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Johnny Depp gets high off another acting challenge in this tricky adaptation of a Stephen King yarn. Although the mood is too sinister to allow for the mischief of his Pirates of the Caribbean turn, Depp still manages to embroider his role here with plenty of quirky business. He plays a writer, depressed and nearly divorced, who's stuck in an isolated cabin (shades of The Shining) when a stranger (John Turturro) arrives, accusing him of plagiarism. Writer-director David Koepp (Stir of Echoes) does his best to make the rickety material compelling--he gets the maximum out of the cabin set, for instance--but the problems inherent in the King story eventually win out. The climactic scenes are particularly unpleasant, especially in contrast to the cleverness of Depp's performance. A Philip Glass score adds class, but this one ultimately feels like a disappointment. --Robert Horton ... Read more

Reviews (196)

A Creepy Thriller
Johnny Depp stars in the movie, based on Stephen King's short story "Secret Window, Secret Garden". The movie starts with Depp's character walking in on his wife having an affair and he goes crazy. The story begins six months later. He is in the process of divorcing his wife and lives alone in a isolated cabin near a lake. Depp plays an author, Mort, and the movie starts slowly as he tries to write a story and talks to his dog. A stranger comes to the door claiming that Mort stole his story and Depp dismisses him. The guy keeps popping up and claiming Mort stole his story and violent things start to happen. Mort's dog is found dead, then his old house that his wife lives in is burned down. Mort tries to talk to a sheriff and hires a private investigator but still the mysterios stranger Jake Shooter continues to confront him. The movie doesn't sound special but it is well made with an excellent ending. The actors say on the behind the scenes footage that also comes on the DVD that as they read the script they were completely suprised by the ending. Mort is a very interesting and unusual character. He has become isolated since he and his wife seperated. He has weird dream scenes and is paranoid. He thinks to himself but refers to himself as you. He is a great character well played by Depp. This movie was unexpectedly good and one of the best movies of the year in my opinion.

Depp's Talent Is No Secret In "Window"
By this point in his career, we as audiences have learned that Johnny Depp always picks the roles, some questionable at first glance, that interest, entertain, and delight us. After such films as "Edward Scissorhands", "Benny and Joon" and "Pirates of the Caribbean", his latest project, the at times clumsy "Secret Window", showcases his unique sense of humor, characterization and personality in a performance that is the highlight of an otherwise disappointing film.

In "Secret Window", he stars as Mort Rainey, a neurotic writer struggling to overcome his difficult divorce and put his life back into order. Six months after falling out with his wife Amy (played by Maria Bello), he has holed up in a secluded cabin deep in the woods of Upstate New York, refusing to sign the divorce papers and suffering from a bad case of writer's block. However, one day he encounters John Shooter, a strange man from Mississippi who claims that one of Rainey's well-known stories, "Secret Window" (hence, the title) was stolen and plagiarized from him. Shooter even leaves him his manuscript, and Rainey reads it, discovering that it strikes remarkable resemblances to his own story written years before. Although he ignores Shooter's threats at first, Shooter turns out to be much more than he has bargained for, and as his threats turn into violent acts of revenge that grow in severity and meaning, Rainey must figure out how to anticipate and stop him. Not only do tensions rise between Shooter and Rainey, but also between Rainey and Amy's new boyfriend Ted (Timothy Hutton), who also begins to threaten him.

As I said before, the highlight of "Secret Window" is the performance by Johnny Depp. He completely absorbs the character of Mort Rainey, giving him a new depth, believability, and suprisingly, humor; something pleasant you don't see often in thriller movies. He brings a crowd-pleasing energy, and still manages to inject his signature personality in his role, which alone carries the film. Had Depp not been a part of "Secret Window" I think I would have given it a much lower rating. John Turturro, as John Shooter, gives a solid and scary performance, bringing back his familiar accent from "O, Brother Where Art Thou?". The rest of the cast is simply mediocre, which does nothing but emphasize the brilliance by Depp.

