Claudio Carvalho

(2013-05-04 07:04:19)

A Supernatural Tale of Prejudice and Justice

During the invasion of Iraq, the National Guard Commander Ted Cogan(Rob Lowe) sees a van speeding up against his site without respectingthe warning plates. He orders his men to fire, and later he discoversthat in the van there was an Iraqi family. He tries to save a younggirl from the fire, but the vehicle explodes and his group is attacked;he enters in coma severely wounded and his friend and neighbor dies.When Ted recovers, he returns home to meet his family, but he isincreasingly haunted by ghosts of dead people, premonitions and guiltycomplex for the death of the innocent family. He seeks medical supportbut his financial situation does not allow him to pay for a treatmentand the government denies helping him. However, one ghost gives thename of Jake Witzky (Zachary Bennett), who tells him to find out whatthe spirit demands from him. When his son Max (Ben Lewis) is severelywounded in a car crash where his girlfriend Sammi (Tatiana Maslany) andtheir friend Luke (Shawn Roberts) die, Ted discovers the wish ofjustice of the tormented soul and he tries to do the right thing.The ghost story "Stir of Echoes: The Homecoming" is a surprisingly goodand dramatic tale of prejudice and justice. Rob Lowe gives a solidperformance in the role of a man that feels the effects of a senselessinvasion, earning a medal but no financial or medical support in hishomecoming, living with the remorse for a wrong order in a moment ofstress in a foreign and hostile country. The bigotry of his neighborsupsets him until his final discovery of the despicable act of his sonand his friends. This supernatural story is certainly polemic for many,but I liked it, specially the unexpected twist with the true reason forthe spirit's revenge. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Ecos do Além 2" ("Echoes from Beyond 2")

(2013-05-03 19:31:02)

Not To Stirring

"Stir of Echoes 2" seems like a movie that had been sitting around and they didn't know what to do with it, so they slapped on title and hoped for the best. "Stir of Echoes 2" has virtually nothing to do with the original which was a subtle, tense, build up that drew you into the story. The only thing "Echoes 2" has in common with the original except the main character becomes haunted by a dead girl, but has none of the subtly of the original.Rob Lowe plays Ted Cogan a vet returning from the invasion of Iraq, where in the "fog of war" he inadvertently kills a family including a young girl. Upon his return home he becomes increasingly haunted by visions of the Iraqi dead and the young girl, until it carries over into his life and starts affecting his family.The most expensive thing in "Stir of Echoes 2" seems to be Rob Lowe, who they expected to bring the same star draw that Kevin Bacon brought to the original, but Lowe out acts the rest of the cast and seems the only believable characterization.The special features includes a commentary with the director, Ernie Barbarash, and a behind the scenes documentary, and deleted scenes but once you get that far you don't care enough about the movie or the characters to be interested.

(2013-04-26 20:53:08)

Very Dark film.

This film tries to be very dark and creepy and in my opinion, it succeeds. Rob Lowe plays an Iraqi vet who starts seeing ghosts after returning home. We find out later that the visions are slowly getting stronger and are related to a horrible murder.As a "Straight-to-DVD" film, Stir of Echos 2 is much better than most. Yes, it is much darker than the original "Stir of Echos" but I liked the way the film makers did not force a happy ending into the story at the end.

(2013-04-26 08:21:01)

I knew any sequel to Stir of Echoes would be worse than the first, but this is too much.

Stir of Echoes: The Homecoming (Ernie Barbarash, 2007)I let this sit on my DVR for weeks, fearing to watch it. Well, I finally did, and it turns out I was right to do so. The original Stir of Echoes was one of my favorite movies of 1999, though it never got the recognition it deserved (it was eclipsed by The Sixth Sense in much the same way Near Dark was eclipsed by The Lost Boys fifteen years before), and I was pretty sure any sequel, especially one that went straight to the morass of the Sci-Fi Channel Original Movie, was bound to tear out anything that made the original good and keep the lurid aspects without anchoring them to anything worthwhile. Seems I didn't need to watch the movie, as I pretty much had it dead-on already. But I sat down and watched it, more fool me.Plot: Ted Cogan (Rob Lowe), an Iraqi War vet, suffers a traumatic injury after his position is hit by an RPG shell. When he returns home, the fallout from that incident gets him branded a murderer. Worse, he finds he can see ghosts. Sound familiar? One in particular needs him to right an injustice. Sound even more familiar? Yeah, it's less Stir of Echoes than it is Sixth Sense, but without any of the excellent acting, original touches, or attention to detail that characterized both of those 1999 movies. Worse yet, Barbarash (Cube Zero), who also wrote the screenplay, turns this into bland, pallid message crap that recognizes no grey areas in its subject matter whatsoever, one of the real defining characteristics of the original.Just plain awful. *

