Stir of Echoes(1999)
1999 · David Koepp · 99 min
After being hypnotized by his sister-in-law, Tom Witzky begins seeing haunting visions of a girl's ghost and a mystery begins to unfold around her.
Horror · Mystery · Thriller
6.71.4k votes
TMDB score
3/5
Intensity
2/5
Gore
4/5
Stays with you
How Stir of Echoes scares
Stir of Echoes builds its fear through a man's unraveling mind, using hypnosis-triggered visions and a slow creeping obsession rather than loud scares. The dread comes from paranoia and not knowing what's real, with a suburban neighborhood setting that turns increasingly unsettling as buried secrets surface. There's a ghost story at its core, but the scarier part is watching someone lose control of his own perception. It leans more unsettling than fun, with a few gross, physical jolts mixed into the mental unease.
On The Horror Database's 0–5 scare profile, Stir of Echoes rates psychological 5/5, visceral 2/5, gore 2/5, lingering effect 4/5, and overall intensity 3/5.
- Psychological: 5 of 5
- Visceral: 2 of 5
- Gore: 2 of 5
- Lingering: 4 of 5
- Intensity: 3 of 5
Slow burn vs Jump scares: 25 of 100 — leans Slow burn
Supernatural vs Real-world: 15 of 100 — leans Supernatural
Fun-scary vs Disturbing: 60 of 100 — leans Disturbing
Intensity over runtime
Shape only — no eventsReveal pacing shapeHide pacing shapeHidden by default — shows where the tension peaks and lets up.
A slow creep into obsession that steadily tightens its grip until a frantic, high-pressure finish.
Intensity across the runtime, 0 to 100: 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 4.
How scary is Stir of Echoes?
On The Horror Database's 0–5 intensity scale, Stir of Echoes rates 3/5 — solidly scary, building its fear through slow-burn dread rather than shocks. The fear is mostly in your head — it unsettles far more than it assaults. Expect it to be moderately gory and genuinely disturbing. Expect it to stay with you for days.
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