The Echo (2008/I)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Yam Laranas

Writers (WGA):

Eric Bernt (screenplay) and
Shintaro Shimosawa (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

28 May 2009 (South Korea)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Open the door... I know you're in there.

Plot:

An ex-con moves into an old apartment building, where he encounters a domestic problem involving a police officer, his wife, and their daughter. When he tries to intervene, however, a mysterious curse entraps him.

Plot Keywords:

Apartment | Police Officer | Remake | Remake Of Asian Film | Remake Of Filipino Film

Cast

Hrant Alianak	...	Max
Jamie Bloch	...	Carly
Jesse Bradford	...	Bobby
Iza Calzado	...	Gina
Brendan Carmody	...	University student
Kevin Durand	...	Walter
Jayne Eastwood	...	Lucille Jiminez
Bathsheba Garnett	...	Old Russian Woman
Marvin Hinz	...	Detective
Stacey LaBerge	...	Student
Paul Sun-Hyung Lee	...	Dr. Morris
Carlos Leon	...	Hector
Louise Linton	...	Katie
Robert Morse	...	Construction worker no 1
Vanessa Petronelli	...	Waitress
George Santino	...	Manager
Paulette Sinclair	...	Helen Davis
Courtenay J. Stevens	...	Older Cop
Pruitt Taylor Vince	...	Joseph
Amelia Warner	...	Alyssa

Runtime:

South Korea:90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Portugal:M/16

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Vertigo Entertainment

Trivia:

Director Yam Laranas's Hollywood debut.

Movie Connections:

Remake of Sigaw (2004)

Oh no, It's a pale Asian lady......again!.........scary stuff

After reading the other reviews I feel compelled to right a comment on this movie.

The other reviews describe it as a future 'cult hit', it is compared to 'The Exorcist' and how it is so realistic - 'something that may have happened in reality'?

Really! Well no, not at all, on any level. It is far too generic to be a cult hit, seen this type of film a million times (think 'Grudge' or 'The Ring' or any other east Asian remake), it is not even slightly like 'The Exorcist' (the build up really isn't that slow) and why the comparison is made I'll never know, as for realistic - gimmie a break, it's realistic if you live in 'spooky Asian ghost land', and last time I checked that place wasn't real.

So, in a nutshell what we have is a half decent ghost story that we've all seen before. If you've seen any of the other East Asia movie remakes then you know what to expect. In fact the 'scary' parts are identical in all the remakes - pale Asian lady and/or child pulling scary faces and moving about a bit strange.

I find it strange that when Hollywood remakes an Asian film they transplant China or were ever the original was made for the USA (Grudge being an exception), make all the characters Caucasian, but leave the scary people as Asians! Were the scary people in the Asian version Caucasian? No, so why not transplant the whole thing, I mean it's almost racist, and Asian women walking weird aren't scary!

Anyway, rant over, overall it's OK as a rental, but nothing to shout about.

5/10