(2013-04-16 09:14:14)

There's a reason for direct to DVD...

Like my title reads, there's a reason this movie went for a direct to DVD release. It was pretty bad. The original Stir of Echos had a great plot and actually carried a story with good characters, whereas this movie resorts to cheap scares and a story that I'm still trying to put together a week later after watching it.Rob Lowe's acting was good and believable but that's where it ends. The movie opens with Rob Lowe's character commanding a troop in Iraq that accidentally kills a van loaded with a family trying to escape. An rpg explodes, Rob's character is hit, his friend is predictively killed and he is sent home after waking from a coma still suffering from the guilt of killing an innocent family. From there it only gets worse with what I think the director wanted as a twist comes off as simple confusion.The first movie was so good, it's too bad they used the same name for this movie because anyone who has never seen the original Stir of Echos prior to watching this one won't bother to watch it when they should.My take, you can safely skip this one.- Dan.

Killa42

(2013-04-16 02:32:44)

Bad, boring, and bad

This is why people hate sequels. Rob Lowes is a good actor. He getsinvolved in these movies that just suck… like this one. The ghost inthis lame sequel is trying to tell him something. Spoiler; it's tellinghim that his son along with friends killed him because they thought hewas an Arab that hated America… based of course on his rude demeanorand tone towards American soldiers, easy mistake.This movie was made by obvious liberals because a conservativerepublican would be pleased that an American stuck up for their countryand said hey, you want to mess with my land and talk crap about oursoldiers… well F-you. They should make a movie praising Americans forsticking up for themselves for once instead of preachy junk like this.The a-hole gets killed and then has the audacity to haunt the boy'sfather, (Lowe). At the end his son goes to jail and his wife gets shotand killed, while Lowes character seems to be placed into an asylum.Gee nice message thrown in my face to be tolerant of others. F ucktolerance! Whatever happened to America being home of the brave?By the way... I'm not some racist redneck, I hate everyone equally

Mr Saxon

(2013-04-08 09:23:44)

Flawed But Watchable Sequel.

In "Stir Of Echoes", the always watchable Kevin Bacon played a man whobegan to see restless spirits after being hypnotised at a party andsubsequently uncovered a terrible crime. "Stir Of Echoes: TheHomecoming" utilises this premise and gives it a twist. Our maincharacter here is U.S Patrol Captain Ted Cogan who is forced to givethe order which leads to the death of a family in Iraq. He is alsowounded and falls into a coma which - much like the hypnosis from thefirst movie - turns him into a 'receiver', able to see the ghostsaround him."Stir Of Echoes: The Homecoming" uses the horror genre to comment onthe situation in Iraq and its effect on Americans back home. Forexample, early in the story we have a party in which one of Cogan'sneighbours makes a racist joke which results in laughter from some andan outburst of anger from Cogan. It's an interesting idea but,unfortunately, the script is not quite strong enough to quite carry itoff. There's a good idea at work here but the movie comes off as fartoo preachy in places for its own good.The horror aspects are well done and very interesting. As the ghostshaunting Cogan become more frustrated and aggressive, their attacksbecome increasingly more violent. Much like Bacon's character in thefirst movie, Cogan also experiences various hallucinations related tofuture events. I certainly can't fault the work of director ErnieBarbarish who manages to stretch a small budget out so the movie looksgreat.If I had to point out the areas where this movie fails, the mostobvious area is the casting of Rob Lowe as Cogan. It would be hard forany actor to follow Kevin Bacon but Lowe appears to sleepwalk throughmost of the movie. There are moments when you glimpse him come alivebut, for the most part, he seems to be there just to pick up his moneywhich is a shame. The second failing of the movie comes with itsconclusion which simply didn't sit right with me at all.Strangely, Bacon's son from the original "Stir Of Echoes" appears in acameo role in this movie but has been greatly aged which suggests thatthe sequel takes place many years later. Although it was a nice way totie the two movies together, this decision ultimately baffled me.Despite its flaws, its still a watchable movie. If you enjoyed thefirst movie, then you might still enjoy "Stir Of Echoes: TheHomecoming" if you can forgive its sledgehammer approach to racism andthe current situation in Iraq. Unfortunately, if you've seen the firstmovie then you'll also probably realise where the story is going due tocertain similarities in its plot. Is it worth purchasing on DVD? No. Isit worth a rental? Well, if you like supernatural horror movies thenthere are certainly worse ways to spend an hour and a half.

