Movie Review: Stir of Echoes (1999)

I don't hear enough about this movie. And it's wicked awesome. Hopefully (probably not) by now, you have discovered my fondness for ghostie movies. If not, I'll say it again: I am madly in love with supernatural spooks and all the craziness and creepiness they create. I'm not a big fan of Kevin Bacon, but he stars in one badass muthafucka ghost movie, and that is Stir of Echoes.

The spooky, scary plot: Tom Witzy is a blue-collar guy, and a bit unhappy with his very ordinary life. One night he is hypnotized by his New Agey sister-in-law, which opens a door in his mind to receive messages from beyond. He starts having visions of the ghost of a teenaged girl, and becomes determined to solve the mystery of why she keeps contacting him.

First of all, I did not realize how awesome writer/director David Koepp was. This is the man behind the first two Jurassic Park films, Spider-Man, one of my personal favorites Secret Window, and even freaking Death Becomes Her. His IMDb page has got some bashing comments, but I've loved most of his movies, so he gets my good vote.

What first attracts me to the movie, and the characters in particular, is their realness. So many movies try to make the people in them seem "real" or "normal" so "regular" people can "relate" to them. And yet they live in these ginormous three-story homes and have pretty successful jobs as doctors or lawyers or real estate agents. Tom and Maggie are true blue-collar people; Maggie is a nurse and Tom works for a phone company. They live in a modest rental brownstone, they have financial issues, and they go to block parties. I like these people.

Like I said, Kevin Bacon is not my favorite (I once had a very strange dream starring him, plus seeing his wang in Wild Things sort of traumatized me for life) but he gives one of his best performances here. I don't watch a lot of Law and Order: Criminal Intent, but Kathryn Erbe is a seriously underrated actress and she is wonderful in this flick. And of course, we have to talk about the little boy playing Jake, Zachary David Cope. He's only been in this and The Wedding Singer (where he totally looked like a girl), but he is a mesmerizing little actor. Maybe it's the creepy kid-who-can-see-ghosts thing.

I absolutely adore the hypnotizing scene. I always look forward to it when I watch the movie (it's right at the beginning so I don't have to wait long) and get a big ol' grin on my face during the whole thing. It's kind of one of my favorite scenes in any movie EVER. The images created in Tom's mind and the way the scene changes as Illeana Douglas gives him directions are perfectly produced and Douglas's voice is so soothing and, yeah, kind of sexy.

This scene is only four minutes into the movie, and once it hits, the movie never gets dull or boring. Re-watching it to freshen my mind, I see that the film is quickly paced with each scene logically following the other. Subtle creepy moments are all around - most involving the kid, Jake. The best comes out of nowhere when Maggie is asking Jake about how he knew about Debbie, the babysitter. His normal kid voice suddenly changes to a deep, almost inhuman voice. There's no creepy music to tell you to expect anything weird so this little turn is good shock moment.

I've seen the movie so much now that I can't really judge the other scares or how they affected me the first time around. I love the effects on the ghost-girl and how her movements are sort of jumpy. She doesn't mean any real harm on Tom or his family, but her death needs to be avenged. Remember, it is not her who kills her murderers or those who covered it up. When the truth is revealed, it's the selfish and unfeeling actions of those who caused her death and disappearance who contribute to their own demise.

Stir of Echoes is also interesting in how Tom reacts to newfound "gift." He insists that what has happened to him is the most important thing he's ever done in his life. Solving the mystery of who this girl is is not only about her, but about how he feels about his life. His dogged determination hurts his relationship with his spouse, but in a way also brings them closer. He is reawakened to his family and how important they are to him and to appreciate the things he has as opposed to what he feels he is missing.

The movie also has quite a sense of humor with some very funny lines. I don't know why, but my favorite one is when Frank's wife notices him checking out other girls and she says, "Why don't you just lick 'em when they walk by?" A little bit of light-hearted comedy is always appreciated in a horror flick.

My brother-in-law hates stuff involving teeth. He freaks out when my nephew wiggles his loose teeth at him. I hate stuff involving fingernails. And good golly gumdrops, Stir of Echoes has scenes with BOTH of those cringe-inducing willy moments. I beg all filmmakers out there - PLEASE. NO MORE FINGERNAIL POPPING OFF SCENES. I can't take it anymore!

