Prime Time: Stir Of Echoes (1999)

If there’s one thing almost guaranteed to happen nowadays when someone praises Stir Of Echoes it is that same person also saying that the film is actually better than The Sixth Sense (the supernatural blockbuster behemoth that unfortunately overshadowed this film back when it was released in 1999). People are entitled to that opinion. I disagree though, although Stir Of Echoes IS an excellent chiller that more people still need to check out.

Kevin Bacon plays Tom, a blue collar worker who is married to Maggie (Kathryn Erbe), the two living in a fairly comfortable new home with their son, Jake (Zachary David Cope). One evening, Tom’s sister-in-law, Lisa (Illeana Douglas) agrees to hypnotize him at a party, which is when his troubles begin. Tom starts seeing things, visions of a young woman (played by Jennifer Morrison) who went missing in the neighbourhood some time ago. His mind has become more receptive, allowing him to see the world around him in a different way. It turns out that his new perspective allows him to glimpse things that his son has been seeing for some time, but maybe things will go back to normal if Tom helps the missing girl in need of his help.

Adapted from a tale by Richard Matheson, Stir Of Echoes was written and directed by David Koepp (his second directorial feature), and it does a fantastic job of grounding the supernatural elements in something that keeps you caring about the characters and believing each stage of the plot development.

As hard as it is for me to say it, because I am a big fan of his work, the biggest problem with Stir Of Echoes is Kevin Bacon. He’s not actually bad, but I cannot help thinking that a number of other actors would do a better job in the main role, from the accent to the attitude. I am not sure who I would replace him with (my mind has considered the likes of Kevin Corrigan and Donnie Wahlberg), but he is the only one I would think of replacing. Erbe and Cope are both very good, with the latter particularly effective at portraying an innocent and playful child who hears and sees things he has become used to others being unaware of. Douglas only has a few main scenes, but she livens up the movie considerably, with her presence and her character being pivotal to the plot. Morrison is shot in a way that allows her to be a memorable onscreen presence, and there are a couple of solid supporting turns from Kevin Dunn and Connor O’Farrell.

Aside from some good performances, the main strength of this film lies in the script and the imagery. The title really sums up the central idea, and the “echoes” that we see are interspersed throughout the plot in a way that brilliantly builds the mystery and sense of intrigue all the way to a final act that is as enjoyable and satisfying as it is annoyingly formulaic. The finale is the least interesting part of the movie, but it works well enough at the end of the journey we have gone on with the main characters.

If you haven’t seen this one yet, do yourself a favour and check it out. The same goes for The Sixth Sense (of course). And then you can decide which one you like more.

8/10

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Mubi Monday: The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)

SPOILER WARNING - I have chosen to end this review with the final bit of dialogue from the movie. This isn't an effort to deliberately spoil it for those who have yet to see the film. It's for those who have seen the film to join me in basking in perhaps the most wonderful soliloquy to end any sci-fi movie, a movie speech that heartens me almost as much as the direct and beautiful plea to humanity made by Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator.

In essence, this fantastical sci-fi movie from the 1950s is a very simple tale, summed up in the title. Grant Williams plays the lead, Robert Scott Carey AKA Scott, a man we first see enjoying some leisure time on a boat with his wife, Louise (Randy Stuart). One encounter with a strange cloud later and Scott starts off on a road that will see him getting smaller and smaller. It's hard to be sure at first, months later he feels that his clothes are getting a bit bigger, but becomes easier to notice as he continues to shrink. There are physical threats to Scott, mainly from animals that quickly start to view him as a small pest, but it's the mental struggles that continue to bring things into focus, whether it's Scott struggling to feel like anything less than a burden to his wife or the dashing of his hopes when he becomes friends with a small woman named Clarice (April Kent) and then starts to become smaller than her.

Directed by Jack Arnold, The Incredible Shrinking Man shows the benefits of sticking to your guns when you have source material from the mind/pen of Richard Matheson. Richard Alan Simmons may have changed the structure slightly, the novel has the tale told in flashbacks, and there were scenes that just wouldn't fly on 1950s cinema screens, but the thoughtfulness and intelligence of Matheson shines through, his screenplay adapted with great care and respect by Arnold.

The cast are the least of the important elements here, although to dismiss them is to do them a disservice. Williams may seem a bit too disposable in the lead role, but when you consider how well he acts alongside a variety of special effects, and how well he moves from everyday figure to unnerved man, to emasculated husband, all the way to the man who will deliver that superb final speech, it's important to give him his due. Stuart does equally well in her portrayal of someone on the other side of the coin, as it were, and Kent makes a very good impression in her small role (no pun intended).