Although Johnny Depp makes a fine effort to save the film, it is not enough, and although "Secret Window" delivers an exciting and suspenseful hour and a half, the last and completely unnecessary twenty minutes completely degrade what credibility the script had earned. The twists and frightful gags are somewhat predictable, and although the movie promises to deliver an eye-opening climax, the actual ending leaves the audience feeling unsatisfied. In my opinion, the film could have ended twenty minutes earlier, and it would be much more chilling and impressive.

Although it provides a few good chilling scenes (enhanced by the eerie soundtrack by Philip Glass), the main reason to see "Secret Window" is for the performance by Depp, which, due to his humor and personality keeps this film afloat.

Expected A Little More Than Given...
Overall this film kept me right on the edge of the seat, and that's why I give it the four stars. Jonny Depp was great in this movie. He looked exactly like a writer- tousled hair, hilariously tattered robe, the works. He worked the part of a lonely writer perfectly. He played this 'lonely writer' who is obviously still tortured about his wife's infidelity and their divorce they are finishing through, and then to add to his problems a guy comes to his door and claims he stole his story. Throughout the entire movie I was kept in suspense, because I honestly didn't know what was going to be the solution of this plot.
And yet the solution is where I dropped one star. The ending was a total killer for me. I don't know why, but in the back of my mind I made the assumption that this guy accusing Depp's character of plagirism was a lot more than he turned out to be. I won't ruin the ending for people who haven't seen it, but trust me, the ending is not explosive, not surprising, not anything. It's just a dull 'oh yeah' kind of ending. But all in all, the beginning and middle of this film are gripping and awesome, so the movie's worth that much to watch it.

Great Dvd!!!!
I highly recommend using Amazon for the site to buy it from because from beginning to end is top notch service & shipment!
PLUS if you buy this & another DVD...you could qualify for free shipping & also if you buy from other sites...they tax you like Walmart.com...Amazon is about to be my only source for dvds...I do use Borders and Walmart.com but Amazon has slowly creeped up there to be my main source because they email you for future releases...even dvds not even available for pre-order yet!

Flawed, but better than expected
I didn't even want to watch this movie. I wasn't compelled to see it in the theater and I wasn't enthusiastic about it once the DVD showed up in the house.

But then I watched the first fifteen minutes . . . and, well, it got interesting. As others have noted, Depp's acting is, as usual, superb. The man is one of the best actors we have at this time. And the story does pull you in. The characters are well drawn (as is the case with most King novels) and viewers will want to see what happens to them as the story progresses.

However, the story itself and Stephen King's reputation are part of the problem.

"Secret Window" was based on a King novella within the larger work "Four Past Midnight." For some reason, King's novellas and shorter novels (Stand By Me, Shawshank, The Shining, Carrie) have translated the best to film while his longer works (The Stand, Tommyknockers) are utterly horrible. Given this track record, "Secret Window" should have been one of the better King movies. The problem here is that "Four Past Midnight" was never an example of King's better work. Thus, in a sense, the director has to rescue the movie from the perception of King as the "master of horror." When you have the deck stacked against you like that it's hard to come through with the goods. "Secret Window" is basically a love triangle in which one of the characters goes nuts. A plausible story, but it's difficult to present a story as routine as this is in a manner that will satisfy the hype.

"Secret Window" is a good movie. It's just not great. And it's certanly not worthy of all the King hype. Still, it's worth a look. Depp's acting is especially worth watching. And the story, if you're in the mood, is a bit scary at times.

As for the DVD, it's also worth a look. The deleted scenes are nothing special, but the featurette sequences are interesting, more so in fact than most such extras on other DVDs. Far too often we get DVDs which show us scene after boring scene showing us the technical aspects of how a movie was filmed. Here we at least get a brief glance at some of the human interest aspects behind the camera. I would have liked to have seen an interview with the author, but that seems to be a rarity amongst all DVDs. I think that all movies adapted from books should have this extra feature (assuming the author is still alive). ... Read more

Amazon.com

The only real problem with Stir of Echoes has nothing to do with the movie itself, but with unlucky coincidence. Adapted from a Richard Matheson novel, this filmarrived around the same time as The Sixth Sense, and surface similarities made it suffer by cursory comparison and the competing film's phenomenal success. It's a pity, because this one features one of Kevin Bacon's best performances, in a psychological thriller that makes a lot more right moves than wrong ones. Bacon plays a blue-collar guy who laments his ordinary life, only to learn, when his sister-in-law (Ileanna Douglas) hypnotizes him, that he is a "receiver" capable of seeing spirits and split-second glimpses of past and future events. It's a torturous gift to have--especially since his friendly Chicago neighborhood possesses a dark secret--and Bacon plays the role with an appropriate mixture of obsession and internalized torment.

