Customer Reviews

Stir Of Echoes 2: The Homecoming

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Like my title reads, there's a reason this movie went for a direct to DVD release. It was pretty bad. The original Stir of Echos had a great plot and actually carried a story with good characters, whereas this movie resorts to cheap scares and a story that I'm still trying to put together a week later after watching it.

Rob Lowe's acting was good and believable but that's where it ends. The movie opens with Rob Lowe's character commanding a troop in Iraq that accidentally kills a van loaded with a family trying to escape. An rpg explodes, Rob's character is hit, his friend is predictively killed and he is sent home after waking from a coma still suffering from the guilt of killing an innocent family. From there it only gets worse with what I think the director wanted as a twist comes off as simple confusion.

The first movie was so good, it's too bad they used the same name for this movie because anyone who has never seen the original Stir of Echos prior to watching this one won't bother to watch it when they should.

My take, you can safely skip this one.

- Dan.

Stir of Echoes: The Homecoming (Ernie Barbarash, 2007)

I let this sit on my DVR for weeks, fearing to watch it. Well, I finally did, and it turns out I was right to do so. The original Stir of Echoes was one of my favorite movies of 1999, though it never got the recognition it deserved (it was eclipsed by The Sixth Sense in much the same way Near Dark was eclipsed by The Lost Boys fifteen years before), and I was pretty sure any sequel, especially one that went straight to the morass of the Sci-Fi Channel Original Movie, was bound to tear out anything that made the original good and keep the lurid aspects without anchoring them to anything worthwhile. Seems I didn't need to watch the movie, as I pretty much had it dead-on already. But I sat down and watched it, more fool me.

Plot: Ted Cogan (Rob Lowe), an Iraqi War vet, suffers a traumatic injury after his position is hit by an RPG shell. When he returns home, the fallout from that incident gets him branded a murderer. Worse, he finds he can see ghosts. Sound familiar? One in particular needs him to right an injustice. Sound even more familiar? Yeah, it's less Stir of Echoes than it is Sixth Sense, but without any of the excellent acting, original touches, or attention to detail that characterized both of those 1999 movies. Worse yet, Barbarash (Cube Zero), who also wrote the screenplay, turns this into bland, pallid message crap that recognizes no grey areas in its subject matter whatsoever, one of the real defining characteristics of the original.

Just plain awful. *

I first watched this film on the Sci-Fi Channel, thinking that it was going to be just another direct-to-cable or direct-to-video sequel, just like the other stupid sequels that have come out in that fashion for many years. However, this one very much surprised me and I really liked this film.

Rob Lowe (from the miniseries "The Stand" and "Salem's Lot") plays a U.S. Army soldier just returning home from Operation Iraqi Freedom and begins experiencing what at first looks like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; he begins seeing the civilians that he had seen killed while overseas in spirit form.

Anyone who likes Rob Lowe's films or likes this type of film should see it. I was real impressed by it taking the subject matter seriously and not making fun of it or making it a comedy (like so many other independent or direct-to-video sequels have been over the past few years). The storyline, I thought, was solid and the direction was really good for this type of genre film. I really wish this would've been released to theatre because it probably would've become a theatre cult film.

"Stir of Echoes 2" seems like a movie that had been sitting around and they didn't know what to do with it, so they slapped on title and hoped for the best. "Stir of Echoes 2" has virtually nothing to do with the original which was a subtle, tense, build up that drew you into the story. The only thing "Echoes 2" has in common with the original except the main character becomes haunted by a dead girl, but has none of the subtly of the original.

Rob Lowe plays Ted Cogan a vet returning from the invasion of Iraq, where in the "fog of war" he inadvertently kills a family including a young girl. Upon his return home he becomes increasingly haunted by visions of the Iraqi dead and the young girl, until it carries over into his life and starts affecting his family.

The most expensive thing in "Stir of Echoes 2" seems to be Rob Lowe, who they expected to bring the same star draw that Kevin Bacon brought to the original, but Lowe out acts the rest of the cast and seems the only believable characterization.

The special features includes a commentary with the director, Ernie Barbarash, and a behind the scenes documentary, and deleted scenes but once you get that far you don't care enough about the movie or the characters to be interested.

If you remember the original Stir of Echoes starring Kevin Bacon, It was a surprisingly good ghost story about a man whose mind is opened to the paranormal after a hypnosis session gone awry. The film turns into a murder mystery as our hero struggles to comprehend what the ghost is telling him.

Stir of Echoes: Homecoming attempts to capitalize on the original without much more in common than it being about a ghost trying to tell a tortured protagonist something. Which is pretty much the plot of every ghost story ever.