But it's the blend of ideas and special effects that make this one of the all-time great sci-fi movies. They may not hold up to the standards of the modern age, but there's still a lot here to admire as you watch Scott discover more and more dangers, and also more resources, around him as he continues his downward spiral towards . . . well, not knowing where it will all end is a large part of his ongoing fear.

I'm amazed that this concept hasn't been put to better use over the years. It seems to work best when people are shrunk and injected into other bodies (e.g. Fantastic Voyage and Innerspace), and I recommend The Incredible Shrinking Woman, a comedic riff on the concept with Lily Tomlin having fun in the lead role, but I can't think of anything that has really tapped into the potential of this idea since Honey, I Shrunk The Kids (1989, jeesh, that long ago). The Ant-Man movies don't count, they're Marvel movies, albeit fun ones. And Downsizing doesn't count, for no reason other than it's a ham-fisted message movie that forgets what it wants to say while ensuring that the main idea is drained of any ounce of fun.

See The Incredible Shrinking Man. It's well worth your time, an outstanding classic that you won't want to give short shrift (that pun WAS intended). Now only read the quoted dialogue below if you have already seen the movie. Otherwise, the review ends here.

I was continuing to shrink, to become... what? The infinitesimal? What was I? Still a human being? Or was I the man of the future? If there were other bursts of radiation, other clouds drifting across seas and continents, would other beings follow me into this vast new world? So close - the infinitesimal and the infinite. But suddenly, I knew they were really the two ends of the same concept. The unbelievably small and the unbelievably vast eventually meet - like the closing of a gigantic circle. I looked up, as if somehow I would grasp the heavens. The universe, worlds beyond number, God's silver tapestry spread across the night. And in that moment, I knew the answer to the riddle of the infinite. I had thought in terms of man's own limited dimension. I had presumed upon nature. That existence begins and ends is man's conception, not nature's. And I felt my body dwindling, melting, becoming nothing. My fears melted away. And in their place came acceptance. All this vast majesty of creation, it had to mean something. And then I meant something, too. Yes, smaller than the smallest, I meant something, too. To God, there is no zero. I still exist!

10/10

You can buy the movie here.

Pit And The Pendulum (1961)

Another adaptation of some classic Edgar Allan Poe by Roger Corman, and once again starring the magnificent Vincent Price, Pit And The Pendulum is an atmospheric and macabre slice of entertainment, as you would expect considering the people involved.

Price plays Nicholas Medina, a man who has recently lost his wife (Barbara Steele). When her brother (John Kerr) comes to visit, in an attempt to figure out just what really happened, it soon becomes clear that Nicholas is hiding something. But is it something sinister, or is it a past tragedy that has haunted him, and also his sister (Luana Anders), for many years? Perhaps the family doctor (Antony Carbone) can help.

From the cast members (Steele and Anders, at any rate) to the set design to the colour scheme used, Pit And The Pendulum is a gorgeous film, almost as rich and satisfying as The Masque Of The Red Death, a film with many obvious similarities to this one.

The script by Richard Matheson may not stick as rigidly to the material by Poe as purists might like, but it maintains the essence of his work and leads to a finale that feels exactly as it should, in terms of potential terror and nastiness.

Corman directs with confidence, making the most out of a few set-pieces and allowing himself room for some nice artistic flourishes. It's the kind of work that may make fans regret the path that his career took, after he saw how the dollar was easier to get a hold without any qualms about artistic integrity. I'm not knocking the man for the choice that he made, and the many careers that he's helped launch, but I AM sad that only a few of his movies seem to show what he was really capable of.

Price is on his usual top form, gracious and possibly hiding madness behind that charming smile, while Kerr and Carbone pitch their performances just perfectly, playing more level-headed characters without ever being overshadowed by that magnificent central performance. Anders is a ray of loveliness in a rather dark and dire environment, and Steele is given another role that makes the most of her haunting beauty.

Superior horror entertainment from start to finish, and what a finish it is, Pit And The Pendulum is a film that every self-respecting fan of the genre should see. And then buy. And then see again and again.

8/10

http://www.amazon.com/The-Raven-Pendulum-Tales-Terror/dp/B005AMJ36U/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1399588222&sr=8-2&keywords=pit+and+the+pendulum

The Arrow edition, however, is the way to go - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pit-Pendulum-Blu-ray-Vincent-Price/dp/B00IJE1QL6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402699173&sr=8-1&keywords=pit+and+the+pendulum

Don't forget to help me to convince my wife that movie reviews aren't a complete waste of my time and energy whenever you're visiting Amazon. My book is available there.