Stir of Echoes seems to be forever compared to The Sixth Sense because they came out around the same time and have similar elements in story. The Sixth Sense totally kicked its ass in popularity and basically fucking owned it in box office, but dare I say that Stir of Echoes is a better movie? I certainly watch it way more than Shyamalan's (jeebus, I still have to look up how to spell that) movie, which is no doubt a good flick, but not as interesting or exciting as Stir of Echoes.

I have not read A Stir of Echoes, the Richard Matheson book that the movie is based upon. I love Matheson, though, so it's definitely on my wish list.

This is a highly entertaining, fast paced, and visceral psychological thriller that is incredibly underrated. It's got a great cast (yes, even Kevin), some good creepy scenes, and a well developed mystery with a great and somewhat unexpected conclusion. And did I mention the hypnotizing scene? Seriously, it's killer. I love it.

One small nitpick: As a big Stones fan, it's kind of hard to believe that Tom is supposed to be a musician but he can't recognize one of their most well-known fucking songs. It's 'Paint It Black,' you moron! I know the version in the movie was a cover by some band called Gob, but seriously. It's easily recognizable.

Animals Run Amok!: Rogue (2008)

Thank you to those who recommended Rogue to me on my top Animals Run Amok list! If I could marry a movie right now, I think the lucky dude would have to be Rogue. Okay maybe it's not that great, but I tell you, it was pretty fucking awesome. I love surprises and this movie certainly was one.

Croco-licious plot: Michael Vartan is an American travel writer who takes a crocodile river tour in Australia's Northern Territory. When the tourist boat, helmed by Radha Mitchell as Kate, follows a distress flare further down the river, the boat is attacked and damaged by a vicious crocodile. Stranded on a tiny island with the tide coming in, the group must find a way to get to safety, while the croc has tagged them for food.

Animas Run Amok movies are indeed the greatest thing in the world, but the best ones I think are those with water animals. It's a whole other world beneath the surface and the water is their territory, not ours. You never know where they are or where they'll appear, which is where the true scare comes from. Although I gotta say, crocodiles are land animals, too. I'm surprised that they only thought they were in danger by going into the water, and that the croc only attacked them on the island once. But I guess if he had rushed the land then they would have all been killed fairly soon.

Speaking of the water, the setting is so gorgeous. This movie comes from the creator of another Australian horror flick, Wolf Creek, and he certainly knows how to film the outback in amazing ways. The beauty of the place is only marred by its isolation and vastness, which makes it a not so ideal place for our group to be stranded in. The cinematography is practically another character in the movie and is not like anything I've seen outside a Tomb Raider game.

The first part of the movie is the languid journey on the river where we get to view that wonderful scenery and meet the characters. There's a good group of different types of people here who are mostly likable enough that you don't want them to get eaten. Their freak outs are real and you can tell that most of those scenes were sort of improvised. It's funny when Katie and Peter are trying to come up with a plan and you can just hear someone in the background yelling, "Shut the fuck up, Simon!"

Hiding the beast from view is what usually goes on in these types of movies, but it works so well to this film's advantage. There's a great bit where one of the guys is standing near the water's edge. There's a splash, and when the group turns around, he's disappeared, and you only see the croc's tail as he slowly swims away. At first I thought I missed something, which was probably just the filmmakers' intention.

The beast only comes into full view at the climax in his lair, or burrow or whatever it is. The CGI is practically flawless, even better than my other favorite killer croc from Primeval. There's actually a good blend of both CG and mechanical effects, and I could hardly tell the difference. Rogue not only surprised me in how good and effective it is but also in its quality filmmaking - something I frankly didn't expect from such a relatively small movie.

There is wicked suspense all around in Rogue with some amazing jump moments that scared the piss out of me so many times. When the croc rams the tour boat, I literally jumped so hard that I lost my breath for a second. Absolutely fantastic. As the group tries to shimmy across the rope to cross the water, you're on the edge of your seat waiting for the crocodile to jump out of the water, but nope. A low growl and he blazes out to attack Neil on the land on the other side. That was a nice turn, too. When Neil and his friend show up on the speedboat, I thought his character was going to be one of the survivors, but he's picked off rather quick.