United States National Guard captain Ted Cogan's (Rob Lowe) command goes awry while serving in Iraq. Cogan orders an allied tank to fire a warning shot at a vehicle approaching his checkpoint, but due to a miscommunication the tank fires ON the vehicle, killing everyone in it except for a young girl who is subsequently killed in a separate RPG attack. Wounded, Cogan wakes up from a coma back in the States.

Cogan comes home to a family strained by the tolls of the Iraq war; wife Molly (Marnie McPhail) works double shifts to pay the bills, Max (Ben Lewis) has taken up smoking and hangs with a bad crowd, and Cogan grapples with his PTSD. To make matters worse, a burning ghost and visions of murder and suicide bedevil Cogan at every turn. The identity of the ghost is not so clear cut.

Homecoming bridges the gap between civilian and military lives, bringing the war home so to speak, through the paranormal. On the surface it may seem antiwar, but it's surprisingly pro-soldier, detailing the struggles Cogan faces in paying his bills as a discharged soldier under investigation for the death of civilians, the lack of medical care for shell-shocked soldiers, and a civilian population who can't possibly understand what he's been through. In that regard, Homecoming drives the point home that war is hell - not just on the battlefield, but at home.

Unfortunately it drives the point home with a sledgehammer. Homecoming's messages are poignant but occasionally forced. Lowe does a passable job of a conflicted soldier, but the chemistry between he and McPhail is nonexistent. Lewis, who bears the majority of emotional scenes, struggles with his lines. The ending spirals and leaves Cogan with few options. When the ghost starts possessing Cogan, it robs the narrative of any moral dilemma by taking away personal choice.

For all its flaws, Homecoming is an unflinching portrayal of the costs of war...that just happens to be a ghost movie. With such a burden to bear, there's not much hope of a happy ending.

This movie features another avenging ghost, a somewhat pale pastiche of the spirit in "The Grudge." This haunt isn't as frightening because its popping up is too pat, and it is too laden with excrescence, making it almost reminiscent of "The Creature from the Black Lagoon." Such appearances end up bringing the apparition almost too close to campiness.

However, this "Stir of Echoes" is unexpectedly, seriously good in another way. It very movingly portrays some of the tragedy and trauma coming out of the War in Iraq, actually doing a better job of this than many of the documentaries I've seen on the subject.

The movie also takes an interesting turn. It rises above predictability and builds into some very telling character study.

The film already seems to be a little dated in its portrayal of U.S. citizens' tendency to stereotype all Middle Eastern Muslims just after 9/11. Thankfully, most Americans seem to have gotten beyond such corrosive, knee-jerk prejudice.

In addition to the more major charge that can be brought against this film for projecting some rather ludicrous apparitions - there are a few minor distractions about "Echoes 2." For one thing, Rob Lowe seems miscast - not in his role as U.S. soldier fighting in Iraq - but in his role as father to the young man he's trying to discipline at home. Lowe just seems too young to be this actor's father. I persistently wanted to transfer Lowe himself into the James Dean-like role of troubled, rebelling son.

Also, the extras on the DVD aren't very good. The Director's Commentary doesn't add much to the understanding of the film or its making, and you can probably skip it.

However, "Echoes 2" is a worthwhile film, not so much as a thriller as an exploration of certain emotional landscapes created in the wake of 9/11. The trailers on the DVD will probably inspire you to go back and check out the original "Stir of Echoes" if you are looking for some more convincing, straightforward chills.

This film tries to be very dark and creepy and in my opinion, it succeeds. Rob Lowe plays an Iraqi vet who starts seeing ghosts after returning home. We find out later that the visions are slowly getting stronger and are related to a horrible murder.

As a "Straight-to-DVD" film, Stir of Echos 2 is much better than most. Yes, it is much darker than the original "Stir of Echos" but I liked the way the film makers did not force a happy ending into the story at the end.

Sure glad this film was not released in the theatres. On video, its barely acceptable. Although I like Rob Lowe, the plot line is so stupid and fake. Its hard to accept and the film should not have been made. Bad acting and real fake scenes are the story behind this one. Stick to Stir of Echoes -the original --I don't know why they called this a sequel. Definitely not. Stay way from it.

I am still not sure why this movie is called "Stir of Echoes 2" since it really has nothing to do with the original "Stir of Echoes" other than the main character having "visions". That being said, this was a surprisingly good movie in its own right. The acting was good, the script was good, the plot was good and effects were good too. I actually found the film to be quite disturbing. I think the "haters" were expecting a sequel to the first film, and if that is the case, I can see why they would be disappointed. But if you forget about the title and just watch the movie, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

There is a great difference in story telling between the original stir of echoes and this one. I guess the original writers did not do this one which is very apparent, it has fallen off and not an interesting movie. The soldier coming home from war angle could have been better,,,I mean war is a horrible thing,,,so is this movie!!!