In the 1950s, two topics held the fascination of the public: amnesia and hypnosis. Dozens of novels and movies used these two elements (I’m sure you can think of several). Richard Matheson’s A Stir of Echoes (1958) centers around Tom Wallace, a guy who is hypnotized at a party and suddenly senses a ghost in his house. In the movie version with Keven Bacon, Tom’s five-year-old son also has the ability to talk to ghosts. The movie takes a turn into Stephen King country as Keven Bacon (aka, “Tom”) becomes obsessed with the case of a missing teenage girl. I was astonished when Bacon starts digging up his back yard searching for the body of the missing girl.
If you’re in the mood for a relentless movie filled with suspense, I recommend Stir of Echoes. Matheson’s novel, A Stir of Echoes is worth reading, too. GRADE: B+ (for both)
Don’t believe I have ever read the novel, but I have seen the movie and it’s pretty good. My favorite Matheson novel is Hell House with I Am Legend a close second.
Steve, I’m a big fan of Richard Matheson’s short stories, too.
Somehow I missed this, book and movie both.
Jeff, both the Kevin Bacon movie and the Richard Matheson novel it’s based on are worth a look.
I have always really liked this – the book is very good of course but this is a superior adaptation. It was a little unlucky in coming out at exactly the same time as THE SIXTH SENSE.
Sergio, I’m surprised at the number of people who haven’t seen STIR OF ECHOES. You might be right about THE SIXTH SENSE.
STIR is a compelling read but I haven’t seen the film. Thanks to you, I’ll correct that.
Dan, although STIR OF ECHOES uses Matheson’s A STIR OF ECHOES for inspiration, the movie version is clearly Stephen King inspired.