Stir of Echoes
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Illeana Douglas, Kathryn Erbe, Kevin Bacon, Kevin Dunn, Zachary David CopeDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 99 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-02-01
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Live / Artisan
Movie Reviews of Stir of Echoes
Movie Review: A mesmerizing, intelligent supernatural thriller
Summary: 5 Stars
Stir of Echoes has something that most movies do not have-a story adapted from a Richard Matheson novel. I haven't had a chance to read this particular novel as of yet and thus cannot say how closely the movie follows it, but the fact that we have this movie as a result of director David Koepp's chance reading of the highly talented Matheson's 1958 novel is a powerful argument for keeping the works of the truly great writers in print and readily available to all. Certainly, there is a Sixth Sense quality to this movie, quite by accident and somewhat to its misfortune in terms of the timing of its theatrical release, but this movie stands on its own quite nicely. Kevin Bacon gives a remarkable performance as Tom Witzky, a man haunted by visions he can neither understand nor escape from. These disturbing visions first come to him after he is hypnotized by his sister-in-law at a party, and almost immediately they begin to consume him. His wife Maggie (Kathryn Erbe) grows frantic with worry, while his son Jake (Zachary David Cope making his feature film debut) eases his transition into this strange new mental world. Jake has been talking to ghosts throughout his childhood, especially Samantha, the teenager Tom unexpectedly encounters on his couch that first night and seeks to "find" again. Samantha wants him to do something, and Tom's struggle involves finding out just what that something is. There are plenty of creepy scenes to be enjoyed, and the visual presentation of Samantha is especially well done; the unnatural way she moves was captured by having Jennifer Morrison walk especially slowly and filming her using a different frame rate than normal. It's remarkably effective. The visions are also impressive-we see what Tom sees and can understand the frustration he feels at not being able to interpret them. All he gets are scattered images, and it is up to him to put all of the pieces of the puzzle together. The mystery of Samantha's disappearance is not obvious, thank goodness, and this fact allows for a truly spectacular end to this movie. This is a thoroughly enjoyable, thought-provoking film, one more than capable of pleasing stalwart horror lovers like myself as well as more mainstream viewers who wander into the realm of the cinematic supernatural only on special occasions or by accident. The acting is superb on all counts, from Bacon on down the line to Cope, and the rather subdued special effects really work marvelously and help reinforce the believability of the otherwise fantastic story. There is a definite air of realism and plausibility here, and that helps maintain a crucial connection between the audience and the film.
The special features offered on the DVD are good things to have, but they don't really increase your enjoyment of the movie itself. The featurette is actually rather short in length and mainly features short interviews with the cast and crew. The behind the scenes featurette seems rather strange; you just get very short looks at cast and crew preparing or doing their work, and there is no effort to explain anything that you are seeing. Of course, the DVD also features a commentary by director David Koepp for those who really want to dig deeply into the genesis of this action-packed thriller. I was disappointed to find no deleted scenes included on the DVD, though; normally, I'm not that high on deleted scenes because most of the time it is quite easy to see why they were deleted. In the production notes for Stir of Echoes, though, Koepp refers to a scene featuring Samantha which he found too creepy to include in the final cut; I would really have liked to have a look at that scene.
Stir of Echoes is a great example of realistic suspense done right. Foregoing blood and heavy-handed horror tactics, director David Koepp has succeeded in giving us an electrifying, deliciously creepy, intellectually stimulating supernatural thriller every bit as exciting and memorable as The Sixth Sense.
Summary of Stir of Echoes
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
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