And John Jarratt is in this! Did not even recognize him as the guy in the fishing hat and mustache. He plays this character of the sweet widower so much different than the psycho in Wolf Creek, but he is wonderful in both. He helped make Wolf Creek what it was, so I'm not surprised that writer and director Greg Mclean would want him in another of his films.

There is a bit of un-believability when Peter (Michael Vartan) enters the crocodile's feeding grounds. In such a small, tight space, I thought he could only hide behind the rocks for so long before the thrashing animal got him or Radha, what with her being practically unconscious and so vulnerable the whole time. But the croc's death scene makes up for it! I loved that shit, it was such a good way to end it. Too bad Kevin the dog wasn't fast enough to get away :(. At least they didn't use him for bait to go fishing for Mister Crocodile.

Haha, that reminds me. Stay for the credits to Rogue because there is a hilarious "Never Smile at a Crocodile" song playing over them, sung by a sweet female voice. Funny but kind of creepy at the same time!

Great killer croc flick, one of the best, if I should so presume.

Final Girl Film Club: The Funhouse (1981)

Much like Stacie Ponder over at Final Girl, I had an inkling to watch The Funhouse a while ago myself. Some gracious individual had uploaded it on YouTube (not sure if it's still available). So if you have that same deep-down urge and wish to participate in the Final Girl's Film Club pick, you might try checking there first because it's not available for instant streaming on NetFlix (BOO!).

First of all, WOW. Look at that poster. I mean... ew? This little Tobe Hooper gem was actually a favorite of mine and my sister's when we were younger gals and loved these campy little horror movies together.

Wanna talk plot?: Four teens on a double date at the town carnival decide to do the dumbest thing ever and spend the night in the funhouse. They witness a mutant killing the skeazy fortune teller lady, steal the carnies' money, and are then stalked through the funhouse as mutant's daddy goes after them to cover up Junior's crime.

The title sequence sets up the film great, with gleefully ominous music playing over images of the strange animatronic figures that live in the funhouse. Tone is going to be a bit creepy and but obviously a helluva good time.

Is she scarier than the mutant? Magic 8 ball says it is possible.

The movie starts off with a pretty ballsy Halloween/Psycho rip-off when a pretty, young girl is showering and a boy in a mask (with true Halloween POV vision through the eyeholes) stalks her and then stabs her in the shower. But haha! Mask Boy is actually Shower Girl's younger brother and the knife is fake. When Shower Girl goes to the carnival with her friends and a date named Buzz (??), a semi-double storyline starts when Mask Boy sneaks out of the house to go to the carnival. I thought maybe they would up the suspense by having the boy trapped in the funhouse, too, with his sister having to save him and blah, blah, blah. But nope, they missed that boat. Instead, his part in the film fizzles out halfway through and you wonder why he was even there at all.

Whatever town these kids live in is apparently filled with random crazies, and I'm not just talking about the carnies. There's a dirty homeless guy wandering about the carnival; a guy who sees Mask Boy walking by the side of the road first offers him a ride and then pulls a gun on him (Whuh the hell?); and another seemingly homeless bag lady torments the two girls in the bathroom while they are talking about sex, annoyingly repeating "God is watching you!" at them. The message: crazy people giving you warnings ALWAYS means that something bad is going to happen soon.

Yup, I believed it.

Anyway, the scenes at the carnival are almost kinda better than when all the horror stuff starts. For some reason, I've always loved the magic trick scene. It's a short little tidbit, but the guy playing the magician is pretty good and I like the scare moment as he performs 'The Impaler' trick, giving a little history of Vlad the Impaler beforehand. I actually believed it for a moment that he really impaled her. Silly me.




The dancing girls and mutated animals make me wonder if I wish they still had stuff like this at county carnivals.

Um, no. Not really.