Prolox

(2013-04-08 02:24:28)

As good a sequel as they could come up with.

Direct to DVD sequel to the original KEVIN BACON chiller, casts ROBLOWE as an American Soldier who along with his comrades is fighting inIraq & whom accidentally kills an Iraqi family driving in a van whomistakenly go through a check point when ordered to stop. After anambush, he awakens two weeks later & returns back home whereunfortunately for him, he begins to see ghosts, horribly burned ghoststhat for some reason or another is trying to make contact with him &are seemingly determined to hurt his family & drive him insane, howeverwhen he tries to figure out what they want from him he discovers somedark secrets that will shatter his life & that of his family forever,should the ghosts allow them to live that is...STIR OF ECHOS 2: THEHOMECOMING surprisingly turned out to be a pretty decent sequel, thatwhile nowhere near as scary, or suspenseful as the original, stillmanaged to provide a few creepy moments of it's own & some prettyinteresting plot twists. ROB LOWE was great as the hero of the movie &the rest of the cast also performed pretty good. The direction was wellhandled & the make-up effects are also very well done. Fans who enjoyedthe first however are advised not to go into this sequel expecting itto top the original, because if you go into it expecting it to beat outthe first, you'll be extremely disappointed, since Echoes 2 comesnowhere close to doing so, however non demanding fans will no doubtfind plenty to like. The films plot twists are neat & surprising muchlike the originals & the pacing although slow at times, moves at a fairpace throughout most of the film. Definitely recommended to fans of thefirst. Like I said don't expect it to top the original & you just maylike it, I know I did.*** stars

Jay

(2013-03-26 09:38:18)

It was pretty good...

Don't set yourself up by thinking this one will be just as good as the first. It was a pretty good film over all, however the story or direction (I'm not sure) could've been a bit better. Snuggle up with ur honey and spend a Friday night watching this flick.

(2013-03-26 02:35:06)

Sequel Homecoming

I first watched this film on the Sci-Fi Channel, thinking that it was going to be just another direct-to-cable or direct-to-video sequel, just like the other stupid sequels that have come out in that fashion for many years. However, this one very much surprised me and I really liked this film.Rob Lowe (from the miniseries "The Stand" and "Salem's Lot") plays a U.S. Army soldier just returning home from Operation Iraqi Freedom and begins experiencing what at first looks like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; he begins seeing the civilians that he had seen killed while overseas in spirit form.Anyone who likes Rob Lowe's films or likes this type of film should see it. I was real impressed by it taking the subject matter seriously and not making fun of it or making it a comedy (like so many other independent or direct-to-video sequels have been over the past few years). The storyline, I thought, was solid and the direction was really good for this type of genre film. I really wish this would've been released to theatre because it probably would've become a theatre cult film.

