Rating summary
Movie | | 2.5 |
Video | | 3.5 |
Audio | | 4.0 |
Extras | | 3.0 |
Overall | | 3.0 |
Evilspeak Blu-ray Movie Review
Stan and Satan are only one letter apart, after all.
Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 13, 2014
Some wise man once informed humanity that the meek shall inherit the earth, but certain mild, unaggressive types
aren’t content to merely wait for their legacy to be handed them and instead decide to opt for a little help. Lots of
people through the years have compared the 1981 horror opus Evilspeak to Carrie, pointing out the similarities in a bullied loner who finally
strikes back with a little supernatural aid. Carrie had the benefit of some roiling family dysfunction underpinning
its
tale, and its setting in a high school rife with cliques and boorish behavior made it instantly accessible to many people,
even if they had never been drenched in pig’s blood. Pigs actually show up in Evilspeak, too, but here the
formulation of the mild mannered little sad sack rising up to take his revenge has little of Carrie’s impact since it’s
divorced from a commonplace setting and perhaps even more importantly from any sort of larger background with
regard to its main character, one Stanley Coopersmith (Clint Howard), a picked on young man at a military academy.
When Stanley stumbles on an old cache of Satanic materials in a kind of cavern like cellar at the institution, suddenly
there seems to be a potential route forward for the afflicted kid. Evilspeak is in fact a fairly basic revenge saga—
albeit with an underworldly bent—that goes wandering in search of some actual surrounding story in a number of
directions, an approach that may have some viewers checking the hands of their watch at regular intervals, at least until
all hell starts breaking loose in the final melée that caps the film. With a number of tangential elements that include
everything from occasional female (and even male) nudity to a supposedly “high tech” computer program helping to
summon forth Satan (an aspect that may remind some of John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness), Evilspeak is often fairly
gruesome (to the point that it was labeled a “video nasty” in the United Kingdom), but it never really works up much of
a head of steam, despite the blood and gore.
Evilspeak begins with a brief prelude which seems to suggest that
some people may indeed have
expected
the Spanish Inquisition, despite Monty Python’s assertion to the contrary. On a supposedly Spanish beach (actually
Malibu, according to writer-director Eric Weston in his commentary included on the Blu-ray), a coven of Satan worshiping
monks led by one Father Esteban (Richard Moll, soon to be the bailiff on the long running
Night Court sitcom) are
being banished from the country, at least until they come to their senses and begin worshiping the “correct” God.
There’s
really no background information imparted here, and certainly no rationale offered as to why the church figures didn’t
just
have the Satanists summarily executed (which was, after all, the preferred method for dealing with this kind of
“problem”),
and instead we’re left to watch Father Esteban and his acolytes sacrifice a young woman, virginal or otherwise.
A smart and funny jump cut which, while perhaps not quite up to the standards set by Stanley Kubrick when he segued
from a monkey bone to a spacecraft early in
2001: A Space Odyssey, still provides the film with a little comedic kick in the pants (and/or
soccer
ball as the case may be). It also supplies a shift in time to the present day, where we meet hapless Stanley
Coopersmith out
on the soccer field, unhappily the brunt of several of his more jocked out teammates' wrath. Stanley is obviously the
odd
boy out at the military academy, and things aren’t helped by a coterie of equally mean adults, including the frequently
apopleptic Sarge (R.G. Armstrong).
When Stanley is tasked with cleaning up the figurative bowels of the academy, the plot begins in earnest after he
comes across Father Esteban’s journal and begins to try to recreate a demonic ritual. He utilizes what appears to be
about a crushing 2 MHz processing speed to decipher Esteban’s Latin mumbo jumbo, at which point he considers himself
ready to be summoning a certain horned creature from Hades. His initial attempt is met with an “incomplete” grade from
the computer (which is oddly sentient throughout this entire film), though when Stanley is once again accosted by (this
time costumed) bullies, he
thinks he’s been successful. This brings about the first instance of the computer kind
of “reaching out and touching” a character, which in turn sparks a revelation about the ultimate fate of Esteban and his
followers.
Meanwhile clumsy Stanley has left the jewel encrusted journal out in the open, and when it’s pilfered by the school
secretary,
Evilspeak cavorts into what is arguably its most bizarre sequence. The secretary, obviously
interested in the gems protruding from the book’s cover, takes it home to perhaps pry the stones loose, but instead she
is met with a marauding herd of wild boars whilst taking her (semi-nude of course) shower. It’s just bat
guano
crazy stuff, with absolutely no rhyme or reason (and certainly no real explanation, other than being generically
supernatural), but it gives
Evilspeak a little jolt that helps to carry it through to the ultimate climax, when Stanley
actually finally ends up doing
something right, and does indeed summon a spirit. It may not actually be the
Devil, but it’s a suitable replacement, at least for the purposes of the climactic conflagration.
