The Echo

Ever since I heard about it, I wanted to watch this American production of a Filipino horror film, with the same director (Yam Laranas) at the helm. However, when I heard it went straight to DVD instead of wide theatrical release, I knew I had to temper my expectations.

The first half of this movie moves at a literal snail's pace. There was nothing much to establish, yet it certainly took its time. Bobby Reynolds (Jesse Bradford) earns parole from his prison term and went to live in his mother's apartment, which had been abandoned since her recent death. However, he sees strange things and hears strange sounds while he is there. This entire scenario with the Mom was not in the Philippine version at all, yet so much time was spent on this side story here.

However, in the second half, the movie finally comes alive when the story about the family who lived next door to Bobby finally gets dealt with in more of its gruesome detail. These scary scenes were shot very well, with the right amount of nervous tension. Still we see the victims do what most "horror movie victims" stupidly do to deserve their fates. The ending would seem to be quite simplistic given the extensive build-up to that point. This is especially true for us who had already seen the original before.

Jesse Bradford did well to convey how a macho ex-con could be the central character of a horror film, which is not typical. He did much better than the original actor. I felt it was too bad that Iza Calzado, who was given the chance to reenact her original role in this American version, was given little opportunity to fully delve into her disturbed character of the abused wife. Some time could have been spent to describe her situation more, than the excessive time given Jesse to explore his apartment. Knowing her character more could have increased the audience's satisfaction with the story's final outcome.

The Echo had a handful of scenes with an uncomfortable creepiness akin to classic J-Horror. Rarely do I reach for the remote anymore having experienced most every range of horror film out there, but this one seeped under my skin and had me on edge more than twice. And it is that sort of unsettling moodiness combined with frights you hafta' be paying attention to catch. You know, the kind where after they've come and gone you must back em up for a second take. Truly those "WTF" type instances.

Jesse Bradford plays Bobby, a twenty something recently released from prison after doing a stint for killing a guy who attempted to rape his HOT girlfriend (played by Ameiia Warner) in a restroom. Having nowhere else to go, he heads back to the ol' East Village NYC neighborhood. Mom has died a spooky death from starvation, he learns, when he moves in to her old apartment. There's bloody fingernails on the piano keys and rumbles in the walls and a mean-looking cop next door who enjoys beating his wife and little girl. Bobby starts to see things, though, and these things aren't making any sense and they're a bit ghastly to boot. It's when Bobby decides he can no longer put up with the abuse he is overhearing next door and reports it to the cops, only to have them respond to a completely vacant apartment next door, that things go from odd to friggin' strange.

Bobby's apartment reminded me a lot of the apartment in the game Silent Hill 4: The Room with its eerily watered down dingy browns and rusts. There are holes in the peeling plaster walls and everything gives off the mood of worn and filthy. It's a truly lonely place that flattened my spirits each time Bobby returned home.

The Echo is not without its disappointments and inconsistencies which converge on a far too abrupt ending that leaves the viewer feeling a bit jipped. Oh well, though. It is a decently freaky ride getting there.

I'll say something for The Echo... it'll keep you guessing about what the heck is going on. This feeling doesn't subside over the ending credits, BTW.

After a very s-l-o-w beginning (a few more impatient people may give up by then) of a guy wondering around a crappy apartment building not doing very much else, we finally get to the meat of the action. This involves the dude witnessing a vicious assault on the lady next door by her thug of a husband.

What complicates things is that the hubby is a cop, and the guy is a freshly released ex-con, and we think this'll cause the central conflict: should the dude report the abusive husband to the police, and risk getting himself sent down again by corrupt officers? After all, the couple do a have a (somewhat creepy) little girl as well to consider the safety of...

Nothing like as simple. He discovers later that the apartment next door has been abandoned for years and is in a state of complete disrepair, so the guy reaches the not impossible conclusion he might be going crazy. That is, until his girlfriend visits him, and starts experiencing strange visions herself...

The middle section of The Echo is it's strongest suite, with a tangible sense of suspense lingering in the air. Nervous tenants at the block reveal horrible secrets about the past, ghoulish hallucinations pop out of nowhere and the meandering film finally starts to develop a true sense of purpose.

That is, until the finale... which is big on sound and fury but offers little in the way of proper explanation. I THINK I got it after a bit of thought, but the confused ending also raises more questions than it answers.

Like, how the... oops, I don't want to go into a lot of detail. Spoilers, and all that. Just ask yourself one question afterwards, though... did you, as an honest viewer, feel completed satisfied with what you just saw?

My confident guess for the vast majority would be a resounding 'no'. 5/10

I find it ridiculous that this movie didn't get a good release while the likes of Boogeyman, They, The Unborn, and countless other Asian film remakes did! This movie is worth your time, to say the least.

I won't really say it's slow paced as things started the moment the lead character got in the apartment. But it definitely is boring if your concept of a horror movie is limited to gore and run-for-your-life scenes after every 5 minutes of dialogue. This is more of an "alone at night horror movie" than an "invite friends over and have popcorn" type. The enjoyment lies in the appreciation of story, texture, and creepy atmosphere of the film, which the director served in good proportions.

I liked how Yam Laranas outdid himself in the remake. The story is tighter, and the American lead actors were better than their Filipino counterparts...though I can't say the same for the supporting characters.

In closing, let me just debunk a review here which commented on the other users' comments instead of commenting on the movie (and I'm committing the same crime now), but The Echo is at the very least a decent ghost movie...to call it "half-decent" is already being silly. The film is No Exorcist, but to discredit it just to balance out the opinion of those who thought it was good is self-deception.

The movie is not without its imperfections, but it won't make you cry for your 90 minutes. Many contemporary horror movies did worse.

After reading the other reviews I feel compelled to right a comment on this movie.

The other reviews describe it as a future 'cult hit', it is compared to 'The Exorcist' and how it is so realistic - 'something that may have happened in reality'?

Really! Well no, not at all, on any level. It is far too generic to be a cult hit, seen this type of film a million times (think 'Grudge' or 'The Ring' or any other east Asian remake), it is not even slightly like 'The Exorcist' (the build up really isn't that slow) and why the comparison is made I'll never know, as for realistic - gimmie a break, it's realistic if you live in 'spooky Asian ghost land', and last time I checked that place wasn't real.

So, in a nutshell what we have is a half decent ghost story that we've all seen before. If you've seen any of the other East Asia movie remakes then you know what to expect. In fact the 'scary' parts are identical in all the remakes - pale Asian lady and/or child pulling scary faces and moving about a bit strange.

I find it strange that when Hollywood remakes an Asian film they transplant China or were ever the original was made for the USA (Grudge being an exception), make all the characters Caucasian, but leave the scary people as Asians! Were the scary people in the Asian version Caucasian? No, so why not transplant the whole thing, I mean it's almost racist, and Asian women walking weird aren't scary!

Anyway, rant over, overall it's OK as a rental, but nothing to shout about.

5/10