(2013-03-20 16:24:55)

homecoming,,,i rather stay away

There is a great difference in story telling between the original stir of echoes and this one. I guess the original writers did not do this one which is very apparent, it has fallen off and not an interesting movie. The soldier coming home from war angle could have been better,,,I mean war is a horrible thing,,,so is this movie!!!

abominablebro

(2013-03-20 04:52:59)

More Intense and Scarier than the first

I was never really sure why people didn't like this move as much as thefirst. I was really impressed with the way this film was made. the plotis very similar to the first and just as entertaining. Another thingthat I should mention is that this sequel is much scarier and creepierthan the first one. The ending was not the best of the best but it wasacceptable for the situation. The acting was just fantastic and most ofthe scenes were played out very well and quite believable. When themovie was over I almost immediately wanted to see it again. Not much todislike about this sequel, unless you're not a big fan of tragicendings, but overall a very good sequel and great way to get some goodscares.

fureetutawk

(2013-03-19 14:48:39)

It's the warmup movie for the real show afterward

It was OK. It wasn't a deep thought provoking movie, and there wasn't alot of gore and scary stuff for hardcore horror flicks, it's more of athriller and not too badly done, just not memorable or worth payinghard bucks for. If you are looking for a deep discussion afterward,this wouldn't be the one to watch. I'd use it as a warmup during thelights on, gulping the beers or wine coolers, joking around, tossingpillows and chowing down on some messy snacks before the real moviestarts time period. I'm not telling you what it's about because youalready read that before scrolling down to the reviews. IMDb requiresat least 10 lines for a review, so I am filling it in with this fact,since it would be stupid to fill it in with stuff you don't really wantto read.

dmacpherson12-1

(2013-03-19 02:49:51)

well made for a low budget movie

Political ranting aside, I think the movie deserves better than asub-five average rating. It's well acted by the leads and Rob Loweseems 'engaged' in his role. The DVD extras explain in detail thelimitations of the production but at the same time the investment inthe film by the director and cast members. It works as a ghost storyand also as a mystery. The make-up and effects are well done and it hasa decent pace. In a way it still has a distant connection to the firstStir 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 wasa generalized anti-American slag the way some other reviewers did. Ilook forward to other movies by this director and thumbs up to Rob Lowefor bringing his 'A' game to this small film. And where else can yousee a Stouffville, Ontario sand pit doubling for Iraq?

dschmeding

(2013-03-06 06:22:42)

Like most sequels pretty average one

I really liked the first "Stir of echoes" movie and after reading somebashing here I thought I'd also give the second a try because too muchpraise and bashing indicates that its most of the time way out ofline... and once again I was right.The movie is wrapped around a more up to date story revolving around anIraq Soldier having to deal with his wrong decisions leading to anIraqi family's death and his coming home to face demons which soon turnout not to be those you expect. Of course the basic premise from hereon is 100% the same as in the first movie. Man has dreams andhallucinations and tries to uncover what they are about. Where in thefirst part hypnotizing triggered the events here its the war traumawhich fits the explanation of the soldier in the first movie (they evenpicked back up his "X-Ray eyes" line).I think the movie is decent for a sequel... all the bashing about theacting and effects and bad story are pretty much over the top. But Igive you that its at times annoying to watch the same ideas from Part1recycled in a different environment and that the ending really sucksbad. Where the first part gave some kind of resolution this onedoesn't... its real disappointing to have such a clichéd "happyHollywood ending" (considering the ghosts) and everything else being amess of storytelling. You can see they went for a drama like the kid inPart1 having to deal with the voices for life but here it just fallsapart and pretty much left me cold when the credits rolled.Anyway I have seen far worse... and what really makes me smile is thatI now know why there are such harsh reactions on the movie. There isnot much positive left on the American side of glory at the end and itseems that some of the guys here are too damn brainwashed to face thatthere is also another point of view possible than the anti-Arab U.S.propaganda that is all over the place. Come on guys... comparing thismovie to anti-semitic propaganda and Jud Suss is a joke. With hundredpercent of the Nazis Jud Suss image stuck to Muslims in dozens of U.S.Blockbusters in best "Der Stuermer" manner. Look at the imagery andcompare to Jud Suss and maybe you realize how damn brainwashed you arethat you can't even face a movie about the negative sides withoutcomplaining. Now that the Russians are not the bad guys, the Muslimsare... and as soon as someone depicts holy America as bad itspropaganda of course. Get a life and look in the mirror for adifference... and after all its just a movie. If you are angry about itit must have had some kind of impact... and thats much more than mostof todays movies even come near to achieve. Time to face your demons!

