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Stir of Echoes

A good old fashion supernatural thriller that has suspense, chilling degrees of intensity, mystery and danger, and excellent acting! Recently given the gift of connecting to spirits, a man now has the ability of bringing justice to a crime committed on a young girl's life,only if he's able to believe that it's his calling to do so and not just a figment of his imagination.

Tom (Kevin Bacon) is a simple man, a man who works hard to support his family. He enjoys playing in a band in his spare time, and his wife Maggie (Kathryn Erbe) is expecting their second child. Although he is happy, there seems to be an underlying feeling of something eating at him. Tom loves his family and wouldn't do anything to change that, but his life is just "ordinary"- more than he thought it would be.

One night Tom and Maggie go out with some friends to a party at a neighbors house. Tom as usual is bored, drinking way too much, and disinterested in the conversation going on around him. Maggie's sister Lisa (Illeanna Douglas) tries to liven things up by asking Tom if she can hypnotize him. At first, Tom is ragging on her and doesn't see the need to put himself "out there" and be made to feel like a guinea pig. Persuasion from friends has Tom deciding to prove once and for all that what Lisa is trying to do is phony bologna nonsense.

Lisa puts Tom under the hypnotic spell and "we" the audience are able to step inside Tom's mind and get a visual image of what he's seeing. It's a very woozy, mellowing and safe feeling we're seeing at first. Then sparsely abrupt violent images are presented which awaken Tom, leaving him with shortness of breath, and an uneasy sensation of what he has just encountered. Lisa can't believe it either and tells Tom that he's in the 8% of the population who have the ability of going that deeply under hypnosis.

Tom wants to know why this is happening to him, so he goes to Lisa's apartment the next day in search of answers. Lisa confesses that while Tom was under the trance, she asked that he be more open-minded to possibilities of other feelings and life around him;. A door now has been opened, one that leaves many questions and fears to be faced. Tom's "ordinary" world is no longer, and now he must figure out why he's seeing a vision of a young girl (Jenny Morrison) in his house, who vanished six months prior in his neighborhood.

Tom's son Jake (Zachary David Cope) is the first to tell him that it will be OK. He too sees this young girl and she is his friend. ( I won't spoil it, but the viewer will see in the opening scene that Jake is talking to someone that nobody else can see).

Getting involved trying to solve this crime will lead Tom and his family on a frightening and dangerous discovery, which even has his two friends Frank (Kevin Dunn) and Harry (Conor O'Farrell) looking very upset.

All this emotional strain will eventually build to a final and deadly showdown, but will the tortured soul of this girl's sprit finally be laid to rest?

Kevin Bacon is at the height of his career now, he's paid his dues, and most certainly should receive acclaim for his acting abilities in the future. A sharply strong and emotionally packed role which displayed such depth, made Kevin Bacon a stand out when this film came out. I've been a long time admirer of his work, and he is one of the great actors of his time.

Kathryn Erbe was just super fantastic in this role. She brought so much personality and was so in tune to her character's state of mind and the changes she too was dealing with in her family. She has a "no bull" about it attitude and her sauciness and sense of humor brings so much spark to the movie.

Illeanna Douglass is amazing in her role. She's so magnificent to watch and a great talent!

The band Moist plays a phenomenal song called "Breath", that had me from the first note- just fantastic! Also noted is the remake of The Rolling Stones Classic "Paint It Black" performed by Gob which is very cool!

Stir of Echoes is one of the most pleasing and powerful movies I've seen in a while, and if your'e a fan of this style of movie, than your sure to be in for a worthwhile ride.It's really good and a lot different from other supernatural genres of its type. Sure, it has a similar line to another good movie of the same genre; "The Sixth Sense", but when you watch and get consumed in the characters of "Stir of Echoes" it's a totally different movie that has an abundance of energy, thrilling tension, and a top notch acting performance by Kevin Bacon that is just sensational.

Written by: Lynda Dale MacLean

Reviewers Rating: 7.5
Reader's Rating: 8.20
Reader's Votes: 5

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