Who watches moist, useless horror from zero? I watch moist, useless horror from zero. Why? What not to do at 3 o'clock in the morning, languishing with longing for a missing dream.
The film 'Echo' is a kind of American translation of the Philippine horror film of the same name, produced by the same director, but with a larger budget. I did not watch the original film, fearing that the smell of succumbness and forgetfulness of time in my apartment would become completely unbearable, and was limited to a YouTube trailer. As far as I can tell, the remake treated the original material kindly enough, at least the key plot points remained intact. The main character is a guy who recently escaped from prison, who moved to live in the apartment of his mother who died from severe troubles with the head of her mother. It seems that the affairs of the former convict are improving - there is a job, the ex-girlfriend gradually becomes not the ex, but one beautiful and very yellow evening, he begins to hear everything. “Everything” ranges from unpleasant quarrels of neighbors to mysterious whispers behind the scenes and scribbling in the walls, to which the Glavger listens with an invariably wary face.
Further, the kinzo goes on a rolled-in - a typical festival of screamers and ghosts running behind the back of the Glavger, naturally leading to a fleeting and precipitous finale. The movie goes on and on and then just ends - the perfect description for Echo, in my opinion. However, the main source of negative emotions for me was not the stamping of the script, but the behavior of the main character - he was too stupid and hysterical at times, and the game Jesse Bradford was not at all inspiring. It is also worth noting how “yellow” this film is – not in terms of cheap and sensational claims, but because of its strange color correction. At times, the movie looks so yellow-brown, as if its negatives were soaked in the tests of the kidney with experience. Visually, it didn't look particularly attractive. In general, the film did not leave any aftertaste, I watched it, then went, drank water and went to bed. "Echo" - a horror film absolutely bland and justly forgotten by the Universe, you should watch it only if you are going to fall asleep under it, otherwise I do not know why to waste time on it.
This phrase could easily become the slogan for this film. A story that had so much to do with it, I probably never saw. There's a lot of information in the movie that's given all the time and you think, "Yes, it's worth remembering, it could be important." And in the end, why you remember it is not clear at all, because most of the “important events” are mentioned only once in the film. I sincerely do not understand why strain the heads of the audience, if in the end it will not be said absolutely nothing.
This, perhaps, is the main disadvantage of the film. After viewing a lot of questions to the creators. According to my version, the film was originally planned as a super twisted thriller, but in the end the writers simply could not connect all the threads into one, and in the end left the central line of the main one, and all the threads leading to it were cut right in the middle. I immediately recall the popular phrase from childhood “You do not need to build a bicycle.”
I will put my pluses for the atmosphere, which is conveyed perfectly, in the spirit of a half-dark detective, and for the cast. I have no complaints about that or that. The finale of this picture can hardly be called unexpected or vice versa expected. He's just weird. More in a negative way than in a positive way.
Verdict: If you like movies, after which you do not need to think of anything and everything should remain clear – you are not here. Half the plot you have to come up with in your head, because the writers did not do it for you.
6 out of 10
Strange movie. It leaves mixed feelings after watching.
On the one hand, it is quite suitable to be frightened when there are no more worthy representatives of the genre. The techniques are old but effective. Sometimes it is even more frightening from their predictability, the expectation that something will happen now. Well, you know, if the main character looks in the mirror, then there will certainly be something not very lively and not too friendly.
On the other hand, two big claims to the script. It seems that it even, not that he wrote a layman, and that he wrote in a hurry and several times rewritten.
First, the obvious illogicality of dialogue. A vivid example: the girl of the main character protects him in front of a friend explaining that he “sit down”, saving her from the rapist, and after 5 minutes accuses him of thundering behind bars, he threw his mother and everyone who was dear.
Secondly, restless souls, in my opinion, should take revenge on the perpetrators of their “trouble”, and suffer, for some reason, completely innocent people. Either punish the guilty, or as in the same “call” or “curse” (producers of which have put a hand here, rather ineptly) kill everyone indiscriminately. And that's weird.
The film is good for its realism and at the same time fantastic.
We are all used to seeing in foreign films beautiful houses, clean, rocked in artificial smiles, the faces of happy heroes and heroines and no one somehow thought that all this has its inside out, its reverse side, the reverse.
Yam Laranas set out to show us this side of the life of prosperous Americans. Let’s note all types, clichés and not talk about “ah, he would play the captains of football teams...” because, in the end, the main character could play anyone at all. Let's think about what's going on around us.
Plot
Thousands of people around the world are being released from prison early. Bobby was no exception. He returns to where no one is waiting for him - he has no one but his mother (who died while he was on time) and an ex-girlfriend (who decided that life goes on without Bobby).
Judging by some of the lines of the film, you can understand that Bobby and Alice grew up in this apartment building. Now all the neighbors that Bobby knew (including Alice) have changed their place of residence, classmates and former friends and do not want to hear about him – who needs a former convict?
But it's not all that bad. Bobby, being an enterprising guy, finds a job and tries to establish a relationship with Alice, who, by the way, does not want to see him at first. But everything is arranged more or less safely - the guy is entrenched in the outside world. The only thing that bothers him is the neighbors quarreling every night. Eventually, Bobby couldn't stand it and called the police. The cops arrived, opened the door to the next apartment and found nothing there, while Bobby assured them that there was a family in the apartment and they had a young daughter.
Reason
So much for the story...it’s better to see...
What is the cause of the mysterious deaths of residents of this old mysterious house?
