Stir of Echoes: The Abridged Script
FADE IN:
INT. A PARTY
KEVIN BACON, KATHRYN ERBE, and the very-nice-and- certainly-not-at-all-suspicious neighbors are enjoying a party.
KATHRYN’S SISTER
I am a witch or a psychic or some shit. Let me hypnotize you.
KEVIN BACON
Ha! I do not believe in this, but I certainly will by the end of this scene. Do your worst, Warwick.
She hypnotizes BACON, who freaks out.
KEVIN DUNN
You pussy. Ha ha. I thought it was very funny when she stuck the pin in your arm and you only bled out of one side! How did you do that? That’s some talent you have there, Bacon!
BACON continues freaking out and goes home to ignore his son, COLE.
INT. BACON’S HOME
COLE
I see dead people. Right, Samantha?
KATHRYN
We need a babysitter.
COLE
Maybe you should call Debbie.
KATHRYN
Good suggestion, I’ll wonder how the fuck you got that name, but later.
INT. LATER AT NIGHT – BEFORE ANOTHER PARTY
KEVIN BACON
We’re leaving, make sure my son doesn’t see any more dead people. Call Bruce Willis if you need to.
DEBBIE
Bruce Willis…he’s in “The Whole Nine Yards” with Rosanna Arquette, who was in “Hope Floats” with Sandra Bullock, who was in “Speed 2″ with Jason Patric, who was in “Sleepers” with Kevin Bacon! Four degrees of Kevin Bacon!
KEVIN BACON
Shut up.
COLE
Samantha says she can get it in two. Bruce was in “The Player” with Robert Wagner, who was in “Wild Things” with my dad. Two degrees!
KEVIN BACON
God I hate you people. And who the fuck is Samantha?
DEBBIE
Samantha? My sister had that name..
They go another party and weird shit continues happening to BACON while DEBBIE freaks out about the name SAMANTHA, which could easily have nothing whatsoever to do with her sister of the same name, but she’s apparently a little nuts and plus she needs to advance the story.
INT. ANOTHER PARTY OF SOME KIND
KEVIN BACON
Hey, you ever hear of some girl named Samantha? Got kidnapped or some shit.
KEVIN DUNN
What the fuck is that supposed to mean?
KEVIN DUNN’S SON
I DO NOT KNOW THE GIRL, OKAY!? LEAVE ME ALONE! AIEEEEEE!
AUDIENCE
I wonder if anyone in this “decent” town has something to do with the girl being kidnapped. And I really wonder if it involves the only other two families in the town that have any actual lines.
INT. KEVIN BACON’S HOME
COLE
Samantha says to dig.
KEVIN BACON
I’ve noticed. I’ve also noticed that Samantha desperately wants me to purchase high-quality Minute Maid Orange-Flavored Juice Drink. Minute Maid, the beverage of choice for a new generation of recievers.
(sips)
Ahhh. Now that’s refreshing supernatuality!
KATHRYN
By the way, I talked to some cop about your powers, I’m going to a meeting. See ya.
She leaves.
INT. DARK ALLEY
KATHRYN goes to a Recievers Anonymous Meeting or something, which I won’t even go into here because it’s so ridiculous-looking that it has to be seen, but trust me, it sucked.
INT. KEVIN BACON’S HOME
KEVIN is digging.
KATHRYN
What the shit?
KEVIN BACON
I’m digging.
KATHRYN
Digging for what?
KEVIN BACON
I don’t know, but it’s sure not the dead body of the missing girl Samantha, heh heh.
KATHRYN
Okay, I’m out of here.
KEVIN BACON
Wait! I found the body! It all makes sense now! All of the fucked up scenes have now been tied together! How surprising, the dead body of the kidnapped girl is here and she has been telling my kid what to do in order to give closure to her life so that she can move on to a higher plane!
(pause)
This is nothing whatsoever like Sixth Sense!
KEVIN DUNN
You’ve found me out. We buried her when our sons killed her.
LANDLORD
Yes, we did that. Time to die, Kevin Bacon.
AUDIENCE
What a clever murder mystery…er, I mean.. supernatural thriller, yeah.
KEVIN DUNN shoots the LANDLORD before the LANDLORD shoots BACON.
KEVIN BACON
Murder. Revenge. Coverups. God, what happened to this decent town?
KEVIN DUNN
(sobbing)
I don’t know, ask the film scribe.
SCRIBE/DIRECTOR DAVID KOEPP
Well, I ran out of supernatural stuff, so I decided to make some implausible murder story. I had cool editing though, eh?
AUDIENCE
Is Sixth Sense still playing?
END




Haha.
Loved the Sixth Sense references. I enjoyed the movie by the way, however it was similar to Sixth Sense when you think about it, although being release pretty much at the same time.
Great script as usual.
FAISAL
December 6th, 2008 at 7:50 pmKOEPP is the bane of Hollywood!
March 31st, 2009 at 5:44 pmAs for the Sixth Sense refs – the movie was based on a short story by Richard Matheson written in 1958. There’s a lot that was changed from novel to movie, but the basic premise is the same.
June 17th, 2009 at 7:15 pm