Stir of Echoes

Man who does not believe in anything supernatural gets hypnotized and suddenly opens a “door” in his brain to all things metaphysical. Much like his own son, he begins seeing and feeling things from the afterlife, and falling into a psychological world outside of our own.

I don’t generally get too many goosebumps in the theatre, unless of course, the Mrs. and I are jazzing it up, but the last few weeks have been a hotbed of goosepimples! First THE SIXTH SENSE, and now this creepy, supernatural thriller, both demonstrating the effective nature of a well-written story, solid actors and a tiny sprinkle of ghosts, without the over-use of special effects a la crappy HAUNTING (3/10). Admittedly, this film actually did start feeling like a sequel to the SIXTH SENSE at times, with many of the same theories running across both films. That didn’t bother me at all, in fact, it made for a more powerful film-going experience, since the previous film had already convinced me of the possibility of these occurrences, so this one felt like it was speaking from a solid foundation. The story starts off a bit like a bad acid trip, but slowly explains itself into comprehension, and turns into a nicely developed supernatural mystery (Some claim to have seen it “all coming”, but I personally was hooked the whole way).

The conclusion also came through for me, with plenty of moments of suspense and surrealism thrown into the mix before its fateful finish. And in how many movies do you see Kevin Bacon’s name before the film title?! Not many. Usually he’s the fourth or fifth banana, but he’s the top dog in this one, and boy let me tell you, the man comes through! Kevin’s perfect for this role with his everyday dude quality, and solid acting experience striking all the right chords. Please Mr. Oscar, why not knock on Kevin’s door this year? 🙂 The kid is also pretty good in this one, although nothing close to Haley Joel Osment from THE SIXTH SENSE, and they could have cast a better wife, but all in all, a great time at the movies. Mrs. JoBlo literally bounced off her seat during a few scenes, and despite no major gross-out sequences, this film sure packed a handful of frightening moments, a great spooky story with a timely correlation to that other Bruce Willis movie (I guess you know which one I’m talking about by now), and even a moment of tender closure at the end. I wish they would have used the song “Paint it Black” from The Stones in a few more scenes, but hey, I’m just a bitch with a boner for that song, so what can I say! 🙂

You like the creepy supernatural stories? Check into this one and you won’t be disappointed!

(c) 2021 Berge Garabedian