Onryo (Japanese ? onryo:?, offended, vengeful spirit) - in Japanese mythology, the ghost of a deceased person who returned to the world of the living for revenge, justice or the fulfillment of some curse. Such a ghost cannot find peace until it has committed its revenge.
(based on Wikipedia - Free Encyclopedia)
The restless spirits are described in the folklore of different countries. But whatever folklore the description belongs to, all such entities are driven by one desire - revenge. In this case, the ghosts were locked in the walls of the house and doomed day after day to experience their death, until someone appeared who would break this vicious circle and intervene in their ghostly quarrel ... someone not indifferent ...
But she begged, called, shouted, but they all just locked their windows and doors tighter: you know less, you sleep better. Her shirt is closer to her body... now she doesn’t care and they all die. Because they could have saved her and the baby, but they didn't.
Morality
In addition to a clearly drawn storyline and a well-twisted intrigue, the film also carries a deep morality, relevant at any time of the year, in any country and for people of any faith: People, be people!
P.S.
The only blunder that cuts the ear rather than the eye is the impeccably correct speech of the “former convict”. No parasitic words, no jargon... as if the guy had just returned from a trip around the world, not from prison.
In general, I spent my time usefully, I recommend watching. For the blunder - minus 1 and in general
Unconventional cinema versus stereotyped perception.
“Echo” is one of the best mystical horrors, probably after Emily Rose I have never seen anything more frightening and close to reality. The film combines several genres of cinema, it has an interesting idea and display of everyday life, beautifully echoes mysticism. This is not just a stupid monotonous 1.5-hour “frightener” with inexplicable girls coming out of the TV, for some reason claiming 1st place in the horror genre, although they do not deserve it at all. For not everything that came out on screens before the rest is better than everything else.
It should be emphasized that the plot is built in such a way that the events develop harmoniously and smoothly, maintaining intrigue until the last minutes. Explained actions of the characters, explainable events, lack of confusion, correct sequence and presentation of pictures show us the skill of the screenwriter and director, as well as excellent camera work and editing. This scenario could be ruined by inviting another cameraman and editor to shoot a movie, if you carefully watch the picture (and not smoke on the balcony, proving later that the movie sucks), then the filmed and edited in its kind is unique, and we really watch it, and do not want to turn it off in the 15th minute.
You can also note very good soundtracks and sound design.
As a result, a high-quality horror, with good actors (it does not matter the size of the “star” of the acting ensemble, the correct selection is important), with a oppressive atmosphere, and a feeling that the script is very close to the reality of our lives.
P.S. The fact that there are “The Call” and “Dark Waters” is not at all interesting to the viewer who watched “Echo” who simply did not see those pictures. This is the essence of impartiality and honest assessment, and it is rightly high today. If it were not for a couple of blunders, it would be higher than
Judging by the poster, it could be assumed that we are waiting for another horror film associated with the ghost of a girl. In fact, it is, but the film is still different from its analog counterparts.
So, we are talking about a young Bobby - a guy who served in prison for manslaughter. He is released early on the condition that he lead an exemplary life, find a job and start a family. Bobby, by the way, counts on this: immediately upon returning home, he finds his ex-partner, trying to win her love again, besides, he gets a job and while, it seems, nothing complains.
However, in his life everything is not so simple: the guy settles in the apartment of his mother, who went crazy and died. Everything would be fine, but in the next apartment and then there are cries of quarreling spouses - jealousy and all that. In addition, they have a child that Bobby sees quite often. Trying to help the girl and her mother, who are beaten by the father of the family, Bobby himself does not notice how he is immersed in this story more and more. Of course, the strange death of the mother is directly related to these events.
In general, of course, the idea of the film is not bad and to some extent even intriguing, although the first half of the tape is not clear absolutely nothing. We observe the life of the former prisoner, we see how difficult it is for him to live and even the ex-girlfriend who “helped” get him behind bars hardly wants to let the guy closer. Approximately from the middle of the tape, the viewer has a desire to see something really frightening, but – alas – this desire will not be satisfied. The biggest thing you can count on is blood dripping from the ceiling and a flying woman with black eyes.
Perhaps the most surprising thing is that there could not have been any murders in the film, and as a result, the number of questions to the tape significantly decreased. With all this set of plot moves, the film resembled “The Curse”, although it at least explained the actions of the characters. It is often easier for people to close their eyes to the problems of others than to try to help someone. But why then do vengeful ghosts kill everyone indiscriminately? And if the story is about home, why does it go far beyond it? The victims did not know why they were killed.
The manager of the house, clearly hinting to the main character that Bobby and a guy from 512 apartments see ghosts, did not bring clarity. Why mention this character when, breaking the logic, Bobby didn’t even think to go to this second person like him and ask what he actually sees and how much their “visions” coincide. What's the role of this 512 guy? And there are a lot of such “unnecessary” personalities here.
Recently, horrors are increasingly reminiscent of a drama with such a minimal set of effects that tickle the nerves that the viewer begins to miss at the very beginning. There is a persistent and completely unpleasant impression that we will never see a really good horror film again.
Verdict: "Echo", in my opinion, a film about how scary sometimes in life to be brave. To rush to help someone who needs this help is very difficult, because no one guarantees that, in this case, help will not be needed by you. Despite the rather interesting plot and deep morale, the tape is unlikely to cause a storm of positive emotions after watching, because we watch not only because of morality, right?
6 out of 10