Echo Game, The (2009)
Melissa Bostaph
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Starring Alisha Seaton, Jeannie Bolet, Melissa Lee, and Judy Clement
Directed by Brian Feeney
While an echo is merely a reflection of sound waves with nothing tangible to hold onto and only sound to remember, Brian Feeney’s The Echo Game is a purely solid film. The trailer gave me a pretty good handle on what to expect from the DVD and hopes were high, but admittedly I was pleasantly surprised by what was ultimately delivered, which was a supernatural element submerged in a sweet-ass little slasher flick. Complete with boobs and blood!
Living their day-to-day lives, a lesbian couple are raising their daughter in what seems to be the most typical of family households. That is, until their world is shaken by an unexpected and unpleasant reminder of the past. In a very short period of time the normal life they were accustomed to is turned topsy-turvy. They soon find themselves fighting to survive against a coldly calculating and murderous woman who wants to “play the Echo Game” with the couple’s innocent child in order to steal her psychic abilities, better known in the film as her Echo.
The trailer for The Echo Game shows glowing eyes when the Echo is active, and it was my main concern for the film. But the filmmakers did not overdo it, nor did they ever linger on it long enough to make the effect overly cheesy. Overall The Echo Effect was well done and never overstayed its cinematic welcome. So if you see the trailer and think, “That shit looks like something out of Mortal Kombat! It has to be bad!”, no worries! It really isn’t awful. And I know awful!
Brian Feeney’s fine direction in The Echo Game shows not only in the wonderful cinematography and composition but also in the performances he renders from his cast. April (Seaton) and Casey (Bolet) portray devoted mothers to Sarah, who is played by a brilliant young actress named Melissa Lee. All three of these lovely ladies have a wonderful rapport that could easily prove the case for same-sex relationships and parenthood. And then we have the vicious Anne Cassavettes, who is brought to hideous life by Judy Clement. Cassevettes is the quintessential evil bitch you just want to see die in the most spectacular of fashion so you can cheer and spit on her corpse. Yeah, she’s THAT woman, and Clement is spectacularly cold-blooded in the role. It also wouldn’t feel right without thanking Liliya Czarina for finding time to shower on camera. Kudos, everyone! Well done!
Being drawn in by the supernatural facet, I fully expected to be at least mildly entertained by The Echo Game, but this die-hard lover of relentless kills and gratuitous violence was more than pleased by the all-out slasher element. While Feeney may have pulled a few punches with his kills, the outcome was still quite satisfying. Some gore-hounds out there might say the kills are “weak”, and I may agree given that I am all for the gore, but some films just don’t NEED it.
While I wouldn’t recommend playing the Echo Game in real life, I would most definitely suggest playing the DVD in your player if you are looking for a well made and enjoyable slasher with a supernatural twist.
3 1/2 out of 5
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