Similarity to The Sixth Sense applies only to the basic premise and the character of Bacon's young son. Otherwise, this is more of a hard-edged journey of self-discovery, marital crisis, and recovery, with Bacon's wife (played by the highly underrated Kathryn Erbe) involved in an underdeveloped subplot about a group of people who share Bacon's gift as paranormal "receivers." Furthering his career as a writer-director of intelligent thrillers, David Koepp makes a few missteps in pacing and thematic overkill, but overall Stir of Echoes is a sharp, sensitive thriller that unfolds to reveal a dramatically satisfying solution to its mystery. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (204)

SLEEP...SLEEP...SLEEP
and so our protagonist Tom (Kevin Bacon) slips into a deep hypnotic state, and after he awakens, he starts to "receive" messages from the supernatural. This is the basis for a very scary story which takes place in a close-knit, blue-collarish town where everyone knows their neighbors...but not as well as they think! Bacon's acting is right on the money. I especially liked the supposed blue-collar speak: Aye, how youse doin'? He convincingly acts terrified, confused, & sad...a man on the brink of going looney. Rounding out the cast is the always quirky-yet-attractive Illeana Douglas, down-to-earth sexy Kathryn Erbe as Tom's wife, and playing Tom's son, Jake, Zachary David Cope does a fairly good imitation of the kid from "The Sixth Sense". ( The kid here, you see, has always "received" the same messages!) The director & writer, David Koepp uses a great visual style to move things along, as well as a few neat special FX shots as the supernatural forces come to light. The scene where Tom first goes under hypnosis is very very effective...I almost felt like I was being hypnotized as I wathced...you will too. Thoroughly enjoyable. Great extras. Well worth the price of ownership.

5 STARS FOR SCARING ME OUT OF MY WITS!
If you're super cynical, you might view Stir Of Echos as just a trumped up murder mystery with supernatural overtones and some oddly coincidental parallels to the Sixth Sense thrown in; (although I just recently found out who might have been copying whom)! However, if you're honest, you'll have to admit that Stir Of Echos is incredibly suspenseful (definitely Edge Of The Seat stuff!) totally riveting, and far, far CREEPIER than the Sixth Sense! In this movie, (starring Kevin Bacon) the lead character is hypontized on a drunken whim, at a party. Afterwards, he starts experiencing some very bizarre hallucinations as he realizes a "door" to another world has been opened up in his brain! As he desperately tries to get to the bottom of these terrifying images and visions he's seeing, he loses interest in his job, his family; everything! An intriguing plot, that does not disappoint! My opinion? Watch it and view for yourself! (But DON'T watch it alone)!

Stir of Ehs
This is not a bad movie. It is reasonably well made, although it has dubiously long sequences of Kevin Bacon searching for power tools and using said power tools w/o any serious tension, as we know exactly what he will find, as does he. Also, the background crime and its perpetrators were too easy to discern halfway through the film, and some variation of the confrontation was obvious 40 minutes into the film. The film has an effective mood, and a couple of jolts...

My problem w/ films like this, and I know there are those of you like me, is this: In horror, in Supernatural horror, the supernatural has to be malevolent and it has to be the threat. If an average human is a greater threat to the protagonist than the ghost--which seems to be the common norm of most modern horror/thrillers (Below, 6th Sense, What Lies Beneath, The Others, 28 Days Later, this)--then it does nothing for me. It's not scary. A ghost trying to warn you or avenge its death isn't scary. Sure, the film may manipulate some jumps out of you w/ quick shots of the practically harmless ghost, but after you've experience the thrills, what remains? Once you know the secret of "The Others", what could possibly be scary about the movie after a second viewing? The Exorcist is still scary, because that movie is about an evil presence out to harm you. The Ring gave me some uneasy nights, I admit, because the threat was evil. The Blair Witch Project, the same thing. There's nothing scary about the ghosts in this, in The Others, in the 6th Sense.

