STIR OF ECHOES: THE HOMECOMING (2007) *
The original Stir of Echoes was one of the greatest overlooked horror movies of the 90’s. It had the misfortune of coming out mere weeks after The Sixth Sense, so of course nobody saw it. Echoes was about a jillion times better than that over praised bullshit, but this direct to Sci-Fi Channel sequel is the pits.
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Stir of Echoes: The Homecoming is nothing more than a pale retread of the original. Every thing about this movie plays like a discounted version of the first film. Instead of Kevin Bacon, we get Rob Lowe. Instead of catching it in the theater, it’s a straight to Sci-Fi Channel deal. Instead of the ghost playing “Paint it Black” as a harbinger of doom, it plays idiotic rap music.
The sole new idea The Homecoming brings to the table is the whole Iraqi war subplot, but the “messages” the movie is trying to send the audience (racism is bad, war is bad, Rob Lowe’s acting is bad) are more muddled than the messages sent by the ghosts themselves. The flick is also filled with extremely irritating slow motion flashbacks that are filmed so erratically that it’ll have you reaching for the Dramamine.
The gore, which consists of mainly wartime atrocities, is fairly decent. There are severed arms, torsos and one impressive bullet to the brain, but that’s not nearly enough to make it worth recommending to anyone with half an IQ point. Lowe looks like he’d rather be filming another sex tape, but at least Eugene (Land of the Dead) Clarke has a small but memorable turn as a specter-like GI.
Maybe in about eight more years Lionsgate will pony up another 200 bucks and make a third chapter in the series starring Judd Nelson as another telepathic has been. Until that day, completely forget that this movie even exists and watch the original instead.