Stir of Echoes ***½ (1999, Kevin Bacon, Kathryn Erbe, Zachary David Cope, Illeana Douglas, Kevin Dunn) – Classic Movie Review 4823

Kevin Bacon stars in Stir of Echoes (1999) as cynical Chicago phone lineman labourer Tom Witzky, who challenges his sister-in law Lisa (Illeana Douglas) to hypnotise him, and finds himself given a sixth sense as a result, as he is haunted by images of a dead girl and has to uncover the source of his visions to save his family, pregnant wife Maggie (Kathryn Erbe) and his son Jake (Zachary David Cope).

Bacon sizzles in the star role in writer-director David Koepp’s very well done, eerie and gripping 1999 psychological chiller supernatural horror film in the style of The Sixth Sense (also 1999).

Koepp’s screenplay is based on the 1958 novel by Richard Matheson.

It also stars Jennifer Morrison as Samantha Kozac, Liza Weil as Debbie Kozac, Kevin Dunn as Frank McCarthy and Lusia Strus as Sheila McCarthy.

Also in the cast are Conor O’Farrell, Stephen Eugene Walker, Mary Kay Cook, Larry Neumann Jr, Richard Kotovsky, Steve Rifkin, Chalon Williams, George Ives, Lisa Lewis and Mike Bacarella.

The film is produced by Artisan Entertainment on a budget of $12 million. Principal photography took place in Chicago and lasted 39 days from 5 October to 21 November 1998. It took $21.1 million at the box office.

The TV movie Stir of Echoes: The Homecoming was released in 2007 on the Sci Fi Channel. Its only connection is the inclusion of Jake Witzky, who is only a secondary character here.

Koepp and Bacon reunited for a second film, You Should Have Left, released in the summer of 2020.

Koepp bought a copy of A Stir of Echoes from a used bookstore, wanted to film it and then producer Gavin Polone secured the rights to the book. Koepp approached Matheson to ask for his thoughts on his script, worried that the changes he made to the story could displease the author. But Matheson liked his draft and gave him his approval. He said: ‘I’m sure he’s done a good job of it. I do know what he’s done before, and it’s quite good. He has a very good touch.’

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4823

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