Matheson, who expressed admiration for Koepp's directorial debut film The Trigger Effect (1996), responded positively to his draft and gave him his approval: "I'm sure he's done a good job of it. Koepp remembered being high-strung when approaching Matheson to ask for his thoughts on his script, terrified that the changes he made in the story may displease the author. Producer Gavin Polone then secured the rights to the book. Koepp had decided he wanted his next project to be a horror film his love for the screen adapted Duel (1971), as well as Matheson's work on The Twilight Zone (1959), contributed to his decision to purchase a copy of A Stir of Echoes, which he bought from a used bookstore. The novel A Stir of Echoes was written by Richard Matheson, of whom director David Koepp is an avid fan. Tom and Maggie smile happily as they drive away to a new neighborhood, but Jake covers his ears as they approach their new home, overwhelmed by the spirits that linger in all of the houses they pass by. Meanwhile, Samantha's mother and sister are finally able to give her a proper funeral and burial. Afterwards, the family packs up a U-Haul and moves out of the house. Tom notices Samantha's spirit put on her glasses and coat, smile as she walks down the road, and disappears. As Harry takes her hostage, Frank emerges from the basement and fatally shoots both Kurt and Harry to save Tom and Maggie. They corner Tom with the intention of killing him, but Maggie interrupts them when she arrives back home. ![]() Harry, in his capacity as landlord, voices displeasure with the torn up house. As Tom leaves the basement, he hears a single shot. Frank pulls out a gun and demands to be alone. Frank breaks down and admits that Adam and Kurt had already confided their secret to him and Harry. Tom brings Frank back to the basement to disclose to him the crime. When she resisted, they unintentionally suffocated her and hid her body. He receives a vision showing him that before his family moved in, Adam and Kurt lured Samantha into the house to rape her. While Maggie and Jake attend her grandmother's wake at a relative's house, Tom inadvertently knocks down a shoddy brick wall in the basement and discovers Samantha's mummified remains. Tom complies and digs holes in the backyard and eventually tears up the house in a desperate attempt to appease Samantha. He goes back to Lisa and demands she undo what she did, but when she hypnotizes him, Samantha tells him to dig. As predicted, Samantha begins plaguing Tom, eventually leading to his insomnia. Maggie withholds her conversation with Neil from Tom and goes to the meeting herself, and Neil tells her the spirit that contacted Tom has asked for something and will grow upset if it does not get done. ![]() Meanwhile, during an afternoon walk, Jake and Maggie encounter a funeral where Chicago policemen are saluting in a ceremony here a policeman named Neil immediately recognizes Jake's unique talent and invites Tom to a private gathering of like-minded people to learn more about what is happening to his son. After another prophetic vision in which Frank tells Tom that 'they're going to kill you and Maggie both', Tom finds that Adam has shot himself in Frank's home and is in critical condition. This attracts the attention of his landlord Harry Damon, Tom's friend, Frank McCarthy and their respective sons Kurt Damon and Adam McCarthy, who all dismiss Samantha as a runaway teen. Tom becomes obsessed with Samantha and begins probing members of the community about her disappearance. Tom denies knowing her to Debbie but admits to Maggie that she is the girl in his visions. When Tom and Maggie confront her, Debbie angrily questions them about her sister Samantha, explaining that she had an intellectual disability, with the mental capacity of an eight-year-old and thus a child's tendency to trust strangers. Tom then sees strange flashes of red light that eventually leads him to the Metra station where Debbie is speaking with her mother about Jake. Meanwhile, Tom senses Jake is in danger and rushes home but finds him gone. ![]() Debbie gets upset and snatches Jake, running off with him in the night. While Tom and Maggie attend a high-school football game, Jake is overheard by his babysitter, Debbie, as he speaks with Samantha. Tom then begins experiencing visions of a violent scuffle involving a girl who he later learns is Samantha Kozac, a 17-year-old that disappeared from the neighborhood six months prior. After putting him under, Lisa plants a post-hypnotic suggestion in Tom urging him to "be more open-minded". At a party one evening, Tom challenges Maggie's sister, Lisa, who is a believer in paranormal activity, to hypnotize him. Tom Witzky is a phone lineman living in a working-class neighborhood in Chicago with his pregnant wife Maggie and his son Jake, who possesses the ability to commune with the dead.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |