Stir of Echoes

This is a SPOILER review of Stir of Echoes, a supernatural horror film written and directed by David Koepp and based on the 1958 novel by Richard Matheson. Satanist Cameron John and Reverend Campbell are going to discuss the film and probably geek out a little on this fantastic title. Join us live in YouTube chat!

Discussion

• Log Line: After being hypnotized by his sister-in-law, a man begins seeing haunting visions of a girl’s ghost and a mystery begins to unfold around him.
• Director: David Koepp
• Writers: Richard Matheson (novel), David Koepp (screenplay)
• released in the United States on September 10, 1999
• Budget – $12 million
• Box Office – Worldwide, it made more than $23 million
• Many reviewers felt that the film suffered by being released shortly after previous high-earning occult films of the year: The Sixth Sense, The Blair Witch Project and The Mummy.
• Koepp’s influences for the film were Roman Polanski’s Repulsion (1965) and Rosemary’s Baby (1968), and David Cronenberg’s The Dead Zone (1983).
•  Principal photography took place in Chicago and lasted 39 days,[5] in the period from October 5 to November 21, 1998.
• Koepp felt that many hypnosis scenes in films are “most skipped by”, so he came up with the idea of allowing viewers see through Bacon’s point-of-view as he undergoes hypnosis to make the concept fresh. The theater from this sequence is located at Joliet, Illinois.
• Bacon’s tooth extraction scene, which was inspired by a nightmare Koepp had about dying of age
• The set up of Tom feeling so overwhelmed with the mundane life he has juxtaposed with the results of hypnotism opening up his mind is very interesting, and parallels my Satanic experience.
• Fantastic body horror, earned jump scares
• I love how Jake says Tom’s awake now, and not to be afraid of it.
• The family relationship seems real. Sometimes aggressive, sometimes loving.
• It’s so close to shining, that I want it to be in Stephen King’s universe. I want to see The One True Knot in this…

Cast

• Zachary David Cope – Jake
• Kevin Bacon – Tom
• Kathryn Erbe – Maggie
• Illeana Douglas – Lisa
• Kevin Dunn – Frank
• Conor O’Farrell – Harry

Links

• https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0164181/
  • 7/10 stars
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stir_of_Echoes
• https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/stir_of_echoes
  • 67% with a 70% audience score

Ratings