Threw the years this has been a favorite of mine.

Some nice bits, a good idea, and well acted, but largely generic and forgettable.

Great suspense with a chilling style

In 1999, the media was in a frenzy about a new film that used real things to terrify and excite its audience. Stir Of Echoes was not it. Partly due to the studio's financial difficulties, Stir Of Echoes came and went by itself, unsung and unappreciated. Which goes to show that recognition in the Hollywood system does not go to innovators or the best storytellers. It is all about marketability, and while Stir Of Echoes had this, the companies involved in making or distributing it did not seem to want to spend the cash involved in taking advantage. Either that or Artisan and Fox decided to use it as their tax write-off for that year. I have not read the novel by Richard Matheson, so I cannot comment on how faithfully the film follows its source. But that is irrelevant. When compared to its more big-name competitor, at least Stir Of Echoes has the courtesy to acknowledge its source. The film updates the story to a more modern era, thus saving a few dollars, since period pieces are expensive to make. In fact, the dramatic angle of the film keeps it rather cheap, since effects shots are few and far between. Not to mention the effects that do appear are fairly simple in nature. Indeed, Stir Of Echoes only cost about thirteen million to make, according to estimates. Which makes it all the more peculiar that Fox was unwilling to invest a little more effort in publicising the film. Kevin Bacon is in fine, fine form as the film's central hero, a regular guy called Tom Witzky. Kathryn Erbe is also in great form as his wife, Maggie. Illeana Douglas is decidedly odd as his sister-in-law, Lisa. But the real surprise here is child performer Zachary David Cope. After the pretender, that pile of sachaarine garbage called The Sixth Sense, child stars had such a bad reputation that Zachary deserves a medal for portraying such a genuinely likable, layered character. Indeed, director David Koepp took one hell of a risk by placing so much of the responsibility for the plot on his shoulders. That it pays off is a testament not only to the strength of Zachary David Cope's performance, but to the strength of the material he was given. Indeed, all the best scenes in Stir Of Echoes involve interaction between Zachary, Kathryn, and Kevin. I do think this film has its faults. Chief among them is that the story needed another ten minutes to properly develop. Plot threads like the group of psychics, a member of which helps put Kathryn Erbe's character on the path of greater understanding, needed better resolution. One moment, Maggie is asking this policeman why her husband is obsessed with a scene of memories to the exclusion of his job. The next moment, not only are details like the job forgotten, so too is the group and the policeman. Smoothing out intricate plot points such as this would have helped the story no end. In the end, however, Stir Of Echoes is proof that the artistic work one does not hear about may just be the one that has more merit. If nothing else, it is worth watching to see a small ensemble cast that excels. Even small performances like Liza Weil's demonstrate a sense of dramatic flair that has long fled most of the rest of Hollywood. It is for this reason that I gave Stir Of Echoes an eight out of ten. It is worth watching just to see how badly misdirected the hype machine often is.

Bacon gets his mind opened in a joke of a hypnosis. It leads him to uncovering a girl's death and seeing a lot of creepy crap along the way.

Excellent movie, from beginning to end, thrill, scary, intense. Now with the new format with Dolby Vision and Dolby ATMOS, this move has deep into the strangest feelings and emotions with the new sound mix… ATMOS 7.2.4 made all independent channels roar! Amazing movie!

Love this. Another movie I could put on to sleep to, over and over.

This was a cool movie with excellent acting. Being made in 1998 it holds up well to big block busters. Not an academy award film, but for a rainy Sunday, you betcha!!!

A ghostly who done it. Good story, holds up pretty good with time for its age.

In my opinion, this is an underrated film. I consider it one of Kevin Bacon's best performances. This film had me on edge and the character development rang true,

It's back to 1999 for one of my favourite creepy thrillers in 'Stir of Echoes'. SYNOPSIS: '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. 'Stir of Echoes' is a seriously tense movie which is driven by the unhinged performance of Kevin Bacon. As each minute ticks by the hysteria his character is suffering rises until he is out of control. This film has been compared to, maybe unfairly, 'The Sixth Sense', and there are some clear reoccurring tropes here. But that doesn't mean it's a bad film. The film boasts a number of undeniably tense scenes, sequences and jump scares. A genuinely haunting film which appeared to want to spawn a sequel with the same cast, but actually only brought about a second rate offering with no connection to these characters at all. Gripping. 7/10

I could figure out where this was going very easily. It was an okay film.

Good casting does well with an okay supernatural suspense horror that keeps the viewer engaged.

All the bad parts are due to 90s digital effects tropes that made early 2000s horror movies miserable. Everything else is excellent.

This film is OK. Kevin Bacon gives a good performance but the rest of the cast is mediocre at best. The plot itself is good and there are some decent effects and scary scenes in the first half but the film gets abit silly and loses its edge in the second half. Overall it's not a bad horror film but it's not good, it's worth watching if you've got nothing better to do.

Every movement, every word of dialogue, every detail of the film adds to both the taut atmosphere and the inexorable development of the story as it advances into one of the most unforgettable psychological thrillers moviegoers will ever see. Kevin Bacon's performance was reminiscent of and surpassed his performance in Flatliners, another chilling thriller made several years earlier.

I find it absolutely refreshing that this is a "ghost movie" without upside down crosses & cheap spooks. There are so many moments that create the perfect eerie atmosphere with just a sentence or two. & Kevin Bacon & the child actor really nail their roles in my opinion. I genuinely believe this movie is worth a watch to new viewers. It is highly underrated.

Just did a 2022 rewatch of this film and it held up pretty well. Certain revelations near the end of the story were a bit obvious and a few of the minor character performances were a bit over-the-top. But overall, the film is still impressive. Not as creepy as a typical horror film, and not many jump scares. It's mainly a psychological thriller/mystery with a small touch of horror & the supernatural. 4 stars.

Not at all a bad film. Based on a novel by Richard Matheson. Not quite a horror film, but unsettling all the same. Kevin Bacon is quite good in this one.

Stir of Echoes has the unfortunate fate of being similar enough to the Sixth Sense that, when we're wanting to see a spooky ghost story about a kid who sees ghosts, we're going to default to the slam dunk that M. Night Shyamalan delivered in 1999 (and hasn't delivered since). With that said Stir of Echoes is a great spiritual cousin, with a chilling finale that brings all of the loose ends together quite nicely.