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THE UNDERRATED SERIES: "Stir Of Echoes"

*NEW SERIES*
 Stir Of Echoes
When David Koepp's "Stir Of Echoes" was released in early fall of 1999 (one of the best years for film) it was sadly overshadowed by the monstrous commercial success of "The Sixth Sense," released just one month earlier.  Both "Echoes" and "Sense" were thrillers that relied on ghosts, twists and a cute adolescent boy who could see these scary apparitions.  Well, "The Sixth Sense" was more about the latter (it even landed its child actor Osment an Oscar nomination).
 
But "Echoes" was a thriller that didn't rely on a much-buzzed about ending or its status as a continuing box office record champ ("Sense" was no. 1 five weeks in a row--something unheard of now; not even "The Dark Knight" pulled that off). Koepp's effective film relied on its characters and their believability as humans in a hugely unbelievable situation. Not that "Sense" didn't at all; but let's face it--that movie was an 'event' film, a result of hyped wizardry. People practically walked into cinemas already quoting "I see dead people."
 
Back to "Echoes": The irreplacable Kevin Bacon stars as a Chicago local living near what looks to be the Wicker Park area with his resilient wife and cheek-pinching cute son. Speaking of his son, I always thought his line was better than Osment's "dead people" one: "Does it hurt to be dead?"
 
 
Kevin Bacon - Echoes
 

After a night of partying at the neighbor's, Bacon--readily buzzed--gives his sister-in-law a hard time about her side profession: hypnotism. She in turn performs an act of hypnotism on him but in the process accidentally opens a paranormal door in his psyche that creates a channel of communication with a dormant spirit in his home. And rather than turn up the shock volume with shaky camera movements or over the top gore, Koepp keeps a tight rope around his narrative letting the scares arise sheerly through the fact that we start to believe more and more in--ghosts. Or at least forms of an afterlife actually existing.

It's not a preaching movie. Not a message movie. Even though the ending offers some sort of closure to characters (dead and alive) there is a haunting final shot of Bacon's son looking out the back of a car window. The events and every "scare" moment leading up to the impressive final act (all English majors sit up and listen: write the word "foreshadow" down) are all a result of the stellar acting--pay special attention to character actor Kevin Dunn--and an awesomely controlled atmospheric aura of "Oh Shit-ness." Some critics have given the movie guff for some overly-symbolic gestures, like "digging" for the truth (see the pic above), but to say that these attributes take anything away from the movie is simply not true.

In a time when almost every American horror movie is a remake of a far superior foreign film, "Stir Of Echoes" is a thrilling gesture toward U.S. audiences, one that is sure to stay with you for some time.

In the first addition The Underrated Series, "Stir Of Echoes" reminds us that going to the Blockbuster or renting from Netflix can offer us some of the best entertainment around these days.

Oh, and Happy Halloween. 

Posted by nelsoncarvajal on October 31, 2008 03:00 PM |

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