Anywho, one big question I have is: Just how freaking elaborate is this darn funhouse? Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought these things were made to be all mobile and stuff, and yet it has the main area where the ride is, a level underneath (the room where Madame Zena was killed), and yet another area underneath that with all the hydraulics and stuff. And still there's not a single way out that our heros and heroines can find. That is until the end, when Shower Girl just freaking walks out of the FRONT ENTRANCE. Shenanigans, I say, more shenanigans!

Another question: Why are there real weapons used in the funhouse attraction? Seriously, the kids grab axes and shit off of the dummies to fight the carnies, and I was thinking, "You morons, those aren't real!" Oh, wait. They are. Buzz hits the dork on the head with an axe (chill out, he was already dead) and the mutant's father gets impaled on what really should have been a fake sword. Sorry, another minor flaw in the movie but I couldn't help pointing it out.

The Funhouse is the ultimate "carnies are freaks" movie, and since the carnies of the world don't seem to be lining up to defend themselves, I have to believe that the stereotype is true. Otherwise, life just isn't fun anymore. The fortune teller-killer mutant is indeed quite hideous. Pretty nice makeup effects, although he seems to be almost all mutant without any hint of true human features. Makes it hard to see him as anything more than an animal, even when carnie daddy is calling him a freak and saying that he can't stand the sound of his voice. But don't worry - as daddy says, he's harmless... once he's been fed.

The film's climax is actually kind of anti-climactic. Shower Girl squares off with Mutant in the funhouse's hydraulics room. She doesn't actually fight him or anything, just stands there and shakes and screams, while Mutant manages to electrocute HIMSELF, get caught up in the overhead chains, and get himself squished between a pair of interlocking gears. During his overlong death scene, about a billion blindess-inducing blue sparks are exploding behind him. Only mildly distracting.

All in all, The Funhouse has a unique story and setting (that would both be completely ripped off by the movie Dark Ride) and some amazing character actors - Madame Zena and Mutant's Father are the BEST - giving memorable performances. The gore is minimal, if not non-existent, and the death scenes are really quite boring, but it's more the freakiness of the carnie family and their mindset that is the scary part.

Honestly, was anyone else freaked out by the fat lady statue on top of the funhouse? She laughs and turns her head and is just royally creepy. She even mocks Shower Girl at the end when she's escaped the funhouse. What a meanie!

Edit: Okay, I just read through what I wrote and it sounds like I'm criticizing the movie a lot. I really do like it and think it's a fantastic little piece of 80s goodness (with a slight 70s feel, maybe?). This is just the first time I've looked at it with a more critical eye. While it's fun and creepy, there's a few minor places where it falters.

Animals Run Amok!: Jaws Marathon

In light of my last post, I realized that it been a while  since I had actually watched Jaws in its entirety - and I honestly don't think I've ever seen any of the sequels. I had a day off work and treated myself to a little fun on Amity Island.


Jaws (1975)
I am still in awe at how good and how effective this movie is. Mostly my amazement comes from the fact that Steven Spielberg was still a relatively new director, a young guy, and just about nothing on the set worked right. I recently saw a great in-depth documentary on Biography called Jaws: The Inside Story (they also did one for The Silence of the Lambs - equally entertaining, you should try to catch those if they air again) and while I'd heard the horror stories of set mishaps before, watching this made me wonder how they could have produced something this awesome from all the crap that was going on.

Though the films runs two hours (most of these movies do 90 minutes, tops) the action never falters. We love the characters of Brody, Quint, and Hooper - Hooper is my favorite - and the main star, Jaws himself. I'd say my two favorite scenes are when Richard Dreyfuss is attacked while in the shark cage and when Quint is eaten. I jumped when the shark first rams the cage while Dreyfuss has us focused on what he's doing. Great filmmaking technique that always works.

To me, even after all these years, the shark looks damn good. I love my Deep Blue Sea obviously, but I have to admit that I don't really like watching a movie and saying, "Hey, that's really good CGI!" In rewatching Jaws, it was refreshing to go back to the beginning and see some real shark footage with a real big mechanical shark. No, it doesn't look completely real - the scenes where he pops out of the water and is chomping his teeth looks kind of hokey - but it's certainly effective enough.