So, if you really enjoyed movies w/ ghosts who are only harmful in their pop-up-out-of-no-where powers, and human conspiracies about failed coverups scare you more, then you'd like this. If, however, it's the vile nature of the beast that keeps you up at night, then you'd feel you had wasted money on this picture.

Good Movie
Stir of Echoes is a good, supernatural thriller. It's above the other movies nowadays. Bacon is great.

Kevin Bacon? Never seen him so good.
This is a very clever film. I was a bit skeptical both because of it's lack of popularity and the fact that Kevin Bacon is in it. However, I was pleasantly surprised. Not only is this is a great story, it is well put together with many good actors/actresses.

There's not much to say, other than: If you want a good, rare movie pick this. I warn you however that I'm not promising your liking it. Although with the right mindset, anyone can enjoy this film. Just remember: "Don't be afraid." ... Read more

Amazon.com

Do yourself a favor and buy some canned goods, a flashlight, and a radio before you watch this film.Unfairly dismissed by the critics and missed by the public, this pre-Y2K suspense film by writer-director David Koepp (the writer of Jurassic Park and Apartment Zero) is a chilling, sobering experience that will turn any practical person into a paranoid, apocalyptic loon.When the power goes out in the big city and society starts to break down, husband and wife Matthew (Kyle MacLachlan) and Annie (Elisabeth Shue) find out that not even suburbia is safe.Complicatingthe situation is their mutual friend Joe (Dermot Mulroney), who stays with themduring the blackout, partially because of his interest in Annie.Koepp's inventive and authentic take on interpersonal relationships (Shue and MacLachlan are great as a foundering couple) and the assault on the white-collar male ego are spot-on.Koepp doesn't stop there.He also plays and builds imaginatively on suspense conventions (including the casting of character-baddie Michael Rooker), race relations, and our prejudicial, judgmental attitudes toward strangers. The concatenation of events, how they affect us without our knowledge, and our dependence on the machinery and power that prop up our society complete this involving, perceptive analysis of our very weak social fabric.(The DVD includes some interesting production notes, including the fact that Annie and Matthew live on Maple and Willoughby, a nod to two famous episodes of The Twilight Zone, one of them being the paranoid "The Monsters Are Coming to Maple Street" episode.) --Keith Simanton ... Read more

Reviews (17)

SHOULD TRIGGER SOME THOUGHTS
THE TRIGGER EFFECT offers a somber view of what happens when a major force in our every day life---electrical power---is lost, and how we react to it. The expected looting, the raising in price of things such as guns, the importance of a doctor's prescription. One of the most chilling scenes is when Kyle McLachlan tries to get some amoxicillin for his infant daughter and the pharmacist won't give it to him without a prescription. The pharmacist (played by veteran character actor William Lucking) ends up telling McLachlan he "doesn't like him." Kyle is forced later to steal the medicine. Elisabeth Shue plays his wife, and Dermot Mulroney his friend, Joe. Michael Rooker has a strong cameo as a psychotic man who shoots Joe and steals the family's vehicle. Richard T. Jones who weaves in and out of the movie offers some sublime support in a pivotal key role.
This is a dark, disturbing film and it feels lethargic; yet its pacing and broodiness underscore the fact that society's underpinnings are fragile indeed.

So What Would YOU Do If The Power Went Out?
This movie offers one possible perspective of what could plausably happen if a major metropolitan area lost power for an extended period. While surprising how fast people lost it in the movie, I believe the actions taken and the scenes portrayed unfortunately mirror society's rush to irratic behavior. In the Just-In-Time society we all live in, one small crinkle could have dire effects. Elizabeth Shue looks great in the movie, and plays the role of the disillusioned house wife well. Could this movie mirror the possible effects of a Y2K type scenario? The question begs an answer, to which this movie replies quite loudly.. A good rent for the weekend.