(2013-03-05 17:39:44)

Don't Bother With This One!

Sure glad this film was not released in the theatres. On video, its barely acceptable. Although I like Rob Lowe, the plot line is so stupid and fake. Its hard to accept and the film should not have been made. Bad acting and real fake scenes are the story behind this one. Stick to Stir of Echoes -the original --I don't know why they called this a sequel. Definitely not. Stay way from it.

das417

(2013-02-20 19:41:59)

A surprisingly intelligent thriller

When coming across a direct to DVD sequel of a mainstream horror or scifi movie movie, usually one cannot be blamed for staying away. Therental stores are full of such sequels that are abysmal due to pooracting, poor special effects, and most of all poor directing. One willboth waste their time and their money trying to enjoy such nonsense.Imagine the surprise when Stir of Echoes: The Homecoming, yes a sequelto a mainstream horror movie, proves itself to be a surprisinglyintelligent thriller. The Homecoming won't win any awards but it doeshold its own and is able to give a convincing story.Captain Ted Cogan (Rob Lowe) holds himself responsible for the death ofan Iraqi family during his tour of duty. Like many veterans, Ted onlywants to return home to his family and forget the war so that he can goback to the life he once knew. The problem is that such memories neverfade easily and home is never the same once you have been gone for solong. Ted's wife Molly (Marnie McPhail) and son Max (Ben Lewis) findthat the husband and father they once knew is a different man.However, something else haunts Ted. A series of graphic images of thosewho died in Iraq, including strange visions of what appear to be thefuture, stalk Ted. While he believes it to be mere post traumaticstress disorder, it soon becomes clear that something else is going onand that Ted is facing a different kind of ghost then he expected.While his family falls apart around him, Ted realizes that if he is tokeep his sanity then he needs to solve the mystery of what ishappening.Much like the previous Stir of Echoes, a spirit demands vengeance andunless that vengeance is fulfilled then that spirit will take its angerout on whoever it can reach. The truth, however, is more horrific thaneven Ted could imagine and will force him to make the most difficultchoice in his life. The ghost isn't one that followed him from Iraq.The truth is that the ghost wants vengeance against Max for a crime hecommitted......Stir of Echoes Homecoming doesn't rely on gore to push the horror thatTed is experiencing. Instead it uses dialog and mood setting to givethe feeling of Ted's isolation and confusion. Not the best movie but itis a good sequel that shows the original idea of Stir of Echoes isstill interesting.7/10

(2013-02-20 01:46:44)

No Star Rating !

I think this is another time I just wasted my money! The acting was very poor. I rate it with no stars .dont waste your money .Very dissappointed !I had to check off 1 star there was no choice but to do so .

slayrrr666

(2013-01-28 17:51:29)

