Watch Stir of Echoes: The Homecoming For Free

Wow, this is a REALLY bad movie!

best movie i've ever seen.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

National Guard Ted Cogan sees a van speeding up toward his watch ignoring the warning plates. He orders to fire, but discovers that there was an Iraqi family in the van. He tries to save a young girl, but the vehicle explodes and his group are attacked.When Ted recovers from his injuries, he returns home to his family, but he is haunted by the death of the innocent family, and another spectre.When his son Max is severely wounded in a car crash where his girlfriend Sammi and their friend Luke die, Ted discovers who the tormented soul is and tries to do the right thing.........Like many of the straight to DVD sequels that no one asked for in the early noughties, Stir Of Echoes 2 just rehashes all the best bits of the original, and just adds a different story around those key sequences. And don't forget to add a star who was, or was going to be quite big once.It's surprising to see Rob Lowe in something like this, he is a wonderful actor, but I'm guessing the smarmy yuppie type roles dried up after Bad Influence, and a certain home made movie.But it's pretty watchable stuff the rationale behind as to why the ghoul is haunting him is quite intelligent, but the same couldn't be said for the very strange and totally bonkers ending.It's not particularly scary, but as direct to DVD sequels to films you never thought would get one in a million years, this is perfectly perfunctory.

STIR OF ECHOES: THE HOMECOMING is a surprisingly poor horror/thriller which can't hold a candle to the power of the Kevin Bacon original. STIR OF ECHOES was actually a pretty decent late '90s ghost flick that went hand in hand with THE SIXTH SENSE to revitalise the genre at the end of the millennium. This, on the other hand, is a poorly-directed piece of straight-to-DVD nonsense with virtually nothing to recommend it.A wooden Rob Lowe (THE STAND) stars as an Iraqi war veteran who returns home after witnessing and being responsible for some violent actions in the Middle East. Before long he's haunted by visions of burning bodies and the like and he must get to the bottom of the mystery before it's too late. Unfortunately the mystery, as it transpires, is ridiculous stuff, as is the film's execution: dumb scare scenes, bad CGI, and awful direction from Ernie Barbarash (who has only mildly improved these days in directing Van Damme in the likes of POUND OF FLESH). Future starlet Tatiana Maslany plays in support, but the whole thing's a real mess.

There is just no way that a Made for TV Movie is going to be anything approaching the underrated and ignored Original. Stir of Echoes (1999) was a Fantastic Film. This one though, is an above average TV Movie that is OK in its own right if comparisons to the first Film are ignored.Rob Lowe gives an acceptable outing as the afflicted Iraq War Vet that has PTSD by way of Hell, not the War. He struggles to find the meaning of it all and He is Haunted and Tormented by things from Beyond. It does have a heavy Political message and for better or worse it is what it is.The Ending may have some question marks but it is wrapped up with a finale that is not squeamish or condescending. There are some Chills and the Tone of the thing is just about right. It rises above most Basic Cable Stuff but is restrained by those Limitations from attaining anything of significance.

Political ranting aside, I think the movie deserves better than a sub-five average rating. It's well acted by the leads and Rob Lowe seems 'engaged' in his role. The DVD extras explain in detail the limitations of the production but at the same time the investment in the film by the director and cast members. It works as a ghost story and also as a mystery. The make-up and effects are well done and it has a decent pace. In a way it still has a distant connection to the first Stir of Echoes in that it portrays a working class American family. Yes, the film does make a comment on racism, but I didn't feel this was a generalized anti-American slag the way some other reviewers did. I look forward to other movies by this director and thumbs up to Rob Lowe for bringing his 'A' game to this small film. And where else can you see a Stouffville, Ontario sand pit doubling for Iraq?