after being hypnotized , a man believes there is a ghost in his house . 
the review 
two low-key summer horror films have become surprise financial successes this year : the blair witch project and the sixth sense . 
each has made well over $100 million in north america , based on a combination of strong word of mouth and clever advertising . 
if a film's box office take were based primarily on its quality , stir of echoes would join blair and sense in grossing far more money than expected , for it is as scary , if not scarier than the other two . 
writer/director david koepp has given artisan entertainment , the folks who distributed blair witch a second creepy hit . 
the story gets going after tom witzky ( bacon ) , an average blue-collar dad , gets hypnotized by his wife maggie's ( erbe ) sister lisa ( douglas ) at a party . 
while the hypnosis goes as expected to the party-goers , it triggers something in tom's head . 
things begin to change around him ( blinking red lights let off a strange hum , for example ) , and he fights to stay in control of his own senses . 
where these experiences take tom , maggie and their son jake ( cope ) , who tom thinks might have some answers , is down a dark path that will scare and disturb you . 
david koepp keeps the action localized ; the majority of the action takes place at tom's house or just down the street . 
by keeping things at home , koepp is able to proceed without having to resort to any clumsy segues ( montages of driving down roads as we move from one city to another etc . ) . 
unfortunately , the dread and spookiness of stir of echoes are frequently interrupted by moments of levity . 
humour can take the tension away from a scene faster than any shoddy special effect or poor acting . 
several tense moments become completely diffused by a few misplaced jokes . 
also , there are a couple of plot developments that are left unresolved , though to mention them would be to give too much away . 
kevin bacon handles the duel task of playing an everyman and a man losing his sanity admirably . 
his total lack of understanding of what is happening to him is believable , as are the reactions from his wife maggie . 
kathryn erbe is given a role meatier and better written than that of most " wife who can no longer handle her husband " parts . 
while it is still a supporting role , her maggie is moving as she watches both her husband and her son enter what she calls " a private club that i'm not invited to " , where they whisper about things all day long . 
as jake , zachary cope equals the performance of haley joel osment in the sixth sense , but gets less screen time . 
both children manage the same trick , making the audience creeped out by their apparent acceptance of the way things are . 
fans of blair and sixth sense will almost surely love stir of echoes . 
it combines the dread of blair , a creepy closed-in feel thanks to cinematographer fred murphy and great performances by the whole cast , specifically bacon , to give the fall its first genuine scary film . 
if only they had let up on the unneeded funny bits and tweaked the plot a bit more , this could have been one of the year's best .