And the fact that the movie was actually all shot on the ocean, not in a big tank, really helps with the look and feel of the story. Three guys trapped on this tiny boat determined to kill a vicious great white, who is equally determined to kill them as well. Although from a filmmaking standpoint, it was kind of a stupid idea to try to shoot the movie on the ocean. You can't control the water or the weather. But obviously it all worked out, and now Jaws is one of the most classic horror films in history.


Jaws 2 (1978)
Of course there was going to be a sequel! The first summer blockbuster EVER that also scared out the shit out of an entire nation from going into the water comes back for more with this sequel. Sadly, Richard Dreyfuss does not return with it. But oh well.

Jaws 2 is a solid sequel, and one of the best things about it is that they don't hide the shark from us as long as they did in the first one. After the initial attack on the divers at the Orca wreck, there is a spectacular attack on a water skier  and their boat, with fire and explosion. This must have mightily pissed off Jaws, Jr. because after that, he goes on a kind of rampage. In fact, the shark attacks about three times as many boats and people in this movie, with the climax on a group of teens (including Brody's two children) stranded in the waters on their sailboats.

I looked this one up and it seems that at the time this was the highest grossing sequel until The Empire Strikes Back, and I can see why. It truly feels like an extension of the first one, with a different group of potential victims in a much more precarious situation. It takes a little while to get to the awesome conclusion of Brody killing the shark with an underwater power line, though. The film runs just as long as the original, and yet it feels a little longer.

People have criticized the annoying teenagers presented in Jaws 2 but I don't particularly agree. They were smart, knew what they were doing, and were genuinely concerned with the others' safety, leaving nobody behind. The mayor and other town selectmen are still douches and haven't learned their lesson. But no one actually saw the shark attack anybody in this film, so they at least had reason to doubt Brody. The bitches didn't have to fire him, though. Kind of harsh.

The shark effects are about the same from the first one, although at times this one seemed a little too smooth and rubbery. He has a lot more screen time and gives a wonderfully menacing performance, with a great death scene. Although does anybody really believe that Brody could have made it through that unscathed? The shark is being electrocuted and on fire and Brody is on his little raft RIGHT THERE. Yet nothing seems to touch him. I call shenanigans. Anyway, good sequel! On to number 3...


Jaws 3 (1983)
Mike and Sean Brody are all growed up now, and Mike is in charge of the construction of Sea World's new Undersea Kingdom in Florida. Apparently time moves much quicker in the Jaws world because it's only been five years since the second movie and both Mike and Sean seem to have aged at least 10 years.

A baby great white sneakily infiltrates the lagoon of the park and wreaks a little havoc. It is Bess Armstrong's brilliant idea to capture the shark and make it the park's biggest attraction (I love the sign leading to the shark pen - "Come see the great white sh sh Shark!"). However, the baby soon dies and the discovery of the body of one of the park's workers leads them to figure out that big mamma shark is also trapped in the park.

There's a pretty good cast in this film - Bess Armstrong, Dennis Quaid as Mike Brody, Louis Gossett, Jr., and Lea Thompson. And they do a fine job; too bad they didn't have a good story to back them up. Jaws 3 starts out okay with a new location and everything, but soon steeps into ridiculousness when reaching the climax.

Perhaps the effects might have been good in true 3D, but in boring ol' 2D they are simply laughable. I especially like the part where Mike and Katherine are in the yellow sub and you can see where the green screen effect fizzles out on the bottom part of the sub. The mamma shark is relatively well done, but she doesn't do a whole heck of a lot in this film. She swims reallllllly slowly and is not nearly scary enough, although she is pretty big. The other 3D effects are way too obvious and only succeed in making the film more humorous, which I'm sure was not the filmmakers' intentions.

In the climax, the plan is to capture mamma in the filtration pipe where she was first hiding (you know, the place Mike said they didn't need to look in the first place - the Way to Go Award goes to you, Brody!) by using that annoying FitzRoyce guy as bait. Bait he is, indeed, for mamma DOES follow him into the pipe and then proceeds to heartily munch on him. Good job. But I kind of liked this scene because they show FitzRoyce still alive inside her mouth as she's chomping away at him. Anyway, for some reason Louis Gossett, Jr. tells one of the operators to turn the filtration pump off - while Dennis Quaid is in the water - which allows the shark to escape by swimming backwards out of the pipe.