The best horror films manage to create a tether between at least one character and the audience, but there’s
absolutely no emotional connection here, something that makes
Evilspeak play out in a kind of middling way
that’s occasionally macabre enough to generate a baseline of interest, but which never really explodes into really scary
or compelling material. Ironically, there's just
enough sympathy for Stanley to undercut any perceived comedic
elements, since it's hard to generate laughs in an atmosphere this rife with oppressive bullying. Howard is really good
as Stanley, his kind of odd, hangdog appearance naturally creating
sympathy, even if the actual screenplay doesn’t provide us enough backstory to become fully involved with the
character. Armstrong is a lot of fun chewing the scenery as Sarge, and several of the other supporting players, including
Joseph Cortese as the academy’s priest, are also commendable. While generally technically competent, including with
its practical effects work,
Evilspeak never articulates clearly enough to have much of an impact.
Evilspeak Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality
Evilspeak is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory (an imprint of Shout! Factory) and Code Red with an
AVC encoded
1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Press materials tout a new high definition transfer (sourced from a "newly discovered" 35mm IP)
supervised and approved by Eric Weston, and
if expectations are kept at a reasonable level, most fans should be generally well pleased with the results. Elements are in
generally very good shape, with only the expected amount of flecks and specks occasionally serving as a minor distraction.
The film has
several opticals, including a longish prologue with credits, which can look really grainy and soft at times, as should
come as no surprise. Colors are very nicely saturated and accurate looking. While contrast is stable and black levels good,
there are still some deficits with shadow detail in the darkest scenes, as when Stanley is poking around underneath the
chapel, where it's next to impossible to make out what's happening some of the time. Perhaps the biggest issue some will
have with this presentation are fairly noticeable compression artifacts which
crop up with regularity, not necessarily limited to the darkest moments. On the whole though, this is a solid presentation,
with an organic appearance that features abundant natural grain. The image is not sharp by contemporary standards, but
looks very true to its source.
Evilspeak Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality
Evilspeak features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono mix that is really rather appealing from both a sound
effects and (especially) a musical standpoint. The film's score, by fabulous pianist-arranger Roger Kellaway, plies much the
same territory that won Jerry Goldsmith an Oscar for
The Omen, with Carmina Burana-esque choral moments interspersed with some jarringly dissonant
orchestral cues. Dialogue comes through loud and clear, with no issues whatsoever to report.
Evilspeak Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras
- Audio Commentary with Producer/Director Eric Weston. For any of you who have ever hung out with
aging
Hollywood types and listened to their sometimes hilarious meanderings through the windmills of their minds, this
commentary track will be like manna from heaven. Moderated by one Bill Olson, who struggles mightily to keep Weston
on
track, this may not provide a surplus of actual information, but it's (appropriately) a hell of a lot of fun to listen to.
- Satan's Pigs and Severed Heads: The Making of Evilspeak (1080p; 27:48) is a lot of fun, and
features such priceless
quotes as Claude Earl Jones' "I thought it was the worst script I had ever read when I read it." Jones does go on to
qualify that less than
ringing endorsement. In fact several other cast members also express at least some passing befuddlement with various
plot points, but this
gives a ton of background information and is highly enjoyable.
- Effects Speak with Allan A. Apone (1080p; 14:37) is an interesting interview with the film's effects supervisor.
- Cast Interviews include:
- Clint Howard (480p; 11:39)
- Donald Stark (480p; 10:09)
- Joe Cortese (480p; 6:55)
- Theatrical Trailer (480p; 1:51)
Note: I had some issues with accessing menus on my PC drive. After selecting a Bonus Feature and watching, the
disc returned to the
opening screen though without any menu choices. Oddly, pressing my arrow keys then revealed little fragments of the
menu links, which
allowed me to press enter and ultimately get back to the Main Menu with a little trial and error.
Evilspeak Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation
Genre enthusiasts or those with a certain cynical nostalgic streak will probably find enough in Evilspeak to make it
worthwhile, but those looking for a totally unsettling horror or even horror-comedy experience will probably find the film
lacking. The practical effects are rather good by eighties' standards, and the film is well crafted and well acted, if never
really very involving. Technical merits here are very good to excellent, and the supplemental package is also nicely done.