Echoes

Echoes explores the mucky realm between reality and dreams, and what could happen when these worlds collide. Struggling with horrifying, sleep-paralysis-induced visions, Anna (French), a young writer, retreats with her boyfriend (Brand) to an isolated yet beautiful glass house in the desert. Hoping that the desert vistas surrounding her will spur her creative juices, she welcomes the opportunity to stay behind when her boyfriend must return to the city for urgent business. However, Anna's sleep paralysis does not abate, despite the calming environment. And now, her attacks are accompanied by a mysterious figure, caked with dirt as if it was made of sand itself. As the visions intensify, she finds herself on the verge of losing her mind…or is she being lead to uncover a life-threatening secret? (Gary Reber)

There are no special features.

The 2.40:1 1080p AVC picture was photographed digitally with the Red Scarlet camera system. The scenes for the most part are at night, and the imagery exhibits poor black levels and shadow delineation. Thus, contrast is generally mediocre. The color palette is a bit desaturated, except for some closeup shots that exhibit natural saturated hues. Still the imagery is effectively mysterious. Resolution is generally good, especially during extreme close-ups of facial features and objects. Generally the picture lacks the deep blacks and shadow delineation that defines a strong contrasty picture. (Gary Reber)

The Dolby® TrueHD 5.1-channel soundtrack features an electronic music score that nicely sets the intensifying mysterious mood, with strong deep bass extension and rhythmic drums. During dream sequences the .1 LFE energy is intensified at sub-25 Hz levels and is dynamic sounding. Atmospherics enhance the sense of isolation in the desert, especially with respect to the subtle sounds of the night's creatures and night winds. While all this builds with the story's unfolding, the soundtrack is otherwise dialogue focused. The dialogue is excellent in terms of spatial integration. But it is the music score that really is the driving force that delivers the mood. (Gary Reber)