Ecos do Além

(A) The Sixth Sense and Stir of Echoes must have been the two movies of '99 that I enjoyed the most. Both had good scripts and stories; they were interesting, mysterious, dark, weird -- those are my kinds of movies! They are also a proof that the mysteriousness of ghosts is something we will never tire of or not think to be intriguing.

Stir of Echoes was somewhat similar to Sixth Sense but it was also in many was DIFFERENT. First of all, it (SOE) is dealing with hypnosis and has a more 'criminal' as well as supernatural theme.

This movie is spectacular and the reason it was not recognized as such, is because it was released just a few weeks after The Sixth Sense - a movie which had already satisfied the audience with its supernatural theme. And because The Sixth Sense was such a hit, Stir of Echoes was shoved aside and didn't get the recognition it deserved. Don't get me wrong! I loved Sixth Sense, but this movie is also very good and if you liked The Sixth Sense, I highly recommend you see it!

I have always admired and marveled at Kevin Bacon's versatility as an actor. From the likable fish-out-of-water guy who trips the light-fantastic through a piece of fluff like FOOTLOOSE, to putting everything on the line to play a pedophile in the unnerving THE WOODSMAN, there's hardly anything he can't - or won't do - to show his amazing range.

That being said, STIR OF ECHOES still holds what is for me one of his all-time Top Five performances.

He plays Tom Witzky, a regular mug living with his family in a working-class suburb of Chicago. Though he loves his family, hotter-than-hot wife Maggie (Kathryn Erbe) and precocious son Jake (Zachary David Cope), he's also a man becoming bored with his life. He wants to do and be something more than who and what he is.

Obviously, the old adage "be careful what you wish for" went right over Tom's head.

At a party for family and friends, Tom volunteers to be hypnotized by his flaky sister-in-law, Lisa (the always excellent Illeana Douglas), who makes a powerful suggestion to Tom that his mind takes literally. What happens next will change his life and everyone's around him forever.

A 'doorway' has been opened inside Tom's head that allows him to communicate with the dead, and for them to reach out and touch him...whether he wants to or not. When the "nightmares" that he's been having begin to intensify, Tom knows he must find a way to close that doorway for good before he loses his family...and his sanity. The urgency is heightened when he discovers how sensitive he was before the hypnotic suggestion, in the most chilling way possible...it seems that son Jake can see and talk to the dead as well.

In the tradition of THE CHANGELING, LADY IN WHITE and THE SIXTH SENSE, the focus of Tom's visions comes from one apparition in particular, who won't leave him or his family in peace until he can figure out what it wants and why. The situation provides fodder for one intense and terrifying performance, and with help from a strong supporting cast, Bacon comes through like a champ.

When movies like this are adapted from older works by classic authors, I usually proceed with the greatest caution. But Richard Matheson's creepy novel has been skillfully transformed by David Koepp, a man who knows a little bit about balancing thoughtful plotting and dialogue with outright terror, (as in APARTMENT ZERO) and the outstanding job he does here will make you think twice the next time somebody wants to 'put you out' at a party with something more than just shots of Captain Morgan...

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.

Before 1999 this type of supernatural thrillers/horror didn't really existed. This all changed after the release of "The Sixth Sense". It was an huge hit and the movie was the talk of the year. It launched a totally new genre of movies. Every movie of the same 'type' released after "The Sixth Sense" was considered by everyone lame, unoriginal and a rip-off and a movie to quickly cash in after the success of "The Sixth Sense". "Stir of Echoes" was released only a month after "The Sixth Sense" and people wanted to know nothing of it. Completely unfair, also since I thought that the script was even being written before "The Sixth Sense" was and I also thought that filming completed earlier but yet it was released later in cinemas. Who knows what would have happened to this movie if it was released before "The Sixth Sense...It surely would had been appreciate more than it was now.

I'm glad that the movie by now is finally starting to receive the credit it deserves.

You also have to remember that in 1999 these type of movies were still fresh and new, so everything about it was original. However by todays standards the movie perhaps doesn't really seem that original anymore, since dozens like this sort of movie are being made every year now.

The story is greatly written by David Koepp, who really is one of the best writers in the business. Everything is build up perfectly slowly and mysteriously. You never know what is going to happen next and the movie offers more than enough surprise. In the beginning you really don't know what the movie is going to be about or were its trying to head to. You don't know if its real what is happening or is it just the main character imagining things. It provides the movie with mystery and an uneasy atmosphere.

The movie above all is a supernatural thriller (that also definitely has some similarities by the way with "The Sixth Sense", which also might be a reason why it was received so coolly) but the movie also features some real horror elements. And remember again, this was all quite new and refreshing for 1999 standards. I was actually quite blown away by the movie when I first saw it, which must have been in 2000 or something.

Kevin Bacon is really know for being the biggest Hollywood lead and he normally plays supporting roles, especially before this movie. This movie is perhaps the first one that truly allows Bacon to shine and show his skill as an actor and proof to the world that he can really carry a movie. It was nice and refreshing to see Kathryn Erbe in something different than "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" for a change. She plays such a different character. It shows how good as an actress she actually is.

The movie is well directed by David Koepp himself and he knows how to bring his own story to the screen. The movie further more features some nice special effects, that are used only in the right places. The movie is still definitely much better and more refreshing than most genre movies being released today.

Deserves to become a real genre-classic!

9/10

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Actually, I found this movie more satisfying than "Sixth sense". It doesn't have a stunning payoff like "sixth sense" (what film does?), but until the, in some ways hasty, conclusion, it's well made, scary and, since I have a knowledge of occult things through a good friend, rather believable. Kevin Bacon is credible in his part and so do Illeana Douglas. Kathryn Erbe however is stuck with nothing to do for large chunks of the movie. Effectively and atmosphericly shot, with some effective jolts that made me jump. To some, the conclusion may be a little simple and drawn-out, but I thought it was satisfying and filled to the brim with suspense. I find that the digging in the cellar/garden is a nice build-up for the finale, not that it goes on forever as a previous reviewer stated. It's only one thing that bothers me about the ending, and it is that too little is explained and a few threads of the story are totally abandoned. But that's only a minor complaint. For the most part, this is a creepy, interesting, well-made, scary and well played little thriller.