The UK version can be bought here - http://www.amazon.co.uk/TJs-Ramshackle-Movie-Guide-Reviews-ebook/dp/B00J9PLT6Q/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1395945647&sr=1-3&keywords=movie+guide

And American folks can buy it here - http://www.amazon.com/TJs-Ramshackle-Movie-Guide-Reviews-ebook/dp/B00J9PLT6Q/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395945752&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=TJs+ramshackle+mov

As much as I love the rest of the world, I can't keep up with all of the different links in different territories, but trust me when I say that it should be there on your local Amazon.

The Devil Rides Out (1968)

Hammer provides an entertaining, and actually quite brilliant, adaptation of Dennis Wheatley's work and although I have not read any of Wheatley's work, sadly, I am familiar with his themes and tone and cannot imagine that this movie lets down fans of the literary great either.

Christopher Lee and Leon Greene play Duc de Richleau and Rex Van Ryn, respectively, two gentlemen trying to help their friend (played by Patrick Mower) move away from the tight clutches of a local Satanic cult. Easier said than done and problems come in the shape of Tanith Carlisle (played by Nike Arrighi), an alluring female also caught up in the web of the dark arts, and confrontations with the cult's charismatic and powerful leader, Mocata (wonderfully portrayed by Charles Gray). People close to the daring duo are placed in peril and things go from bad to worse before the finale . . . . . but will it be good or evil triumphing as the sun rises?

The cast here all do a fantastic job. As well as those mentioned, with Lee and Gray being particular standouts, there's some solid support in the latter half of the movie from Paul Eddington and Sarah Lawson.

Terence Fisher directs (from a tight screenplay by Richard Matheson) with an assured hand, throwing us directly into the action and letting us find out a little more with each scene as things move from slightly puzzling to mysterious to dangerous to deadly. Though I do not know enough about the rituals and accoutrements portrayed in the movie it all has a sense of authenticity about it, strange considering how far-fetched the movie actually is in its depiction of a struggle between good and evil.

Considering its age, it holds up very well to this day. There are two major "materialisation" scenes that still hold the power to unnerve; in fact, the very first one actually made me want to look away from the screen as I was getting a bit freaked out by the imagery. There are lots of details in the effects and acting that you could poke fun at if you wanted to (one scene featuring an over-sized spider is about as bad as anything in Empire Of The Ants) but if you forgive the "ravages of time" then you will be letting yourself in for a cracking British horror movie aimed distinctly at adults.

9/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Ultimate-Hammer-Collection-DVD/dp/B000HN31KQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379426721&sr=8-1&keywords=hammer+box+set

Die! Die! My Darling! AKA Fanatic (1965)

One of the more bizarre, and therefore more interesting, movies to be released under the Hammer name, Die! Die! My Darling! feels a bit like something you'd expect to see if Pete Walker and Sergio Martino decided to work together on a movie that then had all of the nudity and bloodshed removed. It's often very stylish, it contains a roster of strange and memorable characters, and most of the highlights revolve around aspects of passion, be it severely repressed or bubbling up to the surface.

Stefanie Powers plays Patricia, a young woman who sets out to visit the mother (Mrs. Trefoile, played by Tallulah Bankhead) of her deceased fiance. When she gets there, she finds a very strange household where no condiments are added to the food, no mirrors are used and make-up is not allowed. Even the colour red is frowned upon. Patricia soon finds herself in trouble, upsetting Mrs. Trefoile and unable to get away as quickly as she would like to.

Written by Richard Matheson, based on the novel by Anne Blaisdell, this is a film more about characters and mood than snappy dialogue. There may not be many memorable lines, but there is great pains taken to develop both the characters and situation.

Powers makes for an appealing lead, her character puts up with a LOT before standing up for herself, and Bankhead is very good as the strict, cold Mrs. Trefoile. Peter Vaughan is good as the lusty Harry, Yootha Joyce does well in the role of Anna and Donald Sutherland puts in an appropriate, but strange, performance as Joseph, a mentally handicapped young man. Maurice Kaufmann may not be onscreen much, as Alan (the current beau of Patricia), but he does just fine.

Director Silvio Narizzano does a good job with the material, keeping everything interesting and entertaining without ever filling out sequences with cheap shocks or gratuitous excesses. The movie walks a fine line between the eerie and the laughably bonkers, and it's to Narizzano's credit that once the film ends it stays in your memory for all the right reasons.

All in all, this is a very good film for fans of the slightly bizarre.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Die-My-Darling-DVD/dp/B000DN6DFU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376817786&sr=8-1&keywords=die+die+my+darling