A darn good little thriller...
What can you say about movies that seemingly fly under the radar of most folks' awareness?? I think most people missed out on this one from the late '90s.

This was filmed as David Koepp's calling card into feature films as a director (having already written "Carlito's Way" and "Jurrasic Park," among other terrific films) and it is very light on action and very character driven... obviously budget gets in the way of major action set pieces, but that should never be an obstacle to good characters and plausible writing... Koepp handles all those chores adeptly and keeps a very good pace going... While his characters decide what to do when the blackout hits (and then lingers for days, and days, and days and...) you never feel as if their actions are out-of-line with reality and what people might do under the very same conditions.

This is a taut thriller, but hardly of the depth of Hitchcock's work. Instead, the film is an elaborate "Twilight Zone" episode (and gives its nods to Rod Serling's classic anthology show in both visual and verbal gags... the characters literally live at the corner of Maple and Willoughby streets (a gag on the episodes "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" (a direct antecedent to "The Trigger Effect") and "Last Stop, Willoughby" (which has nothing at all to do with this film, but is still a nice touch for those who feel this film is a direct lift from "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street") and is filmed in very sparse and minimalist ways to highlight the tension and agitation of the characters.

The key scene in this film comes fairly early, when all bets for civilized society are called off... this scene, when Matt (Kyle MacLachlan) attempts to get amoxicilin for his little infant girl (ear infection, very painful and made excruciating in the prior scene with Elizabeth Shue's character holding the crying girl during heatwave-like conditions inside the home). The pharmacist will not let him have it... plain and simple. The electricity does not work, the phones are also screwed and the doctor cannot verfiy the prescription... therefore, no medicine no matter how much pleading and cajoling Matt can attempt with the larger man behind the counter... as the scene progresses it turns ugly, a microcosm of just how frayed our civil attitudes have become in this day of technology handling just about everything for us. It's tense, it's upsetting, and it works very, very well without one punch thrown or one drop of blood spilled, a credit to Koepp's burgeoning (at the time) directorial skills.

The film kind of falls apart about 3/4's of the way through... it tries to wrap things up a little too neatly, but in the end, it's a satisfying film for those that like their thrillers with an apocalyptic edge (the film reminded me, just a bit, of the nuclear war thrillers of the 1980's including "The Day After," "Testament" and "Threads"... especially "Threads").

It's not corny, but it's not a masterpiece either... instead it's a competently written film with a first-time director (who wrote it) who pulls off the thrills on a tight budget. Worth a rental, if not a buy (especially at a price of under $10).

chilling
in this movie yuppys must deal with a sick infant during a power outtage then a stranger shows up decides to stay and flirts with the guys wife(elizabeth shue) they decide they must stick together because of looters it has tense scenes like the guy goes to get medicine for his sick infant but the dr says they are soldout because the blackout he argues then the dr standsup hes huge and says i told u soldout so the guy decides to steal the medicine and takes off running with the guy chasing him later they finally catch the looter and shoot him and its just some kid tired of being without any communication during the blackout they decide to try to drive to another city but gas is soldout everywere and they run out in the country were they meet a weird loner they pull a gun on the loner who shoots the guy visiting the yuppy couple he screams im sorry i wasnt gonna rob u i was simply gonna ask for a ride u idiot so now they are stranded oneguy bleeding to death 1 sick baby on the side of the road in the dessert this movie was alot better than i expected it shows u how even the well to do can be screwed during earthquakes or poweroutages and elizabeth shue is still hot and pleasant to look at

a good movie
I first saw this film on cable,it only had a two-star rating,but I watched it anyway.It was pretty good.Its basically a character study of what happens to people in a crisis situation..like how they experience irrational fear,paranoia,selfishness,and even racism under these circumstances.The acting is good,and Elisabeth Shue is always lovely with her short voluptuous body.Omg,I wanna mount her! ... Read more

Reviews (204)