Did you catch that? THE SHARK SWIMS BACKWARDS OUT OF THE PIPE. Sharks cannot swim backwards. Big IMDb mistake right there, people, big one. Then after she attacks the observation window (which looks like it was made out of really thin glass by how easily it breaks), Brody sees that somebody's arm is inside her mouth, holding a grenade. He gets a pipe and manages to hook the ring to set off the grenade. Really? I throw my hands up. I'm done. Sucky sequel.

Thank gosh the dolphins survived, though. Then I'd really have some mean things to say about the movie :).


Jaws: The Revenge (1987)
Just when you thought you were safe from another crappy sequel ...
... here comes Jaws: The Revenge.

Wow. You want to talk about bad script-writing, I've got the winner right here. The youngest Brody, Sean, is now a deputy with the Amity Police. One night, he is killed by a shark. Mike comes home and convinces his mother, Ellen, to return with him to the Caribbean where he now lives and works. It seems like all the great whites in the world have some kind of grudge against the Brodys, because the one that killed Sean has followed Ellen and Mike to the Bahamas (???????????????) and seeks to kill just about every member of the Brody family, including Mike's daughter, Thea.

I really don't know what to say about this movie. After Sean is killed, Ellen starts raving about how the shark came after him on purpose, for revenge, as I guess the title suggests. Huh? For what? The shark that Martin killed in the first movie? Or the other movies? Is this a baby shark that saw its mommy killed? Just what the hell are they trying to say???? But it appears that Ellen might be right. The shark continually appears out of freaking nowhere with no provocation wherever one of the Brodys happens to be. Sean is trying to free a log from a buoy, and the shark attacks. Mike and his partner Jake are tracking snails underwater, and the shark attacks. Thea takes a ride on a banana boat, and the shark attacks. It's all completely ridiculous. The writers were sure smoking some good stuff helming this movie.

There were some, um, interesting sepia-toned flashbacks to the first film. How Ellen could have flashbacks of things she never saw happen is anybody's guess. I did like the cute scene of Mike and his daughter imitating each other like he did with his own father in the original film, but that's about the only thing I found endearing in this piece of poop. Michael Caine's infatuation with Ellen was kind of creepy and out of place, and for some reason Mike doesn't trust the guy and thinks he has some sort of secret life because of how he keeps going away. I don't know where this development came from. We also have a hilariously bad performance by the stereotypical island dude with dreds, Jake. "Is alright, mon, we in da Bahamas! No big fish gonna eat us here!" Oh, help me. Help me, PLEASE!

I gotta say that the shark looks better than he/she ever has in any of the Jaws films. Good effects work, bad carry-through. He gets the stupidest death scene ever when Ellen pokes him with the broken piece of the boat. Hm. That's it, the end. Did I mention how they ended up on Mike and Jake's boat in the first place? It's really a scene of cinematic marvel. After a girl is eaten off of the banana boat Thea was on, Ellen decides she's going to go after the shark in a boat. Mike comes home, finds out what happened and he, Jake, and Hoagie (Michael Caine) take Hoagie's plane to find Ellen. They find her, just when the shark has figured out what boat Ellen is on (he's after her, you know) and they land the plane in the water. The shark then attacks and sinks the plane. Yup, that's what happens. Now, what exactly was Ellen's plan in the first place? She just takes the boat out to find the shark. Yeah... and then what, sweetheart? Planning on killing it? How? When the shark is coming at her boat from behind, she says something stupid like, "Come and get me, you bastard." Did she even have a gun or anything that she was planning to kill the shark with? No. She stands aside and is all surprised when the shark attacks.

I'm shaking my head over this movie. I don't know who read this script and thought, hell yeah! That is some goshdarn good writing! How come no one thought of this before?? BECAUSE IT'S FUCKING RETARDED.



So that's the Jaws Marathon! Two thumbs up for Jaws and Jaws 2, two big fat raspberries for Jaws 3 and Jaws: The Revenge!