3 star surprisingly good supernatural horror/thriller.
Echoes of Fear is written by Brian Avenet-Bradley (Malignant, Dark Remains) who also directs alongside wife Laurence Avenet-Bradley (Freez’er). It has created a stir on the US festival circuit, winning numerous best feature awards and is presented in the UK On-demand, on Digital and DVD courtesy of Second Sight Films.
“You see, there’s a reason why all of us have been put here on this crazy planet. The first step is finding out what that reason is. The second step is embracing it.”
Alisa (Trista Robinson – The Human Race, Purgatory) is a young student who has just inherited a house following the sudden death of her grandfather Jimmy (Norman Zeller ). Due to taxes, it is too expensive for her to keep it so she decides to prepare it for sale. She moves in to begin the work, leaving behind her boyfriend Brandon (Paul Chirico – The Rookie, Good Girls Revolt) who comes to visit on weekends.
At first everything seems fine, although her grandfather appears to have been a hoarder and she has a lot of packing up to do. She meets the neighbours and receives some sound advice from the sickly David (Marshal Hilton – Stressed To Kill, Astro). Soon however, being alone in the house starts to get to her and strange things happen, the curtains grab her and the bath blocks up. She also begins to encounter a menacing entity (Elif Savas ) who seems to be trying to tell her something. She decides to investigate, with the help of best friend Steph (Hannah Race), but this house hides many secrets she may wish she had left uncovered.
Echoes of Fear is an enjoyable watch with plenty of twists and turns and is a very interesting take on the haunted house genre. There’s certainly no point trying to guess the ending while you are watching the film and it’s nice to see something new brought to the table. It’s made scrier by the fact that it looks like the last house you would expect to be haunted.
The soundtrack is relentless and there are quite a few genuinely good jump scares, as well as lots of tension, helped by clever lighting and camera work. There are issues though, the acting isn’t brilliant and it’s hard to relate to the character of Alisa, who has the most annoying voice imaginable. If you can get past that, then this is a good solid horror/mystery and well worth adding to your collection.
“You are your grandfather’s blood. It’s in your veins. You’ve got to tackle this head on.”
Echoes of Fear will be available On-Demand and Digital from 20th July 2020 and on DVD from 3rd August 2020
| Director | Brian Avenet-Bradley, Laurence Avenet-Bradley |
| Genre | Horror, thriller |
| Starring | Trista Robinson, Norman Zeller, Hannah Race, Paul Chirico, Marshal Hilton |
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