Premise - Cruelly overlooked during its original release in favour of the similarly themed 'The Sixth Sense', 'Stir of Echoes' is the story of a blue-collar worker played by Kevin Bacon. He is hypnotised by his wife's sister at a party and begins to share his sons’ ability to see ghosts. If this premise sounds a bit like 'The Sixth Sense', then that's because there are many similarities. However for my money I think 'Stir of Echoes' is the better movie. The Sixth Sense's whole hook was the twist, the rest of the movie seemed sterile and apart from a stand out performance from Haley Joel Osment didn't do much for me. Stir Of Echoes on the other hand isn't preoccupied with building up to the inevitable twist and can instead flesh out the characters and tell a more engaging story. Direction and writing duties on Stir Of Echoes are handled by long time screenwriter David Koepp. He makes a good job of the direction, using some nice techniques to show ghosts and the world they inhabit. The jumps that are in the movie never feel cheap and are there to move the story along. The script is nothing spectacular, but does the job, moving the story along at good pace without any unneeded dialogue. Kevin Bacon gives a fine performance, coming more and more mentally unstable as he struggles to hold himself together in the face of his visions. His wife (Kathryn Erbe) on the other hand is only trying to understand what is going on and keep the family together. The young boy (Zachary David Cope) also gives a good performance, at times haunting. He is a bit younger than Osment in The Sixth Sense, but seems to posses some genuine talent. Stir of Echoes is an excellent supernatural thriller and now that the hype surrounding The Sixth Sense is over deserves to move out of that films shadow and take up it's own place among the best films of it's genre.

8/10 for Stir Of Echoes. Poster Quote - This film should stir your interest.