Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Stir of Echoes Blu-ray Movie Review

The Blu-ray version of this taut psychological thriller will please fans.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 5, 2007

Does it hurt to be dead?

Do you believe in the paranormal? Visions? The power of hypnosis? This is a film that examines these unearthly phenomenon and how the spirit world can communicate with ours. What if certain people in the world are "receivers," people who have a sixth-sense that allows them to communicate with the dead? If this sounds all too familiar, it should. M. Night Shyamalan's hit The Sixth Sense, which debuted a month before Stir of Echoes, is an eerily similar movie. There are some major plot differences and devices, obviously, but the foundation for both stories revolve around a young boy who can communicate with the dead. In the case of The Sixth Sense, the movie is more of a drama with minor horror elements leading to a major reveal, the ending that made Shyamalan famous, while Stir of Echoes is a slightly more traditional thriller that becomes a "whodunit?," employing the paranormal to help solve the crime rather than more conventional detective work.

The movie theater of the future featuring floating recliners.

Kevin Bacon (Flatliners) stars as Tom Witzky, a middle class man living in Chicago with his wife Maggy (Kathryn Erbe, Oz) and his young son Jake (Zachary David Cope in his only credited film appearance). As the film opens, Jake is taking a bath, seemingly talking to the camera, asking "does it hurt to be dead?" With his father sitting in the background, we discover something is amiss as Jake continues to talk as if to a third character who is not there. Later on, at a party, Tom is convinced by his sister-in-law Lisa (Illeana Douglas, Ghost World) to undergo hypnosis. When he is brought back into reality, he realizes he has seen horrific images and is frightened and confused by them. As the days go by, Tom continues to see disturbing images including his teeth falling out, blood being splattered, and that of a teenage girl in his home. When he and his wife leave their son with a babysitter of the son's recommendation, Tom begins seeing red, literally. He realizes something is horribly wrong and returns home to find both his son and the babysitter missing. He eventually tracks them down and discovers that the girl that he has been having visions of is the babysitter's sister, Samantha (Jennifer Morrison, Mr. and Mrs. Smith), who has been missing for six months. Tom and his wife find Jake and the babysitter, and Tom finally begins to piece together the mystery of his odd and horrific visions.

Stir of Echoes is a smart, agreeable thriller. It’s not too crazy or bizarre. It offers up some of the usual tricks employed by movies of this type like the split-second flashes of something scary with a loud musical cue, but we are never bombarded by such images. The movie instead relies more on the story line, generally good acting and writing, a halfway believable plot (insofar as a movie like this can be believable) and solid direction from David Koepp (Secret Window) for the majority of its scares. It's a well-made picture that is never boring or slow. I've never been a huge fan of Kevin Bacon, but he turns in one of his better performances here. Stir of Echoes is mostly a poor man's version of The Sixth Sense but it's one of the better "poor man's" movies out there.

Stir of Echoes Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Lionsgate's 1080p, 1.85:1 transfer of Stir of Echoes to Blu-ray is relatively solid. This is a dull, lifeless image devoid of bright colors. However, detail is high and it looks very natural and film-like. I never noted any problems with the black level, either. Flesh tones look realistic, with maybe just a hint of being too red here and there. The print was mostly free of blemishes. I did notice a pop here and there, especially in the final moments of the film, but they were hardly distracting. This is still a relatively new film (about eight years old) and it looks mighty good, all things considered. This is one of Lionsgate's early releases, and the studio has been churning out good looking discs (for the most part) that are getting better and better with each release.

Stir of Echoes Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Lionsgate presents Stir of Echoes with a 1.5Mbps DTS track alongside a lesser bitrate Dolby Digital 5.1 EX track. Dialogue sounds fine, if a tad muted. Ambience is amazing when employed. The soundtrack really elevates the quality of this movie a degree or two. It's downright spooky at times, used to great effect only when called for, and appropriately scary. Surrounds, too, are active, bass is hard hitting and will at times rattle the foundation. It's deep, tight, and heavy, and it's sounds (and feels!) great. There is good separation across the front soundstage. Sounds are well placed in the front right and left channels. When a character is seen digging and the camera pans to the left, we hear the continued sounds of his digging right where it should be in relation to what's now on-screen. This is a very, very impressive sound mix. Like the movie, it's effective without being rambunctious. This is a good, solid effort by Lionsgate once again.

Stir of Echoes Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of supplements available. Lionsgate has eschewed several extras from the latest DVD rendition of the film, but they did include an impressive commentary track with writer/director David Koepp. He discusses the inspiration for the film (the novel by David Matheson, author of I Am Legend) as well as casting and accents, the joys of filmmaking (except when the Green Bay Packers are losing!), filming in Chicago, sticking a pin through an actor's hand for $100, and pointing out some mistakes in the movie. This is a good track that doesn't stray from the main topic of discussing the film and there is no significant spaces of dead air. It is a very nice companion piece to the movie. Sights of Spirits: Channeling the Paranormal (480p, 10:36) features Dr. Larry Montz, Ph.D., who is a para-psychologist. Para-psychology is the study of different types of phenomena, and Dr. Montz focuses on ghosts and people with psychic abilities. He discusses what his work entails, some of his cases, and his theories on the paranormal. It's pretty interesting. Also included are several deleted scenes (480p, 4:53), and the usual 1080p Lionsgate montage of now-available discs (except for Dune).

Stir of Echoes Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Hollywood is becoming notorious for releasing similarly-themed movies in close proximity to one another. Volcano and Dante's Peak, Armageddon and Deep Impact, The Cave and The Descent, and The Sixth Sense and Stir of Echoes, to name a few. In each category there is one film generally accepted to be superior to the other, and Stir of Echoes is definitely the lesser of its grouping. Still, it's a solid film that is better than most of its horror/suspense brethren providing a tight, compact, 90 minute story that never has a lag. We get fine direction, good acting, and excellent use of ambience and sound. This Blu-ray disc features strong audio and visual quality but, unfortunately, not all of the supplements offered on previous DVD editions are provided here. However, I'm recommending Stir of Echoes anyway provided that you don't already own the special edition DVD.