transfers. Overall, a terrific transfer plus some nice extras. There's also a booklet with the chapter stops and some interesting trivia on the making of the movie.

Rating:
Summary: SLEEP...SLEEP...SLEEP
Review: and so our protagonist Tom (Kevin Bacon) slips into a deep hypnotic state, and after he awakens, he starts to "receive" messages from the supernatural. This is the basis for a very scary story which takes place in a close-knit, blue-collarish town where everyone knows their neighbors...but not as well as they think! Bacon's acting is right on the money. I especially liked the supposed blue-collar speak: Aye, how youse doin'? He convincingly acts terrified, confused, & sad...a man on the brink of going looney. Rounding out the cast is the always quirky-yet-attractive Illeana Douglas, down-to-earth sexy Kathryn Erbe as Tom's wife, and playing Tom's son, Jake, Zachary David Cope does a fairly good imitation of the kid from "The Sixth Sense". ( The kid here, you see, has always "received" the same messages!) The director & writer, David Koepp uses a great visual style to move things along, as well as a few neat special FX shots as the supernatural forces come to light. The scene where Tom first goes under hypnosis is very very effective...I almost felt like I was being hypnotized as I wathced...you will too. Thoroughly enjoyable. Great extras. Well worth the price of ownership.

Rating:
Summary: Open Your Mind ... Now
Review: As a hypnotist, the main attraction for me in this movie were bits dealing with hypnosis and Kevin Bacon did a great acting job.

All the fun begins after Kevin Bacon, unhappy with his life, becomes hypnotized, just as an experiment and is given a suggestion to open his mind. He begins having visions which won't leave him alone, until he chooses to do something about them. He doesn't like this new gift and would be happy to get rid of it, but there is no way out than to go ahead and get to the bottom of it and follow what he's instructed to do. With each new step, he unveiles the crime that was done many years ago. The movie is a suspenseful horror movie, but it does have some humorous elements.

Rating:
Summary: Scary,with some great acting.
Review: David Koepp who wrote and directed "Secret Window" and has written movies like "Panic Room", "Spider-Man",and "Jurrasic Park",made a pretty darned genius film that was pretty underated.
Keopp like M.Night Shyamalan relies on sound effects and quick snippets of gory things,like fingernails snapping off someones hand to scare you but Koepp makes it work.Kevin Bacon gives a great performance,I mean there's no way he would get an Oscar nomination for this movie or anything but it's a good performance. Bacon plays Tom. A blue collar man with a wife and boy who acts rather strangeley,talking to himself or is it someone else.One night at a party his hypnotist sister-in-law hypnotizes him and after that he begins seeing and hearing horrifying visions of a dead girl.What happens next is basically a cliche,with Tom attempting to discover the secret of the ghost.
While his son continues to talk to her. I bought the original version but when this version came out,I bought this version and sold the other one and this is definitley a better DVD. It's got
some of the same things,commentary by David Koepp and such(which people should listen too). But it has some new,improved features.
The case is rather loose and maddening but whatever. Illeana Scott is great in the film as is the little boy who plays Kevin Bacon's son. Now another thing I must mention is that the film isn't really a mystery,it's not to hard to figure out what's happening but,the film is really good either way.B+,

Rating:
Summary: It gets under your skin!
Review: Director David Koepp has a frightening track record: A blockbuster smash movie OR an excellent flick that gets ruthlessly ignored...no in-betweens! Tom Witzky (Bacon) is too "ordinary" until sister in law, Lisa, hypnotizes him and makes him a "magnet" to the unknown. His son, Jake (Cope), already talks to ghosts not seen by anyone until Tom begins to see, feel, and hear what Jake does. Tom's wife, Maggie (Kathryn Erbe), is oblivious to all of this. Members of the neighborhood has a well-kept secret that is not about to re-surface any time soon until Tom flips out and supernaturally gets all the answers. Great film that was ignored because of the similarities with "The Sixth Sense". Personally, I feel this flick is creepier! Worth the buy!

Rating:
Summary: ONE OF THE BETTER HORROR FILMS OF THE 90's
Review: I bought this DVD from my work not knowing what to expect. I had never seen this film when it was in theaters and it didn't get that great of reviews, but I thought I'd give it a try anyways. Yes, in case you are wondering, I did say "bought" not rented. I was quite surprised by the performances and story that was brought before me. This movie was excellent. My eyes were glued to the story and I commend David Koepp for creating a terrifying, but engaging script. I loved it. Kevin Bacon did his part (as he does all of his acting parts) to perfection. I am glad I bought this DVD. It has so many extras that you can't help but want to take a look at it. This is one of the best horror films I've seen this year. And forget what you hear about this film taking everything from The Sixth Sense. The basis for this movie was a 1958 novel by Richard Matheson called "A Stir of Echoes" so dismiss the thoughts of ripoff you may have heard. Besides, if "Stir of Echoes" had been released before "The Sixth Sense" then maybe it would have been this past summer's "sleeper hit." Who knows. Anyways, check this film out on a Friday night, crank up the receiver/sound system and get ready for some nailbiting, spine-tingling, horrific entertainment.

Rating:
Summary: Scary and Unique
Review: I thought this movie was well written. It's not a blood and guts horror film, it's a ghost story (I thought the ghost was pretty scary too).

It's by far not the most scariest movie I've ever scene, but it's scary in all the right places. No cheesiness, no blood and gore...just a well written, ghost story.

Rating:
Summary: 5 STARS FOR SCARING ME OUT OF MY WITS!
Review: If you're super cynical, you might view Stir Of Echos as just a trumped up murder mystery with supernatural overtones and some oddly coincidental parallels to the Sixth Sense thrown in; (although I just recently found out who might have been copying whom)! However, if you're honest, you'll have to admit that Stir Of Echos is incredibly suspenseful (definitely Edge Of The Seat stuff!) totally riveting, and far, far CREEPIER than the Sixth Sense! In this movie, (starring Kevin Bacon) the lead character is hypontized on a drunken whim, at a party. Afterwards, he starts experiencing some very bizarre hallucinations as he realizes a "door" to another world has been opened up in his brain! As he desperately tries to get to the bottom of these terrifying images and visions he's seeing, he loses interest in his job, his family; everything! An intriguing plot, that does not disappoint! My opinion? Watch it and view for yourself! (But DON'T watch it alone)!