Barely better sequel to a rather decent original

"Stir of Echoes: The Homecoming" is a mildly disappointing but decentsequel.**SPOILERS**Injured in battle, Ted Cogan, (Rob Lowe) returns home from the war inIraq and immediately puts off wife Molly, (Marnie McPhail) and son Max,(Ben Lewis) by his militaristic attitude. The more time he spends athome, the more he's tormented by nightmarish visions and dreams aboutan incident during the war involving a small girl. As they get morefrequent in terms of frequency and intensity, he is determined to findout the cause of the attacks. When his family become targets, he findsthat the true cause of the attacks is based around an similar incidentbetween his family and that the ghost of that incident, rather than theone from the War, is intent on hurting him and he must stop it beforeit hurts more than just his family.The Good News: This here was decent enough when it counted. The mainfactor with this one is the ghostly visions in here being down-rightcreepy at times. Mixed along with the hallucinations and the sightings,these here are the highlight of the film with ease. From the encounterin the kitchen, the burnt ghost reaching out for him that comes fromout-of-nowhere scoring a massive shock. The encounter with the widow isjust as fantastic, being even better with the added bonus of theshocking, brutal kill to wrap it all in a great package. There's evenmore fantastic, fun encounters in here, with the Veteran's Hospitalseries standing out nicely with it's myriad of different sequences andtense moments. These are mostly helped out by the fact that the ghostsin here look fantastic, with the burnt flesh, distorted features,smoldering heaps of flesh and tattered clothes make for tons of greatscenes with the ghosts. This one also has a fairly impressive actionscene that kicks the film off, as the different traps, shootout andmassive explosions that go off in the sequence are a lot of fun anddefinitely do a lot to make the film rather enjoyable. The last plushere is the fact that there's some really nice blood and gore in here,even if not all of them are deaths. From the views of the burntcorpses, which look suitably gruesome and graphic, there's a gunshotthat blows half the victim's head off, one has words burned into theirarm with a lighter, one shows the scars of being beaten and pummeledwith a tire-iron and another couple are set graphically set on fire,complete with full-body burns. These here are the film's only real goodpoints.The Bad News: There was a couple flaws with this one that managed tohold it down. One of the biggest issue here is that the film manages toget heavily bogged down in politics and world events, especiallytowards the end. Despite it being something that might turn some off onsheer principle, the fact that it consistently does it by beating usover the head about the War and it's affects on those not directlyinvolved make for some incredibly tough and irritating viewing attimes. The severity of how it's beaten down is really where it getsit's really aggravating, because it drops the ghost angle to throw inthe angle with the citizen seeking retribution for the political-basedattack. These are almost as bad as the early scenes of the family dramaand tension, which isn't that good and does the exact same thing, serveno purpose being there and have a bunch of rather irritating factorsabout them that can easily be left out without any consequences. Thesescenes are just aggravating to sit through and don't belong in thefilm. The film also manages to score a couple of rather lame ghostattacks as well, some of which don't even make sense. The entireencounter at the psychic's hotel makes no sense, there's themalfunctioning appliances that showcases an unmentioned-and-unnecessarypower of moving objects around when it should really be about theirinteraction with each other and in effect really neutering the wholething. The last flaw here is the entire middle segment, which featuresno ghost action at all. Mixed between the need to deliver theback-story about the events as they're going on, the most irritatingelements of the family-drama and the first hints of the politicaltension, it has a lot of down-time and really shouldn't be. All told,these are the film's flaws.The Final Verdict: While it's not entirely perfect, it's good enough togood parts to warrant a look at the very least. Really only recommendedto those who liked the original or are interested in this who canoverlook the flaws, while those who are turned off by the flaws areadvised to seek caution with this one.Rated R: Graphic Language and Graphic Violence

(2013-01-28 11:52:46)

Better at Drama than Dread

This movie features another avenging ghost, a somewhat pale pastiche of the spirit in "The Grudge." This haunt isn't as frightening because its popping up is too pat, and it is too laden with excrescence, making it almost reminiscent of "The Creature from the Black Lagoon." Such appearances end up bringing the apparition almost too close to campiness.However, this "Stir of Echoes" is unexpectedly, seriously good in another way. It very movingly portrays some of the tragedy and trauma coming out of the War in Iraq, actually doing a better job of this than many of the documentaries I've seen on the subject.The movie also takes an interesting turn. It rises above predictability and builds into some very telling character study.The film already seems to be a little dated in its portrayal of U.S. citizens' tendency to stereotype all Middle Eastern Muslims just after 9/11. Thankfully, most Americans seem to have gotten beyond such corrosive, knee-jerk prejudice.In addition to the more major charge that can be brought against this film for projecting some rather ludicrous apparitions - there are a few minor distractions about "Echoes 2." For one thing, Rob Lowe seems miscast - not in his role as U.S. soldier fighting in Iraq - but in his role as father to the young man he's trying to discipline at home. Lowe just seems too young to be this actor's father. I persistently wanted to transfer Lowe himself into the James Dean-like role of troubled, rebelling son.Also, the extras on the DVD aren't very good. The Director's Commentary doesn't add much to the understanding of the film or its making, and you can probably skip it.However, "Echoes 2" is a worthwhile film, not so much as a thriller as an exploration of certain emotional landscapes created in the wake of 9/11. The trailers on the DVD will probably inspire you to go back and check out the original "Stir of Echoes" if you are looking for some more convincing, straightforward chills.