ECHOES OF FEAR (Film Review)

                                 Starring: Trista Robinson, Hannah Race, Paul Chirico

                                  Directed by: Brian & Laurence Avenet-Bradley

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   The inheritance of a home can be enough of a frightening prospect, let alone having a malevolent spirit still residing within it - don't these entities get eviction notices? Directorial duo (in work and in married life) Brian & Laurence Avenet-Bradley ratchet up the haunted house premise with an impactful bounty of scares in Echoes Of Fear - it's been a bit, but we've finally got something substantial on our horror plates to nosh upon.

  Alysa (Robinson) is a young woman who is mourning the loss of her Grandfather, and she's further faced with the hard-nosed knowledge that with all the costs involving owning a home, she simply can't front the bills. She and her boyfriend Brandon (Chirico) then take on the task of renovating the home and flipping it - the only problem is (from a horror standpoint, that is) she's left alone in the home for the majority of the time due to Brandon's job. Time rarely takes a moment before everyone involved in the renovation at the house comes face-to-face with something that's spooking the ever-lovin' Cheez-Whiz out of them - hell, simplicity is key here and this one even possessed a few scenes that made me jump back a bit.

  We as the audience are staring straight into the grill of something purely evil, and while Echoes doesn't reinvent the wheel with its frights, they are effective and well-shot. You could grab your checklist of "haunted house movie" characteristics and instances and have them all marked off in a timely fashion, but there's something intently practical and direct with the way that the Avenet's present the product to us all. There's even somewhat of a directional swerve in the plot towards the film's latter stages that will keep you all on your toes and it was unexpected and a bit of a head-scratcher in theory, but nonetheless acted as a plus-point in my overall grading of this one. Gold-star for Robinson's performance here - the poor little scared lass thing has been beaten to death thoroughly over the years but she gives life to a woman who is legitimately on the edge with what's taking place all around her.

  Overall, I'm absolutely going to recommend Echoes Of Fear as some must-watch Halloween entertainment this scare-season - it's currently making a limited theatrical run so keep your eyes peeled between now and late-November to see if it makes a stop near you.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5