#STIR OF ECHOES SONG MOVIE#

Kevin Bacon is good, but he can’t make the movie a winner through and through. It has a decent story, but the story unfolds poorly with the material. The movie is a subtle story and it needs a subtle direction. It doesn’t really work and I think the movie would be better served by simply telling the story and using more suspense and subtle scares. It attempts to do a lot with jump-cuts and loud sounds. I generally like Illeana Douglas, but it doesn’t appear that she knows she’s in a drama in this movie. I also like Erbe as his wife struggling to understand what is going on. He could have easily mailed the movie in, but he feels committed to role of a man going out of his mind…and it helps the movie work. The movie benefits from Kevin Bacon who gives his all in the movie. Perhaps I feel this way, as this film’s cousin What Lies Beneath was very much one of the most important gateway films for my childhood self.Still easier than dealing with insurance… It is a good gateway into the genre for younger audiences who have aged out of animated kiddie horror but are not quite ready for the blood and boobs of true adult horror.

There will be fleeting stabs of terror but, on the whole, you get a thrilling ride that coasts on the threat of further brief spooks. This era of lighter ghost horror could then almost be described as safe horror.

You will however find yourself pining for a floating chair race with C-3P0. When Kevin Bacon is floating about in a chair, you’re not gonna be shitting yourself. Of course, the hypnosis plot also comes off as a little corny, in an acceptable 1950s Matheson way. The walls are literally painted black, tying into the song Paint It Black, a song that holds a special significance in the plot. The hypnosis scenes are superb for drawing you in, the environment eerily shifting with the sister’s descriptions, stuffed with details. The actress was filmed at a higher speed and directed to move slower, before the footage was then returned to regular speed, producing a slightly ‘off’ effect. The ghost is never truly terrifying, nor do I think she is supposed to be, but the filmmakers did a great job with her. The trail of breadcrumbs that are left for Tom and the audience create a captivating adventure and the spooks are on the lighter side and well spaced out. If you’re searching for a breezy horror experience that won’t completely bum you out, gross you out or keep you up at night, this would be a solid choice. Finally, Tom has found a purpose in life but as this mission consumes him, his family worry he’s going too far. He quickly realises the ghost in his house is trying to communicate something, that there is a secret to be uncovered. 1 James Newton Howard - Empty Couch (score) 1:20 2 Moist - Breathe 4:14 3 James Newton Howard - Kidnapping Jake (score) 2:15 4 Dishwalla - Stay Awake 4:12 5. She leaves his mind an open door and Tom unwillingly becomes a receiver to the ‘other side’, haunted by a variety of fun visions, premonitions and sixth sensing. During a house party, the skeptical and hostile Tom agrees to be hypnotised by his spiritually minded sister-in-law, played by Illeana Douglas. His reaction? “Bummer.” You want something to spice up your life, Tom? Well hows about a son who is being constantly harangued by a live-in ghost? Better yet, his power is hereditary, and he didn’t catch it from his mother. For example, a few minutes into the film, his wife reveals she is once again pregnant. This bitterness has frankly turned him into a bit of a dick. Bacon plays Tom, a middle aged phone line engineer who feels a deep resentment for his plain existence. Stir of Echoes was based on a 1958 novel by the legendary Richard Matheson, adapted for the screen and directed by David Koepp, one of Hollywood’s highest paid screenwriters. But as my momma always used to say: There’s more than enough room for two entertaining films about kids seeing dead people in one summer release period. 1999’s Stir of Echoes, starring Kevin Bacon, may have been overshadowed by the release of The Sixth Sense just a month prior. The late 90s and early 2000s saw a resurgence of this particular horror brand, with huge stars like Bruce Willis, Richard Gere, Robert De Niro and Harrison Ford getting involved. The genre began to attract respectable A-list actors such as Gregory Peck to star in spooky slow burn chillers and thrillers. Horror cinema achieved a certain level of class in the late 60s and 70s.

Stir of echoes song