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Cast: Jesse Bradford, Amelia Warner
Echoes from the past plague ex-con Bobby (Jesse Bradford) when he moves into his dead mother's apartment and begins to hear disturbing noises next door. His paranoia grows as he investigates and realizes that no one else notices the strange and sinister happenings.
I have to say right off the bat here that I am against most remakes and this one is a remake to the 2004 film by the same named from the Philippines. That said the trailer did look interesting and I was looking forward to checking it out. I was lucky enough to see the original film which could be a curse when watching any remake but I got to say this is one of the best Asian remakes I have seen so far. The look of Bobby's apartment is creepy enough but the film's over-all atmosphere is so thick you need a knife to cut through it. There are several scenes that have that uncomfortable creepiness that just gets under your skin and sends chills down your spine. Since most of you have never even heard of the original film you will not be able to compare the two versions but The Echo does a great job at keeping the same atmosphere the original had, the story has been changed up a little to help expand on the characters a little which I thought was a nice touch and it helped you connect to them more. The first half of the film is deliberately slow which helps set-up the characters and the back story some what and the second half of it gives us the gory details. Jesse Bradford did a great job at playing the ex-con and central character in the film. I felt he did a much better job at playing the character than the original actor did. Iza Calzado was terrific as well and it was nice to her reprise her role from the original film. Yam Laranas did a fantastic job at directing the film and keeping the suspense and atmosphere coming, I guess it didn't hurt that he directed the original film as well. The film delivers frightening chills that makes this not only one of the better Asian horror remakes but one of the better horror films period in some time. If your a fan of horror I suggest you do not miss picking this one up.
Released by Image Entertainment
**** Out Of *****