SLEEP...SLEEP...SLEEP
and so our protagonist Tom (Kevin Bacon) slips into a deep hypnotic state, and after he awakens, he starts to "receive" messages from the supernatural. This is the basis for a very scary story which takes place in a close-knit, blue-collarish town where everyone knows their neighbors...but not as well as they think! Bacon's acting is right on the money. I especially liked the supposed blue-collar speak: Aye, how youse doin'? He convincingly acts terrified, confused, & sad...a man on the brink of going looney. Rounding out the cast is the always quirky-yet-attractive Illeana Douglas, down-to-earth sexy Kathryn Erbe as Tom's wife, and playing Tom's son, Jake, Zachary David Cope does a fairly good imitation of the kid from "The Sixth Sense". ( The kid here, you see, has always "received" the same messages!) The director & writer, David Koepp uses a great visual style to move things along, as well as a few neat special FX shots as the supernatural forces come to light. The scene where Tom first goes under hypnosis is very very effective...I almost felt like I was being hypnotized as I wathced...you will too. Thoroughly enjoyable. Great extras. Well worth the price of ownership.

5 STARS FOR SCARING ME OUT OF MY WITS!
If you're super cynical, you might view Stir Of Echos as just a trumped up murder mystery with supernatural overtones and some oddly coincidental parallels to the Sixth Sense thrown in; (although I just recently found out who might have been copying whom)! However, if you're honest, you'll have to admit that Stir Of Echos is incredibly suspenseful (definitely Edge Of The Seat stuff!) totally riveting, and far, far CREEPIER than the Sixth Sense! In this movie, (starring Kevin Bacon) the lead character is hypontized on a drunken whim, at a party. Afterwards, he starts experiencing some very bizarre hallucinations as he realizes a "door" to another world has been opened up in his brain! As he desperately tries to get to the bottom of these terrifying images and visions he's seeing, he loses interest in his job, his family; everything! An intriguing plot, that does not disappoint! My opinion? Watch it and view for yourself! (But DON'T watch it alone)!

Stir of Ehs
This is not a bad movie. It is reasonably well made, although it has dubiously long sequences of Kevin Bacon searching for power tools and using said power tools w/o any serious tension, as we know exactly what he will find, as does he. Also, the background crime and its perpetrators were too easy to discern halfway through the film, and some variation of the confrontation was obvious 40 minutes into the film. The film has an effective mood, and a couple of jolts...

My problem w/ films like this, and I know there are those of you like me, is this: In horror, in Supernatural horror, the supernatural has to be malevolent and it has to be the threat. If an average human is a greater threat to the protagonist than the ghost--which seems to be the common norm of most modern horror/thrillers (Below, 6th Sense, What Lies Beneath, The Others, 28 Days Later, this)--then it does nothing for me. It's not scary. A ghost trying to warn you or avenge its death isn't scary. Sure, the film may manipulate some jumps out of you w/ quick shots of the practically harmless ghost, but after you've experience the thrills, what remains? Once you know the secret of "The Others", what could possibly be scary about the movie after a second viewing? The Exorcist is still scary, because that movie is about an evil presence out to harm you. The Ring gave me some uneasy nights, I admit, because the threat was evil. The Blair Witch Project, the same thing. There's nothing scary about the ghosts in this, in The Others, in the 6th Sense.

So, if you really enjoyed movies w/ ghosts who are only harmful in their pop-up-out-of-no-where powers, and human conspiracies about failed coverups scare you more, then you'd like this. If, however, it's the vile nature of the beast that keeps you up at night, then you'd feel you had wasted money on this picture.

Good Movie
Stir of Echoes is a good, supernatural thriller. It's above the other movies nowadays. Bacon is great.

Kevin Bacon? Never seen him so good.
This is a very clever film. I was a bit skeptical both because of it's lack of popularity and the fact that Kevin Bacon is in it. However, I was pleasantly surprised. Not only is this is a great story, it is well put together with many good actors/actresses.

There's not much to say, other than: If you want a good, rare movie pick this. I warn you however that I'm not promising your liking it. Although with the right mindset, anyone can enjoy this film. Just remember: "Don't be afraid." ... Read more