STIR OF ECHOES review

You know what? I love some of the benefits of this here job of mine. The major drawback is that the pay sucks... but then the idea I get any money at all for doing what I’m doing seems like an out and out crime in and of itself. But the reason I got into this racket was to find films like the one I saw tonight early... and call attention to them.

I was talking with Moriarty about our lot in life, and I described what we’re doing as kind of a SETI of Cinema. Afterall... We’re just looking for signs of intelligent life in Hollywood.

Tonight... I found one.

I checked with other people around me to reaffirm that it wasn’t a random act that just happened to work. The fella from the local college newspaper sitting next to me, when I referenced CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND with it, said, “Yeah, But I like this film more!” Now, personally I can’t draw a heads up quality comparison, cause they are TOTALLY different films setting out to do different things... They just share some themes. But... This is the real deal... And this time it is coming from ARTISAN.

That’s right, the same indie studio that’s bringing us THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, is bringing us another utterly fantastic HORROR film, but it’s completely different.

THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT is a non-traditional experimental horror film that succeeds far better than it probably has any right to succeed. (And thank god for that!)

STIR OF ECHOES is impeccable filmmaking, storytelling and crafting in all the traditional ways to deliver chills and a feeling of dread and eerie that’s just wonderful.

David Koepp is a director to watch because with only his second film, he’s building a body of work that is building on it’s own themes.

Did you see THE TRIGGER EFFECT? No? Go.... Go get it now, rent it, buy it, purchase it... WATCH IT. THE TRIGGER EFFECT was one of those films that breezed right on by a lot of folks and they missed it.

That film dealt with the strange underlying ugliness living within the suburban culture of America. Beneath the happy smiles we have, and the day in day out blasé existence so many of us live in. We all feel so damn comfortable in our lives... The patterns that we safely stitch ourselves into... But when a thread becomes frayed. When we begin to smell smoke. When our pattern is jumbled, we become like a line of ants that have lost the scent of the trail. Scrambling about trying to find our way... Devolving from our civilized structure and immediately dive back a hundred or two hundred years in social standards.

Koepp exploited and explored the hell out of that theme in THE TRIGGER EFFECT... But this time with STIR OF ECHOES... He does something even better.

Remember CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND? Think of this as CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE GHOST KIND.

Remember the smiles you had when you saw the pretty flying ships? Here you get an unsettling sense of dread. Remember the awe you felt when that skinny Alien reached out to take Dreyfuss’ hand? Here you feel sadness.

There is a difference between touching Aliens and Ghosts. Aliens in my mind denote a step upward, ghost denote a step down. However, both are never believed in by a skeptic, until the skeptic has been touched.

Kevin Bacon was a skeptic.... he gets touched.

This is a classic ghost story. Extreme events, unresolved deaths and a sense of purpose create ghosts.

I believe in ghosts. When I was a kid growing up at 4526 Red River here in Austin, Tx... my house was haunted. My father doesn’t believe it. But my mother did. I did. My best friend. My father’s best friend. Various visitors. There was something wrong with the house. Something not right happened there.

The difference between my father and the rest of us was... We saw something. He didn’t. I had dozens of sightings. 4 of them took place with witnesses there to share the event. I believe. I don’t expect you to.

Often times I’ve heard people say, “Harry, well you’re just overly eager to accept and see those things. You let your imagination play tricks with you.” My answer has been, “Well... You’re overly eager to dismiss and cover your eyes. You refuse to accept the possibility of seeing things.” It’s a brick wall conversation. And I’m not going to win, and neither is the otherside... because... I saw what I saw.

“O...K.... Harry’s a psycho... Dismiss what he’s saying... Move along.”

Yeah, kissy kissy, Me love you too. Fact of the matter is the audience loved the hell out of this movie. Right from the beginning it played them. This was an older audience. Lots of silver hair. Lots of screams.

I love screams in a theater. They’re like a rush of some narcotic I’ve never stabbed into my arm. They send a smile straight up my spine to my face, and I wear it with joy and glee.

Kevin Bacon is soooooo right for this movie. In everyway that Richard Dreyfuss was right for CEOT3K, Kevin was right for this. He’s so damn blue collar. He pounds back beers, hangs with his blue collar friends. All seems right in his little world. But like in THE TRIGGER EFFECT... Something... Strange is affecting their perfectly normal trail, and it’s all gonna go to hell.

God it’s hard not to spoil things in this movie, but sheeshus, the damn thing doesn’t come out till September 17. ARGH!

I can’t wait to have people to talk to about this movie, when I can... NOT watch what I’m saying. Thank God for Dad.

I’m going to roll this review to an end, because I can’t really go into it any further without screwing a lot of things up for you. Mark it on your calendar. Don’t let it sneak by the way THE TRIGGER EFFECT did. Hell.... the two tributes of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD in scenes in both films alone is worth the price of admission. This time... it really is fantastic.

I wonder how these other scary films are going to compare. LOST SOULS, STIGMATA, END OF DAYS, SIXTH SENSE, THE HAUNTING, HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL...

Will they have the same sense of restrain. Here, the effects work from BANNED FROM THE RANCH is just right. Just enough. Not too much. Not too little. Just scary enough to make it seem like what we see could exist in our world and not the cinematic one.

Whereas... My fear in THE HAUNTING is that it’ll become so over the top as to pull the cord of reasonability. I have my fingers crossed. This could be a year for screams. I’ve already had two GREAT ones. Tick tock, waiting for the next one. Don’t miss this one.

Ah hell, I can’t write a review and not say....

“THE HYPNOSIS SCENE IS FRIGGIN BRILLIANT!!!”

Oh I so love that scene. This harkens back to that wonderful Gregory Peck/Alfred Hitchcock scene in SPELLBOUND. That one was weirder... of course it was designed by Salvador Dali, but this one is fantastic. What a cool scene!

But... Hell, now look what I’ve done. Now it makes it seem like I liked the movie cause of a single scene.

Damn.

Ok. Let me put it this way. My spine was a tingling like I had one of them things of Vincent Price’s wrapped around it... And I had to let out a yelp or two to keep from my spine being crushed.

Alright, perhaps that’s a bit strong. The truth of the matter folks is this film is scary... but more in that honest to goodness... this is scary sort of way... And not so much in that.... BOO! Hahahaha... gotcha sort of way.

Ya getting me?

Good, now don’t forget this one. Mark the calendar now.

Oh yeah... And one last thing. If Koepp adapts SPIDER-MAN as well as he did STIR OF ECHOES... Then holy mary bucket of bolts, we're in for a helluva film. I just hope he puts as much soul into that script. And whoever gets a hand on directing it... Has a soul.