Speak No Evil

The Wicker Man (1973), The Vanishing (1988), Speak No Evil (2022) - three exceptionally good European horror movies with chillingly dark endings. All of them have been remade by American film studios and this is the latest. I'm trying to imagine the thinking behind the process: 1. This movie has been really successful but it's foreign. 2. Americans don't watch foreign films. 3. If we remake it as an American film Americans will watch it. 4. The ending though! It's really dark. We need to rewrite that and give it an ending people will enjoy more! - Wrong, wrong, wrong! I like James McAvoy and he's excellent in this movie, easily switching between charismatically charming and unsettlingly sinister. All the actors are good. The film is coherent. The plot holds. It's suitably tense with an undeniably exciting finale. On balance it's a fine film but it's been stripped of many of the elements that made the original a success. There was a time, notably the '70s, when America made genuinely outstanding original horror films - The Exorcist, Halloween, The Omen, Carrie - but those days seem long gone. I honestly can't fault this film and I enjoyed it but I'd urge anyone to seek out the originals and enjoy what made them different.

Speak No Evil is a 2024 psychological horror remake starring James Mcavoy as Paddy, a English father who invites a American family to come to their house and relax, however not everything is all it seems from the new Blumhouse feature.

While getting most of the aspects on point from the 2022 foreign film of the same name, Speak No Evil does create a good level of tension while exploding into a violent climax which is a good aspect regarding the film's strong point as a psychological horror flick. The American family are very likable and very realistic when it comes to some of the more tense scenes of threat, you do really sympathise with them in general and throughout most of the runtime you do also get to see some of what there views are on the other English family. At first they think it's a new way of bonding with their new home but as the film progresses there perspectives slowly change and it makes you think if they will ever recover from the horrific things they have witnessed so far which does add a level of clarity and dread to the film's dark tone and that's very good.

Acting-wise, very top notch for a Blumhouse feature nowadays as James Mcavoy really is quite terrifying but funny at the same time. He is very identical. He reminds me of Jack Torrance from The Shining, very maniacal and twisted figure that has his comedic elements scattered throughout, I thought this was quite a interesting thing that I might notice but I think Paddy was a little bit different though just because of his charming aspect rather than a downward spiral of Jack's character's.

Overall, while quite a solid entry into the Blumhouse library, the fatal flaw of this thriller is the lack of homage to the original film which really should be respected, but it seems like this entry does completely avoid some aspects which a remake shouldn't do unless it has a good reason to. But it's still a worthy, fun watch for a evening night.

Grade: A Next film: Big shark.

Topic says it all. I really was curious how Hollywood would adapt the original, as it was one of the best real-horror flicks i have seen in years and one with a message. I still rate this remake with 6 stars, because everything was good: especially the actors, the screenplay etc., but the end is awfully bad compared to the original. If the original movie (crew) had the money and the actors from the remake, then it would have been something, you would not forget in years.

Hollywood simply has no balls to do such a movie, instead it created something that is pretty fast forgotten. Moreover it completely misses the message and the feeling you have, after the ending of the original movie. So it is just a cliche ending so typical for Hollywood, it makes me sad.

While this version had scenes of good suspense and tension like the original, it seriously fell down in the last quarter and turned into a teen horror film with drawn out and boring cat and mouse scenes that culminated in a lot of nothing. A very predictable and uninspiring ending in the rewrite, collapsing the same way every American horror movie does. Ultimately this movie had very little to say and won't linger in your memory the way the original does. All it has to offer is the promise of a family secret, which once revealed, and in such a desperate way, has no idea where to go and falls flat.

Definitely worth viewing at the cinema - had such a blast watching this film!

The slow start is never boring as it carefully lets out clues that there's something deeply wrong going on, although you can't yet pinpoint what it is. You, as well as the guests, want to like those characters, even though they seem more and more obnoxious, and you wouldn't dare to be rude.

I was surprised at how much humor there is in this, yet it doesn't undermine the tension, that builds up like fire throughout the film. On the contrary, it makes it all more eerie and unsettling.

Without realising, you've been on the edge of your seat the whole time, just waiting for the inevitable to happen, yet praying that it doesn't. And then, when it's finally all loose, the third act pays off handsomely.

Mcavoy is insanely good in this movie and his range is what fuels the several emotions you go through while watching. The film revolves around him, around his ability to hook both the characters and the viewer, only to scare them out of their minds.